Writing and Story Resources

Most of my attempts at writing a novel have come during National Novel Writing Month. I have a few projects scattered over the past 8 years or so that I've started in a month other than November, but typically I start my projects during NaNoWriMo. I bookmark resources during November and beyond that are designed to help writers in need of ideas, plot bunnies, character traits and more.

Some of the resources I have collected are just about writing in general and how to improve your craft. Others are great places to find plot ideas and random extra characters. And some are just places for creative inspiration.

Here is my Top 10 list for writing resources (in no particular order):

1. Better Novel Project

I found Better Novel Project while listening to a Harry Potter podcast. If you're a fan of Harry Potter and literary analysis, you should head on over to MuggleNet Academia for a listen. It's really good. It also helps me feel smarter than I am. Better Novel Project is the research and analysis of Christine Frazier. Christine breaks down the first book of three popular science fiction/fantasy series: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Twilight. She has a master outline that discusses chapter by chapter, point by point, the story elements these three books use to tell the stories of their heroes and heroines. 

2. Write Like Rowling - The Friendly Editor

If you're a fan of Harry Potter and you are a writer/aspire to be a writer, then you should also check out Write Like Rowling. C.S. Plocher has blog posts, guest features and handy tips on being a more successful writer. There's a ton of stuff on there about J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. I also found this website while listening to MuggleNet Academia.

3. TV Tropes

I don't even know where I found this one. Probably in a forum on NaNoWriMo's website. The TV Trope site has...so much stuff it's overwhelming. What makes this website cool is that everything on it is a story element of some kind. A trope is an element of story telling that may seem cliche but it's used often for a reason: because it works. A trope might be "heartwarming orphan" or "parental abandonment" or...just anything that seems like a common story element. The website is just waiting for you to fall through the rabbit hole and find yourself staring at the computer screen at 3 in the morning and wondering how and why you missed dinner.

4. Pinterest

This one might seem weird but I think Pinterest is weirdly obvious. The best way to storyboard your idea is to literally create a storyboard. I save images that remind me of characters or links to research pertaining to my plot. Last year one of my characters owned and managed an alpaca farm and also grew organic vegetables for her own recipes for restaurants she owned. So I saved pins pertaining to raising alpacas and statting your own mega gardens. There are also links to writing resources on Pinterest. It's a cool way to bookmark your interests and save it in a beautiful format. Plus you can access it from anywhere with the internet if you have a smartphone, tablet or computer.

4. NaNoWriMo Word Sprints

This one is actually a Twitter feed. It's a great resource because it gives you plot bunnies, story prompts and challenges to write so many words in so many minutes during National Novel Writing Month or Camp NaNoWriMo. I even head over there when I'm not working on a NaNo-specific project. It's a great way to meet fellow writers online as well.

5. Figment

I don't remember how I found Figment originally. I think I was looking for online writing contests. I had lost my full time job and was only working part time so I needed something to fill my time. I found Figment and I have been pretty active on the website every since. There are forums to chat in and get story ideas from and contests for short stories with some really cool prizes. It's a site meant for youth and young adults, but all are welcome to participate. I'm 30 now so I am not really their core demographic but it really is a great website to post any style of writing in a welcoming environment.

6. NaNoWriMo

I pretty much talk about National Novel Writing Month in almost every blog post, but it really is such a terrific event and an awesome website. There are writing resources and the sponsors each year always have such cool tools for established authors and newbies alike. There are forums upon forums upon forums. You can find a local writing group or meet up online with other people from across the world. Even if you don't participate in November or write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, I highly recommend you join the website and check out everything on it.

7. Family Echo

Another weird one but one I found vital during last year's NaNoWriMo project. Family Echo is a free family tree maker. It's perfect for fake genealogy and keeping track of who is half siblings or step siblings and what everyone's birthdays are. And it's free.

8. Inflation Calculator

If you write historical fiction...or any fiction that jumps even a few years back in time, then you need this inflation calculator. It's perfect for any story that takes place in the United States or with the U.S. dollar. It was invaluable over the course of my last few years of NaNoWriMmo.

