Kate McNeil's Blog, page 7
December 17, 2017
Sub Rosa Writing Phase is DONE!
We’re having a little celebration because tonight, after two years, a lot of doubt, frustration, joy and excitement, I typed the final words of Sub Rosa, the “prequel” to Pistils.
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Now, onto the editing, then the promotion, publishing, and more promotion. I’m very lucky that I’ve always been a “final draft” kind of writer…I do all my research as I go, I tend to work on parts that are bothering me instead of skipping ahead until later. When I’m experiencing writer’s block, I go back and work...
October 9, 2017
NaNoWriMo Tip #7!
Treasure your most valuable tools!
Happy Monday everyone, I hope you had a great weekend! Today’s tip to help you on your path to NaNoWriMo success is one that people unfortunately don’t think of until it’s too late…taking care of the precious tools you’ll be using!
The tools I’m talking about today are the ones we take for granted too often: our hands (a post about dictation software will be coming soon)! To give you an example of what I’m talking about, let’s compare NaNoWriMo to the re...
October 6, 2017
NaNoWriMo Tip #6!
Give yourself permission to break the rules!
…especially when those rules aren’t working for you!
I know that the people who come out with THE RULES are coming from a good place, they want to help you be the best, most succesful author you can be. I do sincerely wish, though, that they’d frame it in a way that doesn’t convey such a “You must follow these rules or else YOU SUCK AND YOUR BOOK WILL SUCK (if you finish it) AND YOU WILL NEVER BE A SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR LIKE ME! kind of tone.
Are th...
October 5, 2017
NaNoWriMo Tip #5!
Indulge yourself in ONE motivational tool or item!
Motivation is one of the biggest parts of NaNoWriMo…writing a novel in a month is HARD! For that reason, I’m a big advocate of finding new creative ways to motivate yourself. That’s also a reason why I’ve never tried a boot-camp style of working out…I prefer to find ways to enjoy what I’m doing (even if I have to “fake it ’til you make it” on days when enjoying it is tough). Treat yourself BEFORE you’ve won, let alone started the race!
T...
October 4, 2017
NaNoWriMo Tip #4!
Join Quora!
I know not everyone shares my enthusiasm, but doing research is hands-down one of my favorite things about writing. I absolutely love learning as many new things as I can about the locations, languages, names, cultures and even geographic areas that come alive in my stories.
I’ll never claim to have every detail perfect, but I always strive to bring as much realism to my writing as possible. So how to do this when I’m no expert on the CIA, Bulgaria, or organized crime?
Obvious...
October 3, 2017
NaNoWriMo Tip #3!
Buddy up!
Fitness magazines have advocated having a partner (or partners!) in crime since the invention of the printing press. The first reason is the most obvious: accountability! It’s much harder to palm off an excuse about why you can’t work out (or, in our case, write) to a buddy. If you’re good at coming up with excuses, you’ll need that motivation to keep you plugging away until your daily writing habit is formed and established. Trust me, I know, I’ll get around to writing that b...
October 2, 2017
NaNoWriMo Tip #2
Set a reminder to write!
During NaNoWriMo, it might seem like a no-brainer that you have to remember to write…in fact, thinking about writing, or what you’re going to write may take up a substantial portion of your day. But we all have those days where, maybe out of some sense of self-preservation, we completely forget to sit down and try to knock out our daily allowance.
Obviously, pretty much every smartphone in existence will allow you to set up a daily reminder, but why not make it a li...
October 1, 2017
NaNoWriMo 2017 – Tip of the Day
It’s October 1st, which means it’s really REALLY countdown time for NaNoWriMo. Chances are if you’re reading this post, you know what NaNoWriMo is, but if you’d like more details, be sure to check out their website.
I’ve never successfully completed NNWM myself; I’ve done my own personal variations here and there, but I genuinely think I’m going to do it. I have a story idea that’s been percolating in my head more and more strongly lately, and being that Sub Rosa will be complete in the nex...
June 11, 2017
Scrivener – A Strikes and Charms Review
The first Strikes and Charms review is here, and I’m looking at Scrivener! Scrivener is a word processing program designed specifically with writers and authors of all kinds in mind. Check out the video below to see if I felt that Scrivener is Charmed or if it Struck Out!
You can download Scrivener directly from their website. Let me know in the comments if you use Scrivener, and what you think of it! If you have any questions that I didn’t cover in the video, ask away and I’ll do my hon...
May 14, 2017
How to Outline Your Novel
Gah, I am beyond excited because my first Strikes and Charms review will be up this week! As with any new venture there are a lot of moving parts and I want to make sure they’re all in tip-top shape before I hit Publish, so I’m doing a lot of polishing and deep breathing.
In the meantime, though, I came across a wonderful YouTube video by author Alessandra Torre that I wanted to share with you. She and I have very different styles for planning new writing projects, and since she did such a...
