How I'm Preparing for NaNoWriMo 2018

It was the fall of 2008. I was a few months into my full-time internship and living away from Chicago for the first time. I’d been writing my whole life, but in college it was much more sporadic than usual. I was ready to write more. I had a retelling of Snow White I’d been working on for literally years, but never finished it. A friend of mine from high school mentioned one day “Have you ever heard of this this called National Novel Writing Month? You should try it.”

Okay, I don’t remember if that was the exact quote. But you get the idea.

Looking back on it, that novel was awful. Like… it should never see the light of day awful. But, it was a start.

Since then I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo every single year. 10 wins. 1 Loss. 8 fantasy. 2 contemporary. The first was to complete what I’d already started, the rest were brand new novels starting from scratch.

Now it’s 2018 and low and behold - I’ve come back to that original Snow White novel.

Funny how life works, isn’t it?

Yet, nothing could be more different than that first attempt 10 years ago.

My relationship with NaNoWriMo is vastly different than it was ten years ago. The months leading up to November I lived in the forums looking for inspiration, grabbing character names, and finding writing buddies. When they started the word sprints on Twitter I was there for them all! I searched for write ins (but rarely went due to schedules and some minor social anxiety) and even put together one with a couple of people.

Now… not so much. Instead of going to the forums for ideas and brainstorming, I go to my small writing group or other people I’ve connected with who are also writers. For me, it’s much more effective and helpful. If I need the motivation, I’ll jump in on the writing sprints on Twitter, but not the way I used to.

In fact, I’m not even starting a book from scratch this year.

I used to have a hard time with my changing relationship. Isn’t the point of NaNoWriMo to write a new book? Isn’t part of the joy of NaNoWriMo the community that comes along with it?

Last year, I was listening to the Writing Excuses podcast and they were discussing NaNoWriMo. One of the hosts pointed out that the intent of the event was for new writers. The people who have always said “I’ve always wanted to write a novel” but never did. Experienced novelists of course can participate too, but the purpose is going to be different for them.

When I listened to this perspective, the weight of my changing relationship with the event I loved so much was lifted. It’s okay if I don’t interact on the website as much as I used to. It’s okay if I don’t jump at each Twitter notification that a writing sprint is starting. It’s okay if the book I work on isn’t a brand new project.

This year, I’m focusing on my revisions and rewrites for White Rose. It’s the original Snow White retelling that I started all those years ago. (For those of you freaking out that I’m trying to resurrect a terrible old project full of teen angst- you can calm down. I started this book from scratch last year and the only things that are the same are a couple of character names and maybe one or two plot points. It’s a vastly different book than it was!) I’ll be rearranging scenes, rewriting chapters, and piecing together what’s decent enough to salvage for the new draft.

To be honest, I’m not sure how I’m going to keep track of my word count this coming November. It’ll be an adventure!

How am I getting ready? A couple of different ways.

A Lot of Help and Guidance

While I wasn’t picked for PitchWars, I am fortunate enough to have made some great connections with people who believe in me and my book. I’ve been given tips, resources, worksheets, and excel documents to help me organize my thoughts and look at my novel from an objective perspective to figure out what I need to do moving forward. Pretty much all of my prep resources have been given to me by other people and goodness it’s helpful.

I have writing friends who are loving and patient enough to listen to me ramble about my characters and plot lines. Even if they don’t have suggestions, it’s useful just to have them there to be like “yes, what you’re saying makes sense” or “I understand your pain.”

Character Profiles

I’m attempting to make a detailed character profile for each of my main characters before November. Eventually, I want to have them for my minor characters as well. If I can get them all in before November, that would be great! But, I have so many that I know this is probably an unrealistic goal. I have a couple of them done and it is so helpful for me to dig deep into the characters so I can figure out their story lines and how I need to change things for them in my manuscript.

Detailed Outlining and Scene Trackers

I’ve always been an outliner, but the last few years for my first drafts they’ve been pretty loose ones. When I go into revisions though, I want to have a fully laid out plan so I know exactly what I need to fix and do.

It’s tedious and time consuming, but having everything laid out for me is opening my eyes to what’s broken and how to fit it in this draft. I’m seeing what scenes need to be cut, combined with others, rearranged, and added. If I had done this for a rough draft, I would have been completely overwhelmed. For a rewrite revision? It’s gold.

By the time November is here, I want to have this outline sketched out in Scrivener. That way when I’m ready to write, I can jump in and not worry about “so what am I doing next?”

Or at least I won’t be as much - hopefully.

