NaNoWriMo: tips for a quick first draft.

Here's a post from Rachelle Gardner with four tips for writing a fast first draft. 

I suspect my biggest struggles are going to be not editing as I go along, and finding uninterrupted stretches of time in which to write. How about you?

I'm nervous, you guys. Give me a pep talk in the comments section.

Critique contest!

I'm writing this on Monday, from my West Coast home, while the East Coast hunkers down waiting for Hurricane Sandy. Hang in there and stay safe, guys. I'm sending lots of good thoughts your way.

A couple of weeks ago, I promised to do a critique contest when the comments on this post hit 25-- which I'm delighted to say they have. Thanks for spreading the word, and for leaving a comment, too!

So here's the deal on the contest:

What's the prize?  I will critique the first two pages of your manuscript (maximum of 750 words), here on the blog. All genres welcome, though you might have a look at my submission guidelines to see what I'd say are my areas of expertise. In other words, I'll happily critique your military thriller, but I'm not as well-versed in how it fits into its genre.

How do I enter? Leave a comment on this post. You've got till Friday, November 9 to enter. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner. One entry per person, please!

What's the catch? If you enter and are chosen as the winner, you agree to let me post your pages here on the blog; this is a public critique. You needn't use your real name if you'd prefer to stay anonymous, but if you'd like me to I will include a link to your website as part of the post.

Who's eligible to enter? Everybody except my clients and the clients of my SJGA colleagues. Sorry, guys. I think this will be most useful to those writers who are as-yet unpublished, but I'm not going to make that decision for you.

What's the deadline again? Friday, November 9-- the contest is open till I close comments on this post. I'm giving you a bunch of time because I'm guessing many people are a little distracted by the hurricane/the election/the impending NaNoWriMo start date.

Spread the word, and don't forget to leave a comment to enter. Good luck!

Monday morning thought.

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him to the public.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

(via Advice to Writers)

Fridaydream: your Sunday project.

I almost never talk about it here, but I am a total nerd about craft stuff-- most recently quilting. I read a lot of quilt blogs, which I recommend for the pretty pretty pictures even if you have no interest whatsoever in making your own quilts.

A blogger I've been reading for a while had a fantastic post last week about "planning for someday," and told  a great, funny story that I don't want to spoil here. Go read the post and come back.

It really struck a chord with me. How about you? What's your Sunday project?

Age-appropriateness and children's books.

Here's a lovely, thoughtful article from the Horn Book on the pros and cons of "reading up," i.e. when a precocious reader gets into books that may be beyond her, content-wise.

Are you a fan of age recommendations for books?

PS

We're up to 22 comments on last week's post about lies writers tell themselves-- only three more comments to go before we hit the magic 25 and do a critique contest.

Spread the word, and don't forget to comment on that post, if you haven't already done so!

NaNoWriMo: call for guest posts!

So we talked about NaNoWriMo a lot here last year-- but I admitted publicly then that I've never actually participated, myself!

Well, a number of my clients are dedicated NaNo-ers and have been pressuring me to try it.

Deep breath.

I'm not going to formally sign up (I don't think?) but... I'm in.

In the poll we did last week, about two-thirds of you said you were planning to participate in NaNoWriMo (hooray!), either formally or informally. I'm going to use that 2/3 split as a guide for November's blog posts: we'll do about two days of NaNo content, then one day of other stuff, and so on.

I need help with this, though, for two reasons.

1) Trying to write almost 1700 words a day of fiction is going to keep me pretty busy-- and I can't exactly quit the day job, can I?  So give me some ideas (NaNo-related or not) for posts I can pre-schedule, so I don't have a blog post AND my word count hanging over my head every day. What's a topic you wish I would cover? Maybe an advice column would be fun? Give me your best ideas for keeping the blog fed.

2) I'd also like to try doing guest posts for the first time. Let's keep them NaNo-related for now, but if you've got a great idea for a non-NaNo post you'd like to do, let me know that too. I'd love to hear from NaNo veterans, maybe with some words of advice or funny anecdotes, and from NaNo n00bs too, on the experience of participating for the first time.

I'll write some here about my own experience too, I imagine, but I'd rather hear from you.

I'll accept guest posts of most any length, but probably keeping it under 750 words is best. I'll link to your blog or your Twitter or whatever else you like. Email me if you'd like to participate!