Chris Baty's Blog, page 13
February 17, 2023
Vote for NaNoWriMo During Project for Awesome!
It’s Project for Awesome time! Project for Awesome, or P4A, is an annual fundraiser that raises money and awareness for all kinds of nonprofit organizations. We’re in the running for a grant of some of the money raised through P4A, and your vote can help us win.
It’s simple:
Go to the NaNoWriMo page on the Project for Awesome site.Click on each video.Select the “I’m not a robot” check box, then click the big VOTE box.Please vote for ALL the NaNoWriMo videos—voting is cumulative!
February 10, 2023
Are you writing this month? Check out our “I wrote a novel… now...
Are you writing this month? Check out our “I wrote a novel… now what?” resources over on the NaNoWriMo website for tips on choosing your next writing adventure: whether that’s finishing a story you’ve been working on for a while, editing and revising, pursuing publishing… or something completely different! For some extra inspiration, author Kwame Mbalia’s Pep Talk from this past November will help you find your creative spark. Read the full Pep Talk here!
Image description: A blue background with illustrated pink and purple flowers, with text that reads: “Tell me about that moment when inspiration struck, when synapses fired and your nostrils flared and your pupils dilated and your heart skipped a beat and your breath quickened all because you thought of a story.” —Kwame Mbalia
February 1, 2023
🚨 Project for Awesome Submissions Now Open! 🚨
Do you like NaNoWriMo? Here’s an easy way you can help support our non-profit! Project for Awesome is an annual fundraiser where people make videos supporting organizations they love and vote on their favorite videos. The organizations with the most votes get a significant grant to help them continue their programs!
Video submissions are open from now until 11:59 am EST on Wednesday, February 15th. To submit, all you have to do is film a short (~2 minute) video about why you love NaNoWriMo, upload it as a public video to your YouTube channel, and submit the URL here:
https://www.projectforawesome.com/submit
Videos don’t have to be fancy; You can just grab your phone, computer, or whatever you have at hand to record. Have questions? Check out the P4A about page and FAQ!
If you want to take a look at past NaNoWriMo P4A videos, you can see them all here.
January 24, 2023
Are you writing this month, Wrimo? Check out our “I wrote a...
Are you writing this month, Wrimo? Check out our “I wrote a novel… now what?” resources over on the NaNoWriMo website for tips on choosing your next writing adventure: whether that’s finishing a story you’ve been working on for a while, editing and revising, pursuing publishing… or something completely different! For some extra inspiration, author Sarah Gailey’s Pep Talk from this past November reminds you to find joy in the reasons you write. Read the full Pep Talk here!
Image description: A blue background with illustrated red flowers, with text that reads: “The worst part of not writing is that writing always lingers at the edges of it. There’s a prickle on the back of my neck when I’m not writing, an unanswered-message feeling. Because the story is waiting.” —Sarah Gailey”
January 18, 2023
Are you planning to revise your NaNoWriMo novel draft? Check out...
Are you planning to revise your NaNoWriMo novel draft? Check out our “I wrote a novel… now what?” resources over on the NaNoWriMo website! For some extra inspiration, author Kalynn Bayron’s Pep Talk from this past November reminds you that there’s always room for your words to grow. Read the full Pep Talk here!
Image description: A green background with illustrated pink and yellow flowers, with text that reads: “50,000 words in one month is a lot, and it’s okay to acknowledge that a lot of those words won’t be the perfect, engaging, gripping storytelling you want it to be. That’s okay! What you will have is a complete first draft that you can then shape into what your story will eventually become.” —Kalynn Bayron
January 10, 2023
What are you excited to work on with your writing this year,...
What are you excited to work on with your writing this year, Wrimos? Author Matthew Salesses’s Pep Talk from this past November encourages you to delve deep into the feelings that make you want to write. Read the full Pep Talk here!
Image description: A blue background with illustrated yellow flowers, with text that reads: “Where else can we meet our innermost thoughts and fears and desires but in stories? …And how wonderful that meeting is—and how hard—how hard to really sit with and honor those feelings when so much of life says, ‘this is not the place for that.’” —Matthew Salesses
Matthew Salesses is the author of four novels, the most recent of which will be published in January 2023—The Sense of Wonder, about the first Asian American basketball star—and one book about writing fiction, Craft in the Real World. He was adopted from Korea and lives in New York City, where he teaches fiction writing at Columbia University.
January 3, 2023
Happy New Year, Writers! Did you read author Sue Lynn Tan’s Pep...
Happy New Year, Writers! Did you read author Sue Lynn Tan’s Pep Talk this November? It’s a great reminder about ways to find wins in your daily writing. Read the full Pep Talk here!
