November is National Novel Writing Month, most often referred to as NaNoWiMo or NaNo. I’m typing my way toward 50,000 words to create part of a novel rough draft. Did you catch the last two words in that sentence? ROUGH DRAFT Much of what I’ve written will, and should, disappear during an editing phase. As […]
Archives for November 2012
Real Life Writing
November 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This week we echoed the pilgrims’ thankfulness to God for safe passage to a new land where they could worship freely and for His providence during difficult times. Many friends have been posting “30 days of thanksgiving” on their Facebook pages. This simple writing exercise is good not only for the soul, but also for […]
The Problem of Hopping Heads
November 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Who’s in Control of the Scene? You have a hero. You have a heroine. You have a scene. The question is which of those characters is controlling the scene? What does it mean to head-hop, and why is head-hopping a bad thing? When embarking on any scene in a novel, you are naturally taking on […]
Weather and Character Emotions
November 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I love the crisp cool days and bright blue skies. Can this feeling translate to writing? Weather can become an important item to set the temperament of the scene or the entire novel. In the movie “Blade Runner,” a Harrison Ford film just after his “Star Wars” […]
The Best Cowboy at the Rodeo is the Clown
November 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Every rider, roper, athlete, or stunt double will tell you: before you can do the special tricks, you have to master the basics, or you’re likely to get hurt. So here’s a VERY basic writing question: What’s a sentence? Answer you learned in 3rd grade: A sentence has a noun (specifically a subject) and a […]
