Courtney Wendleton's Blog, page 23
November 1, 2016
Stop Worrying About What Not to Write
by Tonya R. Moore
Are you afraid of messing around with tropes? What about your plot? Is it too dark? Too light? Is your main character too perfect? Too flawed? Are you afraid to bore, perturb, or even disgust?
Tell me the truth: how many articles did you read this week that made you look back at your own work and cringe?
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Want to GO PRO? 10 Ways to Own NaNo (And the Other 11 Months, Too)
Today we launch NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This challenge is to see if we can write 50,000 words in a month. Though 50,000 words is not quite a novel, it IS a professional pace and for those who are new? This is probably going to feel like running a marathon the day after making a resolution to actually use that gym membership. It will push you.
Whether or not you are doing NaNo, these tips will help you go pro because for the pros? Every month is NaNoWriMo.
Most of us are going to have to work a day job and write. We also have a family and like me, you probably have spoiled them by actually feeding them every day. The world is not going to pause because we are writing a book.
Other writers frequently ask how I somehow manage to get a lot of…
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November 2016 Day 1
November has arrived and I’ve decided to do both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo. I haven’t done NaBloPoMo in a few years, so I thought I add some more extra mental stress to my life. >_>
I enjoy the torture, however. Coffee, smokes, forgetting to eat, living in my office and looking like something out of a horror movie. Yeah, I will have the whole zombie look down by the end of the month.
I’ve got 2513 words done for NaNo so far today. Not too shabby, if I say so myself.
As for NaBloPoMo, todays prompt is:
Nov. 1: When you’re having a bad day with your mental health, what do you do to help yourself?
To answer this, you have to bear in mind that I do have some serious mental disorders. I take a bunch of meds. I don’t like having to take all of them, but I am…
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EBooks are Changing the Way We Read and Write
by Jillian Casey
Although it is a bit cliché, on my bookshelf, I have a well-worn copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and the novel has been read so many times that it practically falls open to the page where Elizabeth Bennet cleverly refuses Mr. Darcy’s first proposal.
However, this action becomes impossible when reading beloved stories in electronic form.
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What is Developmental Editing and Does Your Story Need it?
by Katie McCoach
Developmental editing may be an unfamiliar term to some writers and authors. This is, in the most basic of definitions, is editing that enhances your story.
Have you ever read a book and felt the plot was all over the place, or the characters were inconsistent? Maybe the climax wasn’t strong enough or the story was missing that obvious inciting incident. Hell, have you ever started a book and just didn’t like it?
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The Curious Case of Why Short Story Collections Don’t Sell
by Kyle Massa
“Short stories are loose change in the treasury of fiction.”
That’s what J.G. Ballard wrote in the introduction to his Complete Short Stories collection. Considering the dwindling attention spans of many readers, you’d think that short stories would be more popular than ever. But when’s the last time you saw someone reading a short story collection? Just like Ballard wrote, it seems short stories are the pennies, nickels, and dimes of literature.
So why don’t short stories sell?
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October 30, 2016
That Time of the Year Again!
Not that time…yet! In less than 48 hours #NaNoWriMo begins and authors everywhere make reservations for psych wards come December 1st.
So what is everyone doing for this year’s novel? I am somewhat cheating. For the past two years I have tried focusing on just one novel for the whole month, but have never finished them by the end of November. I came very close (two or three words!
October 27, 2016
The 5 Rules of Commenting
In an effort to curb the trend of removing comments from blogs, here are a few tips on comment leaving to share with your readers.
I know that you all are busy and deterred from commenting because of:
Multiple mediums. If you just posted a twitter feed, a Facebook update, and responded to some texts to organize the evening outings or after-school events, you certainly don’t have the time to read an entire blog (or news article *ahem*), let alone the time to formulate a thoughtful response.
Fear. We’ve all heard all the horror stories about employees getting fired for posting negative statements about their job or customers. Or of those people that get caught up in a tit-for-tat argument that goes viral and ends up following you for the rest of your internet ‘life’. In fact, we teach our kids now the maxim that “when it’s on the internet…
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My Writing Soundtrack – Part 4
Here comes the long awaited part 4 of my writing soundtrack -after an awfully long time! Sorry about that- featuring some gems from Faun as well as more game soundtracks and instrumental collections.
Steampunk & Victorian Music Collection
Lindsey Stirling – Dragon Age
I’m a big fan of Lindsey Stirling’s music, it got me through awfully boring night shifts for months back int the day. This is from her official channel, I ordered some songs from her new album from itunes and I highly recommend checking it out. She makes amazing melodic songs which make great background music for writing sessions.
Faun- Ne Aludj El
I wrote many a chapter with this haunting Hungarian song in the background.
Faun – Arcadia
One of my all-time favorites, this Faun song is in Finnish…
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How to Stop Feeling Guilty About Not Writing
by Meg Dowell
Do you feel guilty when you don’t write? I think all of us do, to a point. But that can only make things worse. Here’s how to keep from letting guilt ruin your progress … and how to let it drive you forward.
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