Tag: Novel

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NaNoWriMo Day # 9: The Deeper the Character the Better the Story?

November 9, 2012November 9, 2012 jcladyluv

Perhaps by now you are discovering that there is more to your characters then you initially had thought there would be. Maybe in your outline you didn’t think it necessary to go into grave detail about every aspect of your character’s personality or description. If you are looking for ways to further develop your character try using a few of these suggestions to bring them to life:

1) Create an online profile for your character(s). Think about just how detailed you have to be with an online profile and how much more developed this would make your characters.

2) Get a poster board. Visualize your character in your mind and perhaps clip pictures out of magazines of people that resemble what you want your character to look like. Clip out material possessions that your character owns such as cars, types of clothing that they wear (example of their style of dress), house that they live in, pets that they have. Clip out pictures of the kind of lifestyle that they exhibit and perhaps items that symbolize what their career is. Having that visual board in front of you as you write about your character(s) everyday can help give you more insight into your character as you continue your novel.

3) Talk about your characters to the people you share your story with as if they are real people. The more real you make them in your mind, the more real they will come out to be in your novel as you write it. Yes they may think that you are a little nutty but if they are writers as well then they will understand all too well the lengths that writers have to go to in order to make their characters and their story believable.

4) Create a separate blog for your story and its characters. This not only help you to better develop those characters but it also gets other readers interested in your story and invested in the characters of that story. This can provide an immediate response to your characters and let you know whether readers feel anger towards your character or empathy for your character, or whether your characters are even likeable enough.

Hopefully some of these ideas for character development can allow you to get an even deeper sense of who your characters really are and what story they really want you to convey for them. I have an idea or two that I am planning to use for the development on my next novel. Happy Writing!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day # 8: Sharing Can Help Move Your Story in the Right Direction

November 8, 2012November 8, 2012 jcladyluv

Are you starting to wonder if your story is actually any good? I mean we all have confidence in the stories that we start to formulate but if we are honest with ourselves there are many moments within the construction of our novels where we start to question all the little details that stick out to us like a sore thumb. What we need is someone else’s eye (or ear) to read (or hear) the story we are developing so they can tell us that it’s great. Or at least so that if it’s not great you can know before you get too far along and then you can fix whatever problems exist within the story.

Now of course because it’s National Novel Writing Month you are not supposed to go back and edit your story but there’s nothing saying that you can’t join a writer’s group (or forum) and share your work with other writer’s. That way you can present some of what you are working on, parts that you may want some input on, and get a reader’s perspective on what is working and what might not be working for them. If they do have suggestions you can jot down notes of what to go back and fix once November is over but you can also make notes on where you might want to go with the story from that point on.

Sometimes talking over your story with others who are not biased towards your story one way or the other can help you see it from a different angle. It can also help you to gauge whether your story will be well received by readers and you are on the right track or if you need to consider taking your story in a different direction during your editing phase. I personally have always wanted to join a writing critique group but have always been unable to find the right one. If you are looking to join a writing forum online there are plenty that you may be able to find through the NaNoWriMo website. Hope your stories are going well and keep up the good work. If you find yourself starting to procrastinate, Stop That! Get back to work!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day # 7: Change of Venue Can Enrich Your Story

November 7, 2012 jcladyluv

Hopefully your novel is coming along well and your story is developing even further than before. You might be starting to feel restless sitting in your office area day after day to work on your story and before you know it you could be using that as an excuse not to write. Before that happens, before you suddenly find yourself blocked with your story no longer flowing, get out of your office.

Now don’t take to mean that you should just stop working on your novel. What I mean is that perhaps it is time to change your environment that you are writing in. Changing your scenery and your surroundings can really help to get your story going again, and perhaps it will even change your story in a different direction. Try going to the library, a bookstore, or your nearest Starbucks to work on your novel. I know that when I go to Starbucks it somehow opens up all kinds of scenarios for my story and sometimes I will even be sparked by the conversations that are surrounding me.