Honestly… that’s pretty much it. The list is short, but each one of them are so time consuming and helpful, I’m feeling confident for November.

Who else is prepping for NaNoWriMo? Any tips? What kind of project are you working on for November? How are you preparing?

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Paperbacks 3 for $30

The Should-Be Hole

When I begin to dream up a book, I can see the perfect image of what it should be. The feel it should have, the messages to come through, and where it would sit on a shelf in the bookstore. I think about how it'll be different from the others I've written and the challenges but also awesome moments it will have. 

Then, I begin my rough draft, and it's nothing like I imagined .

I don't have all of the answers I think I do. The prose is clunky and awkward. Characters aren't developed. There's so many plot and world building holes it looks like Swiss Cheese. 

When approaching White Rose, I pictured this big sprawling epic fantasy. I would have maps, charts, appendixes to all of the political alliances and family trees. I even have a guide to the religion and all of the deities. Which is pretty great and I'm proud of the work I have gotten done, even if it's not totally complete yet. 

I realized then, that it's been a long time since I've read a big epic fantasy for an adult audience. I wasn't even sure how those books felt anymore. I've read them for young adult, but not adult lately. So, I picked up one.

Goodness, it was boring.

Now, I love long descriptions and a beautifully detailed fantasy world like anyone else. But this book had me so bored. It had rave reviews and had everything I'd usually enjoy in a fantasy. Intrigue, romance, a great leading female character, etc. Yet, the style of the writing left me completely bored and I had to force myself each day to pick up the book. 

Later, I thought about the other fantasy novels I tend to enjoy. The big fat adult fantasies are in there for sure, but the vast majority are either urban fantasy, or they're young adult. It made me think about how I'm approaching my own novel. (Now, if only New Adult would become an actual thing and not just a romance sub-genre... that would be great because I think my novel would fit there... but that's another topic for another time.)

What's been making me stumble with my last couple of projects is the idea of what the novel "should" be. I think it "should" be one thing, when that thing may not be what I actually like or am good at. Or, I think about the book as how the end result will be, and not what the rough draft is. 

VE Schwabb wrote this on her Twitter once, and I still think of it often: (I would link the tweet itself, but it was in 2015 and I don't have the patience to scroll through her feed that far back)

"So many people set out to write a Novel of Great Importance. I just want to write stories that make people forget where they are. I want to make readers miss their stop. I want to make them smile and gasp and cheer. I want them to have fun."

A lot of writers think about this, and it's not an uncommon struggle for myself. (I wrote about it when Schwabb first wrote this tweet on my old blog in 2015!) I think my novel needs to be Very Important. It has to have the most advanced vocabulary, beautiful prose, and have Deep Meaning. All of these things are great and wonderful.

But is that really me?

I hope my books have deeper meanings than they may appear and will touch people who read them. But ultimately, I want them to be enjoyable. Not a chore for someone to sit through as they struggle to pick it up because supposedly it's "good" for them. 

I refer to books like that as being kale. Some people love it, and that's great for them. But for me, it's that healthy food that is supposed to be really good for you and in the end my body will probably be glad I ate it. But the process makes me cringe because it just doesn't taste good.

It's not just with writing though. How many times in our lives do we see something and think "that's what my life should be!" But, that's not reality at all? And that's okay.

Too many times we stumble because we think we need to be, look, and behave a certain way. We should have a certain type of job, our relationship status should be one thing, at a certain age or body type you need to dress a specific way, etc. 

Why do we put this pressure on ourselves? It can be good to set goals for ourselves and be sure we're making progress and taking care of our lives, family, friends, etc. But these goals should be based on what we like, enjoy, and do for ourselves. Not what we think everyone else would find impressive. 

But it's a hard rut to get out of. I see myself with my career and where I am in life and find myself comparing to others and what it "should" be. When I write I imagine what my novel or my blog posts "should" be, and then it becomes something I don't actually want or like. 

What do you do to get out of the "should be" hole?

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Writers Self-Care

I'm not good at staying healthy and taking care of my body. I don't have a regular exercise routine, I don't pre-plan my meals or stick to a diet, and depending on my work schedule I either get too little sleep, or too much. 

What possessed me to open up Yoga With Adrienne on YouTube on my days off this week, I have no idea.

But you know what? It felt good. I loved being able to stretch out, get a work out in, and focus my mind to prepare for the day. 

Years back, I had gotten into the habit of doing yoga almost everyday, but then I randomly skipped a day and it all went downhill from there. Once you break a habit it's hard to get it back. I learned that the hard way the last few months when I took December off from writing my novel. Getting back into the habit of sitting down and writing has been difficult to say the least. 

