So You Want To Be A Writer?
Now's the time

The primary difference between aspiring authors and actual writers is the number of words on the page.

(Getting published on the other hand? Is a whole different can of worms.)

Have you always dreamed of being an author?

Did you come up with an awesome plot line or some amazing characters, but you'll never know what happens to them because it's just in your head?

Do you have a story that you just want to get out of you, so you can go back to your real life?

Have you ever dreamed of becoming the 'great American author'*?

What are you waiting for? Now is the time.

Join thousands of other people worldwide, who've committed to getting those all-important words-on-paper. You can't edit what you haven't written.

This is NOVEMBER. And November is National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo (or Nano). The month in which people pledge to ignore their inner critic, their mental editor, and just write. The official goal is 50,000 words, or approximately 200 pages. If you read what I like to read, you know, 50,000 words isn't a full novel, but it's a LOT more of a novel than most of us have right now.

Where To Start?

If you've ever seen an artist draw, often they start with pencil sketches, then they start inking, then, they fill in with color, finally, they add the shading and little details.

Writing a novel can be JUST LIKE THAT. Your outline (or your rough draft if you're a pantser**) is your pencil sketch. Your inking and maybe even a little color? That's your rough draft. Filling the rest of the color is your revisions. The shading and details are the line-edit polish.

Not everyone goes into November planning the full 50,000 words. Some hope for 10,000 words. But that's still more words than they started the month with! Some spend November revising, writing poetry or short stories -- NaNo "Rebels" are just as welcome.

If you've never participated in, or never won NaNoWriMo before, 50,000 words sounds like A LOT. Luckily, they break it down for us: 1,667 words per day, less than 7 pages a day. That sounds a lot less scary than 200 pages!

And bonus? If you're writing a novel? You get to make stuff up.

Join me on NaNoWriMo.org! [And feel free to friend me! My Profile ]




P.S. Check out my NaNoWriMo Posts from the Past!

Twas The Week Before NaNo
It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint
An Outline To Write By (for Plantsers and Plotters)
How to win NaNoWriMo
3 Things That Helped Me Win NaNoWriMo early
Craft Vs Professionalism

* Okay, this one isn't really a genre *I* read, but best of luck to you anyway.

*There are 3 general approaches to writing: planners, pantsers (who write without a plan 'by the seat of their pants'), and plantsers (who plan a little and wing the rest).