9. Random Plot Generator

I love this random plot generator because it gives you two characters, a setting, a theme, a situation and a character action randomly. You can change each point individually or all of them. The website also has other "random generators" related to writing and story telling.

10. Surname Generator

If you're like me you can think of first names but last names are hard. This surname generator helps you make sure your last names aren't all Smith, Jones and Miller. You can save your favorites and compare. It really is fun.

Writing for Fun, Writing for Work, Writing for Money

As I'm sure you already know, there are many different types of writing out there. I'm not just talking about fiction vs. non-fiction, poetry vs. prose and so on and so forth. I'm talking bout about writing for fun or work or money. Sometimes all three.

I juggle this world of all three quite a bit. I work as a freelance content writer when I'm not at my part-time day job. Even when I find full time work again (and I pray each day that I do) I plan to continue my content writing. I get to choose what articles I want to write each day and each week. It can be a lot of fun. It can also be a little monotonous and boring depending on what articles I pick. But it gives me a chance to write for work and  money. Sometimes it also gives me a chance to write for fun.

Then there is when I write purely for fun. I write for fun in a lot of ways. Sometimes it's just because a fun idea pops into my head. Sometimes it's because I see a writing prompt in my inbox. Sometimes it's because I'm participating in NaNoWriMo in November. But writing projects for NaNo can also become a lot of work. Work without money.

Someday I hope to write for fun, work and money all at once, and not just with 300 word blog posts as a content writer. I want to write a book. And then actually make a second and third draft of said book. And have beta-readers and editors and publish it. Whether I get to publish it myself or with a traditional publisher, I want to have a book that people can purchase and own and read and love.

But for now I write for fun.

And sometimes for work.

And sometimes for money.

When Your Plot Hits You

Hi reader! It's a couple months to NaNoWriMo 2016, but my prep work has begun. Usually I don't have a plot until right before I start writing. It's just how I roll. This year, though, I decided to take on a little experiment. Yes I'm going to write 50,000 words in 30 days and attempt to do so using this nifty little master plan over at the Better Novel Project.

Now when I decided take on this incredibly crazy and absolutely ridiculous awesome and thought-provoking experiment, I had no plot. I wasn't even sure what genre I was going to explore. The master plan is made for books in science fiction or fantasy, but I felt confident I could adapt it to almost any genre and story type. Still do feel confident I could do that.

But then a Twitter conversation turned an accidental dragon emoji into NaNoWriMo 2016's official mascot. Then I suddenly loved the idea of an adolescent girl with a pet dragon. That girl then became a princess who in turn became a warrior. This warrior princess has a quest with required challenges and...well you get the point.

So my main character became this living, breathing, very real person to me in a little less than 15 minutes and my Pinterest board is full of ideas and photos of swords and mythological creatures.

I guess I'm diving head first into fantasy. Fantasy that's not Harry Potter fan fiction.

We're not in Kansas anymore Toto.

Clearing a Space for Writing

Sometimes writing takes very little preparation. When a writing prompt for a piece of flash fiction pops up in my inbox from Figment, I open Word or Google Docs, type the first thing that pops into my head, save and submit or post. When I'm working my freelance content writing pieces I have to do a little research, check the style guides and make sure I'm meeting my deadlines. For things like National Novel Writing Month, sometimes even more prep work is needed.

This year for NaNoWriMo I am attempting to follow the Better Novel Project's master outline. I discussed in an earlier blog about some of the prep work to make sure my Scrivener document is ready for November but there is some other prep work I have yet to do.

Clearing actual space for writing. And no, I'm not talking about in my hard drive. I live in a small, 2 bedroom apartment. Most of the time I write while sitting on my recliner couch seat, my laptop on my lap and music or the TV on in the background. Typically my TV is tuned in to the Cleveland Indians or Netflix. The second bedroom in my home is full of stuff we don't actually have room for. I have zero storage in my home and the one car garage isn't attached so boxes of decorations or season things tend to wind up in this second room. Kind of like limbo. This year for NaNoWriMo I want to be able to sit at my actual desk with my actual books in an actual computer chair.