A few days ago, I was talking with one of my critique partners and she was saying how essential her daily writing sessions have been for her life, and hated the idea of having to give them up for other things through the day. For most of us writers, getting in our daily writing time is hard because it's such an isolated thing. Particularly if you aren't getting paid for it. It seems selfish and guilt sets in.

On the Writing Excuses Podcast, Brandon Sanderson continually encourages writers to not feel this way, because our writing is an essential part of who we are and how we take care of ourselves. He says that when someone has a daily run or a weekly basketball league they go to, no one ever is like "Well, you're never going to be a professional basketball player or Olympic athlete so why bother?" We should have the same attitude towards our writing. Even if it doesn't pay you anything, that doesn't mean it's not important. 

It's just like me trying to fit yoga into my schedule. I could see the difference in my day after having that time to clear my head and take care of myself. 

A lot of times, I feel like people tend to look down and make fun of the self care trends. At least in the circles I run in. It's seen as excuses to go shopping, take a bubble bath, or binge watch something on Netflix. 

I'm not saying that those things aren't part of self care. They totally can be! But that's not all it is. Sometimes, you simply need to recharge and do something for yourself in order to help others and be more productive. Writing, reading, working on a creative project, and yes - sometimes binge watching something on Netflix - and taking care of your mind and spirit are just as an important part of self-care as physical exercise and diet are. 

But, sometimes we creative types need to take a break from those things too. 

Camp NaNoWriMo is starting up in April, and people all over the world will get to work on various writing projects. I've heard stories of writers not sleeping and forgetting to eat because they're so engrossed in what they're working on. Some writers will lie on the floor and mope because they can't figure out what to do next and think they're failures. 

But, there are moments when we use these activities as an excuse to not do other important things. That's not good either. 

A blog friend of mine, Brittany, wrote about "Adulting as Self-Care" the other day and how she might not like grocery shopping, but she likes the stability of knowing she and her family have food and are provided for. 

Sometimes you have to do some things you don't like in order to take care of yourself. We have to work a job we aren't in love with all of the time in order to get a paycheck. We have to sit down and pay our bills on time. We need to eat. We need to sleep. If what you're working on is stressing you out too much, focus on something else for a bit. You need stability and food on the table too.

I had the privilege of going to a night with Lin-Manuel Miranda at a theatre a year or two ago. (Yes, I was in the room where it happened. Sorry - couldn't resist!) He did a Q&A with the audience and someone asked "How do you respond when you want to pursue the arts and people tell you to get a real job?"

His response?

"That's good advice."

Yeah, I was slightly surprised too. But, his explaination made sense. 

He said that you should always do what you love, but you also need to pay your bills. You need to have health insurance. You need groceries. You need to take care of your family. Even if he didn't have the success he does now, he'd still be writing musicals because it's what he loves. But, he also would be working as a music substitute teacher to be sure that he and his family were taken care of.

Or there are the times when we focus too much on it. As important as making your creative projects a regular habit is, sometimes you need a break from your self-care.

There are a lot of moments when I get so engrossed in writing, that is stresses me out, and I see other parts of my life suffer because of it. I don't spend time with people I care about because I just have to get this chapter done, or I'll eat junk food all of the time because it's easier to eat at the keyboard, and I'll cut back on the hours I sleep because I need more time in the day to get my word count in for the day. 

Those aren't always good things either. 

Or no matter what it is you do in life, it doesn't have to be just writing or being creative. If you aren't taking care of yourself, how can you do anything else well? It's all balancing act. 

Just some random thoughts I've been having on the subject lately. How do you balance self-care and also being sure you're productive? Also, I highly recommend a blog a friend of mine started called Help Mama Mediate. While it is for mom's and mediation (I'm not one, and I don't meditate really) she still discusses a lot with self-care and has some awesome tips and advice for being sure you take time out for yourself. 

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The Living Porcelain Doll

Photo on <a href="https://visualhunt.com/re/bde3d6">VisualHunt</a>

The chair wheels rattled along the path and a lion roared through the red and white fabric walls before me, followed by the familiar frustrated grunt of his young tamer, Oscar. I pulled aside the tent's flap in time to see him throw a whip to the ground and toss off his top hat. His shoulders relaxed when he saw me.

"What are you doing here, Grace?" he asked, but didn't hide his smile.

I held up a battered deck of cards. "I practice better here and I had time before I needed to do my makeup."