Image description: A green background with illustrated pink flowers, with text that reads: “NaNoWriMo: “Celebrate the one good line you wrote that warms your heart or the hard paragraph you churned out of a scene you were dreading, the words written whether fifty or a hundred. They are all wins, all another reason to be proud of yourself, each one a step forward.” —Sue Lynn Tan”
Sue Lynn Tan writes fantasy inspired by the myths and legends she fell in love with as a child. Born in Malaysia, she studied in London and France, before settling in Hong Kong with her family. Her debut Daughter of the Moon Goddess was published by Harper Voyager, with the sequel Heart of the Sun Warrior coming out in November 2022. Find her on Instagram and Twitter @SuelynnTan, or on her website www.suelynntan.com.
December 19, 2022
How to Win NaNoWriMo While You’re Busy Running NaNoWriMo
We couldn’t make it through November without the help of our amazing, talented, and dedicated interns! Today, our Fall 2022 Editorial and Programs Intern Josie Gepulle shares some wisdom on how she made it to 50K while also working hard to help keep NaNoWriMo running:
There’s a lot I accomplished during my time as a NaNoWriMo Intern. I found myself doing things I would’ve never thought I could do. I’m naturally a shy introvert, so could I really handle coordinating projects or running Virtual Write-Ins?
The answer is yes, I can do that, and so much more.
What really surprised me, though, was that I won NaNoWriMo for the very first time. I first learned about NaNo when I was around eleven years old, so what was different about this year?
How in the world do you win NaNoWriMo when you’re busy running NaNo itself?
Well, I can’t say I have the perfect answer, but these four things helped me a lot.
1. Take part in NaNo’s online events.Maybe this is a little unfair, considering I was hosting Virtual Write-Ins. But whether it’s a VWI, Community Meetup, or even an Author Webcast, all these events helped me connect more with the amazing community NaNo has to offer.
My past NaNo attempts were pretty isolated and I was used to writing on my own.
I quickly learned, however, that writing with other people is the best thing in the world. Writers are strange and quirky, but we understand each other more than anyone else. We were able to support each other and give advice that genuinely helped.
There’s also so much community outside of these events too! Shout out to the DFW Rhinos Discord, where I did most of my writing sprints. Each sprint ended with congratulations from fellow writers.
Seeing everyone’s progress in real time is an amazing experience. It inspired me to keep writing too.
When I say any success during NaNo feels like a shared one, I truly mean it.
As much as I tried to keep close to a daily word count goal, it was more important to write every single day. Building habits is hard, I’ll admit that.
I tried really hard for NaNo though. I did my best to write the same time every day, usually before work. Sometimes though, writing at night gives you the same feeling as writing an essay an hour before it’s due.
While my time of day wasn’t consistent, I quickly became accustomed to writing every single day. If I truly couldn’t sit down and write that day, I’d type one single word on my phone and count that.
Of course, I will always stress that you should be taking care of yourself first. If you can’t write every single day, that’s fine. Maybe you start by writing every two days or every week. If you can’t write at all, that’s cool too! You’re the one that matters first.
3. Be public about your writing.Talk to your coworkers about your writing. Talk to your friends about your writing.
I made sure to put my word count in my Discord status and Twitter display name. Everyone was going to see my progress, even if they weren’t a writer.
I was very annoying about my NaNo project, yelling to my friends every time I reached a significant number. They didn’t mind though. They were glad to cheer me on.
The more people you tell, the more cheerleaders you have. Don’t underestimate the power of a cheer squad.
I’m very much aware that a traditional NaNo challenge involves coming up with a new novel idea. Except when you’re running around trying to prepare for November, prepping for a new novel can slip right out of your mind.
Initially, I was disappointed that I couldn’t work on a brand new novel.
Then I realized I had something I could work on. Something I’m very familiar with.
There’s a novel I wrote for my very first NaNo. I never finished it, but I’ve been revising the world and characters for years. I always thought the plot was too difficult for me and I wasn’t ready to write it.
I’ll be honest, I still wasn’t ready when I started writing that new first draft. I felt comfortable though, writing for old characters that I grew up with. The more time that passed, the more I started to enjoy the discovery process. You can do as much planning as you want, but you’ll still end up learning so much about your characters in the writing process.
Return to your old writing friends, the old ideas of your childhood, and maybe something will lead you to success.
I’m proud that this is the project that led to my win. Isn’t it poetic? To win NaNo with the novel that inspired you in the first place?
In a lot of ways, maybe these tips are for the super specific version of me that existed last month. Still, I hope they can help a little bit, no matter who you are.
I’m thankful for meeting everyone on the NaNo staff and for all the cool writers I got to interact with. NaNo is truly driven by the principle that every story matters.
I got to experience a few of those stories. I can’t wait to hear more. And dear reader? That includes yours.
Lots of love,
Josie
December 16, 2022
Don’t Let Your NaNoWriMo Engine Idle
Now that November is over, you may be taking some time to rest, recover, pursue things other than writing—or possibly continue to work on your story! Today, author and baker Amy Wallen shares some ins-pie-ration for moving forward with your novel:
Coming off the adrenaline rush of NaNoWriMo, so many feelings rush through us—relief, pride, and exhaustion are just a few of them.