So I have 61 days to clear the extra junk out of that room and make the space for great, creative writing. Heck, maybe I will use the vintage typewriter hanging out back there to type a chapter or two just because.

Maybe if I'm brave enough I will post photos of my progress in the back bedroom, but only if you promise to NOT judge me for my horribly cluttered and messy spare room.

Word Count Boosting, Writer's Block Blasting

If you're a writer then you surely know what writer's block feels like. It's suffocating, debilitating and frustrating as hell. It can stop even the best story in its tracks. When I participate in NaNoWriMo I typically experience this around the 20,000 word mark. This takes place partway through the second week and 1,667 words a day suddenly feels insurmountable.

Here are a few ways I break down the walls of writer's block:

1. Follow NaNoWriMo's word sprints on Twitter. There are challenges and, when you only have to commit to 10, 15 or 30 minutes at a time, it is much easier to pound out some words and report back to the team member who's tweeting. They typically provide sprints all day and night during NaNo since writers participate from all over the world.

2.Select writing prompts. NaNo provides tons of prompts as do members of local and regional NaNo writing communities. I also seek writing prompts from places like Figment. I can usually use the prompt or part of the prompt to eek out a scene or chapter that fits with the plot of my story. Even prompts for poems and short stories can help develop bits and pieces of your novel.

3. Use Sex Scenes. This works especially well when I have to find a lot of words for my daily writing during NaNoWriMo. It may sound unconventional, and it's not for everyone...but it works surprisingly well to get out of a writing funk. They are easier to write than you think...even though I find them awkward to read later. I generally go back and remove a lot of these scenes after the fact but they get my story moving again when nothing else works. This is an especially good method when writing in November, but if you're working on a novel you intend to sellC make sure the scene is appropriate for the genre and general plot of your book. These scenes are great because you're forced to use description and create potential conflict between two characters in your story. They can also just be really fun to write, especially if a romance scene is completely ridiculous at that moment in your story.

What are your tested and true ways to bust out of a writer's funk or increase your word counts for daily writing goals?

My NaNo Failures and Successes

With most writing projects I start them full-steam. Short stories, flash fiction and the like are very easy for me to complete. Give me a prompt and a word count of up to 5,000 and I can get the ideas out of my head very quickly. I want to write a novel, however.

And I acutally have. The first time I participated in National Novel Writing Month I started late and still managed to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Not only that, but I completed the novel. I've even gone back and done a couple passes at editing. This novel (quickly titled "Night of Epic Proportions) is not-so-loosely based on my brother's teenage escapades at a Halloween party in rural Ohio. The events mostly happened. I exagerated some and changed all of the names. I added a couple view points that I made up. It's a fun little novel, but it's not publishable. It was mostly as a family joke that year and it was a great way to jump into the novel-writing world with little to no pressure.

In year two I wrote a Post-Hogwarts/Next Generation Harry Potter fan fic novel. I did not get to 50,000 words in 30 days. I wrote 8,700 words that first week and then stopped. In my defense, I married my husband and lost my job in the two weeks that preceded the start of NaNoWriMo in 2010. I did, however, eventually complete this story on my own time. Again, it's not publishable since it's a piece of fan fiction. I still loved visiting this story and writing it almost every day.

But a pattern started to emerge. I particiapted in NaNo but couldn't win. In 2011 I attempted a slasher/thriller/mystery novel. I managed 7,383 words before I quit working on it. It hasn't pushed much further than this either. The plot points are still in my head and I jot down notes all the time for different elements of the story. This one will take a lot of research. I lost most of my research when my computer crashed a couple years back (all of my writing is backed up, thankfully). The potential is still there for this one, but it's not a passion project for me at this point.

In 2012 I finally got back in the win column with "The Tale of Anna Markov (Working Title)." I need a better name of this one. I love this story. I reached approximately 52,00 words with this one but the story isn't complete. I've re-read my writing and made some edits and changes. I defintely want to revisit this one and finish it.