Your story can really be further developed just by getting out of your comfort zone and changing up the way you do things. You might even discover a whole other side to your main character that you didn’t even realize was there. So if you’re looking to give your writing process a little more variety and make it a little more lively, then get out there and go write somewhere else for a change. You may be able to find a WriteIn in your area by searching on the NaNoWriMo website. No matter where you write, just keep on writing!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day # 5: Resist the Urge You Have to Edit What You Have Done So Far

November 5, 2012 jcladyluv

You’ve spotted a scene at the beginning of the story that you are dying to change. You notice some things that you didn’t include that need to be in there that will enhance the view the readers get of your character and you may have even seen a couple of unnecessary things that you need to take out. As tempting as it is for you to go back and edit that scene (or those couple of scenes), DON’T DO IT!

NaNoWriMo is a month for the first draft, the first imperfect draft. There is no editing in this month. If you start editing things now, you won’t be able to stop and you will end up losing momentum and falling behind in your word count. I know what you’re thinking. “Wouldn’t that add more words to my word count overall?”

Yes, true enough it would do that, but it would also throw your word count off. Suddenly you would have to figure out what words you counted are now deleted and what words you added should now be counted towards your overall word count tally. I know that in your mind you see all kinds of improvements that need to be made already but resist the urge. Trust me, you will have plenty of time to edit later. That’s what December is for!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day # 3: This Won’t Be the First Time During This Month That You Will Feel Guilty

November 3, 2012 jcladyluv

Are you starting to feel guilty? You are really beginning to get into your story and your characters are possibly starting to talk to you while you’re supposed to be sleeping. You might even be finding more time to write then you initially had planned on setting aside.

Now your family and/or friends may start wondering if that’s all you’re going to talk about is your novel. They may be asking you when you are going to spend time with them like you were just the other week. Then you start to feel guilty.

You’re neglecting your friends and even worse, your family. This will not be the first time during the month of November that you will feel guilt. It will come in stages. The first stage of guilt is the one to worry about most because right now, during this first week of NaNoWriMo you will try and find every excuse and reason you can think of not to finish what you have just started.

Because it is the first week, you will tell yourself “I’m not too far in to stop now,” and “is it really worth neglecting my family to finish this.” Simply put, yes, it is worth it and it may seem selfish right now at this moment but why can’t you be selfish sometimes. This goal is just for you right now but if it all goes the way you want it to it’s a goal that will work out to benefit your family as well—when you get published!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day # 2: Let the Nay-Sayers in the Crowd Fuel Your Drive

November 2, 2012 jcladyluv

So this may be the day where you have one of your so-called friends (you’ll understand why I say so-called in just a second) call you up just as you’re sitting down to write and say “so you were serious about doing that? What do you really expect to get out of this?” This is when you shoot them a look through the phone (as if they can actually see you) and say “of course I’m serious, I take my writing very seriously and what I expect to get out of this is a first draft of a book that will one day be on someone’s best-seller’s list” (sorry I’m projecting my response) and you ask them as politely as possible why they would say something so negative to you.

This is the friend that either has no ambition themselves and doesn’t understand a thing about setting goals and sticking to them, or they are simply jealous that they don’t have the same drive that you do for something that they wish they could be doing. Either way, it’s not the support you really need during the month of November as you complete your first draft. OR IS IT?

We all know that it is wonderful to have the positive people around you, supporting you, rooting for your success every step of the way. But what we may take for granted is how it is just as important to have those people who don’t believe in you and who are rooting for you to fail as a motivation as well. That in now way means that you convince yourself to listen to those nay-sayers because they are wrong for not believing in you and they are wrong to doubt you (and when you do hit the New York Times Best-Seller’s list they will really be kicking themselves) but let their discouragement be your motivation.

Let it be the fuel for you to get up early in the morning (or whatever your designated time to write is) and write those words everyday. Let it drive you, if nothing else, to prove them wrong. And when November 30^th gets here you will have the satisfaction of knowing that not only do you have a new novel in the works to edit but that you can also be satisfied that you never gave up like your non-supporters all thought you would. Keep going and forget what anyone else has to say!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day # 1: Don’t Turn and Run, You Can Actually Do This!

November 1, 2012 jcladyluv

Okay so it’s Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month. Even though it’s only the first day you are already thinking “what in the world did I get myself into here?” You are re-thinking the whole idea and pondering what the point of it all is.

Thoughts of doubt are starting to seep in and you are beginning to realize just how many words 50,000 is and the time you will have to invest to get it done. For those of you who have never done this before you may be starting to realize just how hard it really is to write a novel.