Oscar offered a quick nod. "Of course."

"Thanks."

I maneuvered myself  onto one of the stands, my skirt scandalously hitched around my legs to reveal the metal braces upon them, and straddled the bench. I'd quickly learned that modesty wasn't a high value at the circus. I couldn't help but notice Oscar's careful eye being sure I didn't lose my balance.

"You know, the sign for my act isn't true when it says I could break at any moment. I'm perfectly capable of moving." I spread the deck of cards across the bench surface.

"The Living Porcelain Doll" was the side act name. I originally auditioned to be the world's smallest magician. However, when I told the ringleader I was not only small, but also had fragile bones, he ignored my card tricks and concocted an entirely different plan. My arms and face were painted to look like a doll with the illusion of having cracks and gaps as though I had fallen off a shelf. I sat upon a stool in a long skirt which covered my braced legs as the audience members ogled. It was the only thing he could think of to showcase my "uniqueness."

The key, the ringleader told me, was to exaggerate the truth just enough so it was remarkable, while still being believable. I did have to be careful, but could at least move from the wheelchair to a bench on my own. Still, some of the other circus members treated me more like an actual porcelain doll than human.

Oscar cleared his throat and picked up his whip and hat. "Yes, but we don't need any injuries."

He returned to practicing and I spread the deck into a line face down. With a single nudge at the end they all flipped over to show the faces, diamonds, spades, hearts, and then clubs. Another nudge and they flipped back. One more nudge and they now were clubs, hearts, diamonds, and then spades.

The lion roared again while I shuffled, and the cards spilled across the bench and floor.

"Sorry," Oscar said and rushed over to help me pick them up. "He's having a bad day today."

I gave the lion a look and he lay down on the ground as though I had commanded him.

Oscar smiled and set the remaining cards on the bench. He took a seat and reclined against the taller bench behind it. "Sometimes I think you should be the lion tamer, and not me."

"You're both just tired."

I shuffled the cards again, spread them out on the bench between us, then focused on one. Slowly, it rose over the rest of the desk.

"You're getting better," Oscar said. "How did you do that?"

I shrugged. "I've always had a knack for it and I've been practicing a lot. It's a lot better in this tent though. I wish I could come in more often."

"With the exception of today, I tend to do better when I practice in here too." He looked between me and the lion, who was focused on the cards. "What else can you do with those?"

"There's one thing I've been trying out when I can sneak in here, but I haven't shown anyone yet." I wasn’t sure if I was ready. But, just maybe…

I hovered a palm over the deck, and the card which had slid over the others floated into the air. One by one, the others followed and created a flying circle. Oscar straightened himself as he watched with interest. The lion seemed to mimic his actions and watched as well. The cards circled around and floated higher in the air as they moved toward the center of the ring. The lion sat up straighter, its eyes intent on the cards.

Oscar's jaw dropped. "Amazing."

I felt my cheeks warm. With a twirl of my finger the cards spun around the lion and he circled, following them around the ring.

"Have you shown the ringmaster this?"

I sent the cards back to us and they collapsed onto the bench. I hadn't perfected getting them into a neat stack yet. Other than that, it worked.  "We already have a magician, remember? But, I’ve been meaning to ask... I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Oscar's eyes sparkled as a mischievous smile crept across his face.

***

For once I was glad I couldn't walk, because my legs wouldn't stop shaking underneath my skirt. We had to improvise a costume at the last minute, but Oscar had found a red jacket and a top hat for me to wear over my usual white dress. If we didn't pull this off, we were going to be in so much trouble.

"You're going to be amazing," Oscar whispered as he pushed my chair toward the tent entrance.

"This was a bad idea," I said. "We've barely even practiced."

"You're going to be amazing," he repeated.

The ringleader announced Oscar's act while the crowd stomped and cheered. My fingers tingled around the deck of cards as we entered the ring, and the lion waited for us, positioned on a red stool in the center. It almost looked as though he were smiling.

I'd always dreamed of being in the spotlight, and here I was.

And I was going to be amazing.

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Author Note: It may come as no surprise to anyone that I LOVED the movie, The Greatest Showman. So, when I was stuck on what to write about for this month's Flash Fiction, a friend suggested "something circusy?" To which I joked:

"You realize this may become Night Circus or Greatest Showman fan-fiction, right?"

I ended up not doing exact fan fiction. While there's some vibes going on for sure...  it became an accidental "own voices" piece. When I think about The Greatest Showman, as much as I love it and as much as the movie talks about celebrating differences between people, the characters who represented marginalized groups didn't really have as great of roles as I had hoped. Which, that's another topic for another blog post.