Relief because, woohoo, you survived! Those last few days as you rounded the bend when your family wanted a pie, and you had to be nice to your in-laws, you just about gave in, but instead you bought a pie at the store, kept your mouth shut, and got your writing done. Or, like me, maybe you wrote extra before and after to make up for taking that day or two of rest (shhh, don’t tell) over the holiday. But, whew, you typed the 50,000 words by the end.
Pride! You should be dancing the Snoopy dance because you did it, you met your goal; or even if you didn’t quite meet the goal, you kept at it and reached the finish line—first draft of a novel, or a hell of a start.
Exhaustion because even though you let the laundry pile up, ate more prepared than fresh foods, and your exercise regimen may have slacked off, you still had to go about your regular day (some of us had to keep earning a living).
You are on the other side and it feels so good. Reaching a goal does that—makes us feel exhilarated and gives us the incentive to keep trying for more, to reach another goal, and another.
NaNoWriMo is just the beginning. “Beginning?!” you ask. “You want me to do that same big push forever?”
Why not? Agatha Christie did. Okay, maybe we aren’t all Guinness Book of World Record writers, but we are all writers, every single writer has one thing in common with all other writers—we write. Every day.
Maybe there’s that adjustment made for getting around the holiday bend, but November was the perfect warm up for getting that daily habit revved up and set into place.
December has a few holidays in it too, and more pies to be baked. But your writing still needs to be nurtured. Don’t you hear it calling to you? That draft is ready to be revised and rewritten, submitted, and then out in the world! NaNoWriMo provided the jumping off, so don’t let your novel freefall with no one to catch it. Let the laundry pile up a little longer (clearly everyone survived wearing their sweater an extra day or two), buy your pies from your pie baker friend, and give your novel that gift of attention it deserves. Keep the momentum going, because it’s a whole lot harder to get a cold engine started again than to stay warmed up because January is just around the corner.
January, the month of resolutions. No one ever made a resolution to do more laundry, but plenty of resolutions have been broken to finish that novel. If you stay with it, by spring you could have the first of two novels written for the year, like Agatha. Or, at the very least, another draft.
Set a goal, then another. When you’re exhausted, stop and make a pie. Then pick up your pen again and keep writing. How else are we ever going to get to read your book?
Amy Wallen
is most recently the author of
How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies: Sweet & Savory Secrets of Surviving the Writing Life
. Bestselling author of a novel, and a memoir, she teaches writing workshops in California, France, and anywhere she’s invited, usually with pie. She was associate director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute for 7 years and founded DimeStories—three-minute stories told by the author and featured on NPR. https://www.amywallen.com/
Illustrations by Emil Wilson.
December 15, 2022
5 Steps to Get Your Novel Ready to Self-Publish
Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Kindle Direct Publishing, a 2022 NaNo sponsor, helps you self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free. Today, author Denise Grover Swank shares some tips to help you get your novel ready to publish:
Congrats on completing NaNoWriMo! I completed my first book with NaNoWriMo in 2009, and was thrilled when I’d finished, but I wasn’t ready to hit publish just yet!
1. Have someone else read your novel.Every book needs revising and editing. Trust me, I’ve written over seventy books at this point and still need to revise books.
You’ll either need to find a developmental editor or alpha readers. Alpha readers—well-read readers and/or other authors—are great for writers on a budget and are usually free. You can find them in writers’ groups or your friends who are readers. Just be careful if you’re using friends and family: they’re going to be biased. (Unless they’re my aunt who read my paranormal thriller and told me I should write children’s books.)
2. Invest in copy editing.You’ve revised and edited your book, now what? Copy editing is where you may want to invest if you can. Copy editors look at your book line by line and correct grammatical mistakes. Please, please, please don’t try to do this yourself. You’ve read you book countless times and will miss things. Trust me. I know. (If you need a proofreader, here’s where your friends who can spot a typo a mile away come in handy.)
3. Get a good cover.Let’s talk covers! Study the market and find out what’s selling in your genre, then find a cover designer who fits the trends. You can spend anywhere from $100 to $1000 or more, but you can get by on the lower end. Just don’t try to make one yourself unless you’re really good at graphic design.
4. Get the formatting right.You’re almost ready to publish, but first you need to format your eBook and print book—You can do this by using the free templates available on Kindle Direct Publishing, you can pay someone to do it, or there are several programs less than $200 that will do this for you.
5. Now you’re ready!There are multiple places to publish, but KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is super easy to use! Be sure to claim your books on Amazon Author Central, create an author page, then ask readers to follow you. Amazon will let your readers know about preorders and releases. Kindle Unlimited is great for newer authors who are still finding an audience, and readers in KU are more willing to take a chance on new-to-them authors. And finally, use the gifting option on your product page for giveaways on social media. Readers who love your book will tell their friends—never underestimate word of mouth marketing!
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Denise Grover Swank lives in Kansas City, Missouri. You can find out more about Denise at www.denisegroverswank.com.
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