Much like many of my favorite sports teams, I couldn't keep my winning streak going. In 2013 I had an epic failure. "Hidden Moments of America's Greatest Comedy: The Office" was not my idea. I love The Office. It's my favorite TV comedy of all time. I found a fellow Office-lover and she wanted to partner up on a NaNo project. Essentially writing fan-fiction. But I found that fan-fiction for TV shows was very different than fan-fiction for books. And I couldn't make it work. I wrote 789 words and said "nope not this year."

"The Librarian's Assistant" found its way into my head in 2014. Leonora falls into the pages of her favorite book Jane Eyre with her new-found love interest. Very new-found. As in...they are on their first date kind of new. I managed just over 34,000 words with this one and recently re-read the entire thing. I made changes, added some scenes and continued writing where I left off. I don't know if it's publishable but it's a fun story that I want to finish.

Last year I managed another "W" with "Code Name: Alpaca Farm." I don't have a real name for it and one of the characters has an alpaca farm. The alpaca became a mascot of sorts for 2015's NaNoWriMo writing project. I hit 50,000 words halfway through the month and added another 10,000. I did a fair amount of planning and story-boarding for this novel, but I lost my plot along the way. When we last see the heroine, Marigold, she's making out with someone she really shouldn't be having feelings for. At least not at this point in the story. Maybe not ever.

My hopes for this year are to map out a story and not only win NaNoWriMo by writing 50,000 words in November, but to also finish the story itself. A complete first draft.

Now to find a plot...

Ghosts of Plots Past

This past week I recveived a writing prompt in my inbox from Figment (a great writing website and resource for youth and young adults...or well anyone actually). The prompt was to write a story about your characters when they find out you've abandoned their story. The thing is...I've abandoned a lot of characters. Sometimes that makes me shrug my shoulders. Sometimes that makes me feel like a failure. Instead I tried to look at it as one of those funny things that happens to writers and their characters.

So I sat down and hastily typed out 1,300 words about my three most recent characters. All three are women I abandoned midway through their stories. It's worth noting that all three of them are characters from my most recent NaNoWriMo stories. Two of these three stories were part of "winning years." You can read more about NaNo and my "wins" over here.

I wrote about Leonora being trapped innside Jane Eyre. And trapped inside my story about her being trapped inside Jane Eyre. I wrote about Arianna finding her village street abandoned and her husband's sudden unwavering silence. I wrote about Marigold's confusion when Mitchell suddenly stopped kissing her. Poor girl. He just sat there staring blankly despite her best efforts.

And I wrote about how each of these three young women walked and walked and walked until the settings around them disappeared. They found trees and grass and fields of wild flowers. Then the trees and flowers disappeared. Then the grass. The ground became barren. The sky's color desaturated. They were still...someplace. They each found the edge of their stories. The edge of my plots. They found the points beyond my plans for them. They also found each other.

Leonora figured it out first. She is, of course, well-versed in finding herself within a story. When she and her love interest fell into the pages of a book, she figured it out quickly. So when she noticed the story had stopped progressing, she walked until she found the edge of her own story.

I'm not sure what this discovery means for my three heroines. All three of the plots were interesting and challenging in their own ways. All three of these women are fully developed characters in my mind. I know why they do the things that they do. Even when they do things I don't orignally intend. Maybe in this little meta-story where my characters are self-aware they'll be able to convince me to finish their stories and give them places to make out with potential boyfriends, husbands and love interests in peace.

Scrivener Setup

November might seem like a long time away. But I thought August seemed like an eternity away when I finally got used to writing 2016 instead of 2015. I figured if I used some free time now to set up my Scrivener document, it would make everything a lot easier when I begin planning my characters, settings and plot points.