Coming from someone who has had all of these thoughts racing through their head before, and all at once, from the times I have done NaNoWriMo before, I’m here to tell you DON’T LISTEN TO THOSE VOICES! Those are the voices that are trying to get you to give up before you even begin. I know it seems like it can’t be done and like there is no point to all of this but it just isn’t true. The point is that your novel is closer to being done then it was before you started.

No matter what you’re inner critic is telling you, you can’t listen. You Can Do This. Hang in there, it does get easier. Soon (maybe even tomorrow) you will start to fall in love with your story as well as your characters and the plot will be all you can think about. Don’t run away from your story now, it needs you to convey it to the rest of the world!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Twas the Day Before NaNoWriMo

October 31, 2012 jcladyluv

Okay I know it’s Halloween and most of you are probably busy getting the children ready to go trick-or-treating in their costumes or off to their Halloween parties. In all of the Halloween candy rush don’t forget what tonight is. For those of you who have signed up to get lost in the world of words this November (National Novel Writing Month) it is the last night of freedom (in a sense) that you have to not be stressed over whether you met a certain word count requirement for the day.

By now you have hopefully already completed your outline, done your research, gained an intimate knowledge of your characters, and scheduled your time to write to suit your needs and your daily responsibilities. If you’ve gotten all of that checked off your to do list, then you are practically ready to go come November 1^st (that’s tomorrow by the way) but if you haven’t prepared then don’t panic. You could always do what a lot of writers do during NaNoWriMo anyway, wing it. Just start from point A and continue from there.

Also an important thing to remember for those who have not put tons of preparation into this, you DO NOT have to start your story from the very beginning. I must admit that I myself have a hard time starting a story in any other place but the beginning but I’ve tried starting at a different chapter but number one a time or two and, to my surprise, it did not kill my passion for the story or disturb the flow once I went back to the beginning.

If you can’t think of how to start your story off, then begin with chapter two, or three, or why not even start at the end. No matter where you start your story on November 1^st, just start! I’ll be blogging helpful tips and tricks to get through the crazy event that is NaNoWriMo throughout the month so make sure you check back from time to time. Until then…Happy NaNoWriMo-ing!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Reminder: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect On the First Draft

October 25, 2012 jcladyluv

I was reading blog posts this morning, catching up on posts from the last couple of days of some of the blogs that I subscribe to. I came across one by Catherine Ryan Howard discussing National Novel Writing Month and some of the backlash that the yearly event gets from “real writers” who turn down their noses at the idea of creating a novel in 30 days. Her blog post listed a whole host of reasons why she discarded the notion that NaNoWriMo is just nonsense and somehow belittles the profession of writing.

Until reading her blog post I had never known anyone to say anything bad about NaNoWriMo or that indicated that NaNoWriMo was something that was not for “real writers”. After all, I’ve done NaNoWriMo for many years and I don’t consider myself anything less than a real writer. It got me to thinking about just how many people that we don’t realize actually get the novels that they began writing during a National Novel Writing Month event published and just how important something like NaNoWriMo really is.

It also made me think about how many people do themselves in by trying to actually complete a novel (writing, editing, rewriting, and re-editing again many times over) in those 30 days. Maybe that’s where people get overwhelmed at with the thought of NaNoWriMo. So many people (myself included) have tried to complete the impossible task of writing and actually finishing a novel in 30 days that they forget to have fun while they are doing it.

Yes writing is (hard) work, but I think that a lot of times what we writers tend to forget during the month of November is that it should still be fun as well. There should still be passion behind the words we write and not just a continuous rush to get it done no matter what. If you are striving for a perfect draft the first time out the gate during NaNoWriMo then you may just be disappointed.

Don’t get caught up in exactly what the end product is supposed to be. After you’ve come up with the plot, you’ve done your outline, and you’ve mapped out your schedule, just sit down and write.

Don’t try and make it perfect, don’t go back and edit while you’re writing, don’t agonize over whether you’re going to be able to get it published once it’s done. Just sit down, enjoy the characters that are honoring you with telling their story, and write! I promise you that if you enjoy what you are writing, then people will almost certainly enjoy reading what you have written.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”