Writing

How NaNoWriMo is going for me.

With it being the first of November, the last thing I needed was more pressure. But on the first week of November, my school decided it was finals week. Therefore I've not had much time to write. While my story has been going well (it'll be up on Inkitt by the end of November!) it has been super difficult. I'm at 8,000 words right now, my goal says I'm supposed to be at 13,000 So I'm going to have to catch up over the weekend. Other than that, that's all I have to say. To everyone who's participating, good luck!

How to Survive NaNoWriMo

It's November first, and that means its officially day one of NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. It's a challenging task to survive and, if you're skilled, reach the goal of 50,000 words in a month. Though I've never reached the goal, I've gotten super close and I can share my tips for surviving this joyous quest.

+Pace Yourself: 50k words is a lot in one month. If you don't pace yourself you will be scrambling to get everything done.

+Procrastination is a BIG No: Missing one day of writing is not good at all. You need every minute you can get in NaNoWriMo. 31 days isn't long. So don't get too distracted and concentrate.

+Don't "Stuff" Your Writing: NaNoWriMo is supposed to make you a better author and show that you can write well. That doesn't mean to stuff a document full of stories and plots that don't make sense just to meet that word deadline.

+Be Apart of the Community: Not once in my entire six year career have I ever seen authors work together and cheer each other on. This is by far the most amazing writing event to get into. It's so fun to see who meets that goal and even surprise yourself when you do.

+Don't Beat Yourself Up if You Don't Make it: Not everyone makes it. It's okay. I didn't make it my first year. Just keep trying and everything will be okay. I believe in you.

So that's all I have for this post. I hope you find it helpful. If you haven't participated in NaNoWriMo, or haven't even write a story before, then I highly recommend doing both.

Tips for Beginner Writers

Let's face it, writing can suck at times. It's stressful, difficult and sometimes the creativity just isn't flowing. Since I've been writing for about five years, I've decided to share some things I wish I had learned when I had just started. So enjoy the list!

>Don't let the negative comments get to you. I know hearing someone say that you are a horrible writer sucks, but just ignore it. People are going to hate your work, you just have to prevail.

>Accept criticism and take it into account. I know criticism is rough, but it really helps. If multiple people are saying your story line doesn't make sense, then it probably should be revised.

>You don't have to use proper grammar when a character is speaking. No seriously though. One of the most annoying things ever is when all characters sound the same. If one character from the south, give 'em n' accent. If they're British, aye laddy make 'em sound like it.

>Describe your character's appearance as they enter the scene. Giving details about their hair or eye colour half way through the book is near pointless. By that time, the readers have already created the characters in their minds.

>Don't give your characters ungodly complicated names. Makala-leighann may seem like a pretty name, but after writing it 200 times, you're going to want to murder your mind for putting you through this. Not only do you suffer, so do the poor readers trying to pronounce this every time they see it.

>Pick the names wisely. When I'm reading a book. The first thing I notice is names. If there's a girl names Makayla in the story. I immediately think she's going to be a rich, white girl. When I hear the name Danesha, I assume the character has African roots. Matthew makes me think of a quiet kid, while Luke makes me think he's more on the popular side. Bonus points if the main characters name has a hidden meaning.

>Don't worry about word count. Unless your publisher says you need to have a certain amount of words, you can make it as short or as long as you want. Trust me, I've read tons of stories. Some are short, and absolutely AMAZING! But then there are others which are so long and I could tell where the author put fillers in to make the story longer.