Tonight I began setting up each part of the book. I broke mine down into Beginning, Pre-Middle, Middle and Ending. Then I used Scrivener's notecards to make each story point Christine metnions over at Better Novel Project. I made my own icon and color coding system for easier identification in the folders on the left. You can also do this with other writing software and applications, but I found Scrivener very helpful for last year's NaNoWriMo and for other writing projects this year. It took me about an hour and a half to get everything added and I am not finished changing everything to "to do" and updating the icons and color coding for each card. The most time consuming part of the outline is done now, however.

Scrivener costs $40, but you can download a 30-day free trial. Last year Scrivener was a NaNoWriMo sponsor and there was a special trial that lasted longer than the typical 30 days. NaNoWriMo winners also received a coupon for 50 percent off the purchase price. It is totally worth full price though. I used the free trial through NaNo, won NaNo and then purchased it for half price in the month of December. As a writer it's the best money I have ever spent with the exception of my laptop.

Below is a screen capture of how the master plan looks when plugged into Scrivener. I am excited about using Scrivener for another National Novel Writing Project and am interested in how it will work with my new master plan experiment.

NaNoWriMo 2016

As I said in my last blog post, I love participating in NaNoWriMo. I almost always mark myself as a "panster" instead of a "planner." I don't really map out my story ahead of time. I might make a couple character notes, decide on names for my characters or save pictures that inspire me and remind me of my story. But I do not map out the plot. I do not make story webs. I do not have a grid with each chapter and subplots.

Recently I found the Better Novel Project through a Harry Potter podcast. The website's creator, Christine, analyzes the first book in the best-selling series Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Twilight. She breaks them down using a master outline that includes hero traits, character cards, themes, symbolism and scenes. When I say breaks them down, I mean really breaks them down. Each break down has its own blog post about how each book does it and why it works.

Now, I'm not sure if I'm going to be writing sci-fi or fantasy for my NaNoWriMo 2016 project, but I thought it would be interesting to intentionally follow her master outline for this year's story. I have Scrivener and it really is the perfect resource and application for this type of planned writing. I used it for last year's NaNo for the first time ever and even without a ton of planning ahead of time, it helped me write more than I ever have before for the month of November.

It's only August, so we are a ways away from the actual start of National Novel Writing Month. I don't have a story idea yet. I don't even know what genre I want to explore. But I think it will be really fun to use this researched method of writing that have worked for some of the 21st century's most respected and successful authors.

National Novel Writing Month

I have particiapted in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) since November of 2009. Each year I write (or attempt to write) a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Yes that 30-day month that has Thanksgiving and Black Friday in it. I know. It sounds crazy. It is crazy. But it's also a lot of fun and a great way to get in the habit of writing every day. It's a challenge, it's challenging and it is seriously some of the most fun I have ever had writing. If you are a writer (read: aspring novelist or you write just for fun), it really is a great way to just get words on the page. It helps you blast through writer's block because for those 30 days it's just about writing. When you stop worrying about your writing being perfect and instead focus on just getting the words out of your head and onto the screen (or page if you're old school), it is really easy to break down the barriers and obstacles writing can present. There are prizes, challenges, word prompts and all-night write-a-thons. There are write-ins at local libraries and online communities filled with writers just like me. And just like you.

Winning NaNoWriMo is easy. You just have to complete your 50,000 words by midnight in your timezone on November 30. OK, maybe easy isn't the right word. What I mean is winning isn't contingent on how good your story is, if it gets published, if the story itself is finished or if it needs major cuts, edits and re-writes. Write 50,000 words (not the same word over and over) from November 1-November 30 and you get a nifty winner badge and all the winner goodies. I personally have won NaNoWriMo three times. This includes my 2015 win. I hit the 50,000 word mark halfway through the month and added an additonal 10,000 words on top of that. I'm not to the end of the story and I am pretty sure it's way too long.

Some of my stories were terrible.

Some of them were good, but not publishable for one reason or another.

Some were fanfiction and really fun.

Some are good ideas but I just didn't have the steam to get to 50,000 words.

The important part is I wrote them. I participated. I sat down at my computer or with my notebook or with napkins at restaurants and I put my thoughts into words.

You should too!