But, it did help to inspire what I wanted to write if I were doing a piece about the circus. Thus, the own voices. I've never shared anything fictional in public about someone with the same condition as me before. (Read this blog post to find out more about my having Osteogenesis Imperfecta.) I tried to write one during NaNoWriMo a few years ago, but it was atrocious and will never see the light of day. I've also written about characters with other disabilities, but they weren't specifically what I had, and I only have shown them to a few other writer friends. The idea of sharing this is kind of terrifying to me. However, once the idea popped into my head I couldn't get it out. In fact, I love these characters, and my friends who reviewed this story before I published it also said they loved them, and I'm considering coming back to Grace and Oscar in a future story. 

So... I hope you liked it too.

And if you haven't seen The Greatest Showman or read The Night Circus, what are you waiting for? 

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Meet the Family Part 1 - Flash Fiction Friday

I clutched the cardboard box containing a pumpkin pie between my hands to prevent them from shaking. "How do you think they're going to react?"

"It'll be fine," Jeff said and straightened my tie. "They're really open minded."

"Do they know about me?"

"They know your name is Mike," Jeff answered.

"Right..." I breathed as Jeff rang the doorbell. It was a normal house with a white picket fence and blue shutters. Everything was going to be fine. Nothing to be afraid of. Even if it was Thanksgiving. Not like it was a big holiday or anything...

The door opened and before me stood a tall green woman. The female version of her son. She smiled at Jeff, revealing her fangs, and then gave me a once over with her yellow eyes and the smile disappeared. 

"You're Mike," she said, her voice was more feminine than I had expected.  She sniffed the air. "And you're human."

"I brought pie," I said dumbly and outsretched my arms to show her. I wasn't even sure if they ate pie. 

She gave me a wavering smile and took the food from my hands. "How... lovely."

We followed her inside and I whispered to Jeff. "So, they don't know about me."

"I could never find a good time to tell them. Just relax and be yourself. They'll love you!"

As we stepped into the living room a group of people the same shade of green as Jeff and his mom sat around laughing at a joke someone must have made and I felt a little bite on my leg. 

"Ow!" I cried out and jumped back, and in the process my arm slammed against the mantle. A glass container fell and shattered upon the hardwood floor and purple gunk oozed on the ground. "I'm so sorry!"

Jeff squatted down and picked up the little girl at our side. "It's not polite to bite company," he teased her.

"I don't get to eat him?" she pouted, her sad yellow eyes staring up at him.

"Ahh.... no," Jeff answered and handed her over to a parent. He leaned over to me with a whisper. "Our family has been off of eating humans for generations, I promise. It's just... my sister is on this whole 'organic and going back to our roots' thing lately. I'm sorry, I should have warned you. "

I swallowed. "No worries."

Just remember, you love him and he's spending Christmas with your family.

Another family member was at the ground, picking up the pieces of glass. Lightning bolts almost darted out of her eyes when she looked at me. "That was grandma."

I paled. "What?"

"We keep our ancestors blood," Jeff explained and handed his nice over to another adult. "You know, the way you would when you cremate someone."

Shit.

I started to apologize again and knelt to assist in the clean up, but before any progress could be made Jeff's mother screeched from the kitchen. "IS THIS PUMPKIN PIE?"

Jeff's head, and everyone else's in the room, snapped in my direction. They stared at me as though I had just brought a bomb into the house. "You didn't tell me it was pumpkin."

I shrugged. 

"Squash is poisonous to us," Jeff explained as we rushed to the kitchen. "I thought you would make pecan or something."

His mother had her back against the refrigerator with a spatula shaking in her hand, held out as though it was a sword. "Get it out," she growled. 

I nodded and picked up the pie from the counter. "I am so sorry," I said. "I had no idea, I can go out and get something else."

"Just get it out."

The pie was sent to the dumpster outside immediately, and in spite of the chill in the air, I hid in the backyard for a few minutes. This was not going exactly as I'd hoped. I dropped Grandma and almost poisoned his family. Oh yeah, and could possibly become his niece's next meal.

Jeff was a monster and so was the rest of his family. There was no way I was ever going to fit in here. Why had we ever thought this was going to work?

From the inside pocket of my suit jacket I pulled out the box I brought with me. I opened it and held the silver band inside in my palm. Nothing fancy, but I had gotten an engraving put on the inside of the ring.

Against all odds.

"How could you have let him into our house?" Jeff's mom's voice echoed through the window. "And you never told me. Your own mother! How can you betray me like this?"

"I knew you'd react this way!" Jeff answered. 

"He's a human. They're so different and don't understand our ways."

"He doesn't but, maybe-"

"No maybe! If your father was here..."

I couldn't listen anymore and shoved the box back into my pocket to take a walk. So much for against all odds. 

After I had walked about half a block a set of footsteps came running up from behind me. What if it was his sister wanting an organic meal for her daughter? Or what if there were other things living in this neighborhood? I hurried my pace. Staying at the house was a bad idea, and leaving the house was a bad idea. What a disaster. 

"Mike! Wait a second, it's me!" Jeff called. "Where are you going?"

I slowed down and breathed a sigh of relief. I should have figured.

Jeff caught up to me heaving. His breath created small clouds in the air between us.

"This isn't working,"  I said. "Your family hates me, and I'm ruining everything. This was a bad idea."

Jeff was silent for a moment and tried to catch his breath. His eyebrows were furrowed and he frowned. He reached into his pants pocket and held out the ring. I must have dropped it in the backyard. 

"Then what's this?"

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My Writing Process - Outlining vs. Discovery Writing

Welcome to the second in the "My Writing Process" series! The first post was about brainstorming. That's simply getting your ideas together. Today, I'll share with you my thoughts on actually planing out a novel and the story. 

There tend to be two categories writers place themselves into for this. There's the outliners and the "pantsers." (AKA- discovery writing.) Either you plan your novel out, or you just wing it.

The reality is, most writers are a mix of both. I know I am. It also depends on the project I'm working on. Some books I feel like I need to know exactly what happens when. Others, I let myself figure it out along the way. Although, I tend to go for more outlining. For the project I'm working on at the moment, I'm winging it a bit more than usual. Which is slightly scary. Some elements of this book I knew I had to know exactly what happened. The rest, I'm only planning one step ahead of where I am currently in my writing process. I have the first few chapters plotted out, but the everything else I have no idea!

Outlining

When I outline my novel, there are a few different methods I've tried. 

The 9 Block Method

I found this one through the YouTuber KatyTastic. (One of her vidoes is below) You divide your book into three acts, each with three sections, and three chapters in each section. This would create roughly 27 chapters. (It sounds confusing, I know. But it isn't!) All of these roughly are just about setting up, creating conflict, and resolution. Beginning, middle, and end. Act one is setting up the story, act two is building up the conflict, act three is the climax/resolution. Then each act has a bit of a "mini" story inside of it with set up, conflict, and resolution.

Katy explains it far better than I do, and when I first started to outline this way, I had to refer back to her videos several times. (You can watch one of them here!) Now that I've gotten the hang of it, it's easy. It's a fairly commercial method of putting together a story and I like to use it when I'm getting stuck on plot. (I'm TERRIBLE at plot. Give me fun characters and witty banter all day. When I have to actually decide the things that happen to them and how it all fits together, it's the struggle bus for me.) It helps me to see how I can keep the story moving as well as eliminate things which don't add anything to the story.

The Snowflake Method

This one is about starting small, then getting bigger and bigger. You first start with a simple, short sentence, summarizing your novel. Then, you write a paragraph. Then three paragraphs (particularly if you're doing a 3 act structure.) Each paragraph having roughly five sentences each. 

Once that's done, you move onto creating something similar for each of your main characters. 

You can probably see where this is going. You keep going until it gets bigger and bigger then you're ready to write your novel. I'd continue, but you can follow this link to learn more. This method is good for people who like to take notes and write things out, vs. having a bullet point outline. I like to use this when I'm focusing more on my characters vs. the plot points.

Classic Story Structures

There's also several structures for classic story lines. Rags to riches, quests, the hero's journey, voyage and return, rebirth, and overcoming the monster. If you look at different genres and compare their story lines carefully, you'll see some basic plot structures and it's a good way to get yourself going. Figure out where the main "beats" of your story need to be, then go from there. You can see many of these on my Pinterest board. 

The Pros of Outlining

You have an idea of where your story is going, and it helpful if you find yourself stuck or from keeping your book from taking it's own course. I especially find it useful during the revision phase because then you can weed out what is and isn't needed in your book. But we'll talk about revisions in a later post.

The Cons of Outlining

Some people get married to their outline and don't let their story grow and breathe. Personally, I found this to be the fatal flaw in the ending of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. The creators had a specific ending in mind when they first plotted out the TV show. But as the show grew and changed, the ending did not. So, when we got to the finale, it was a disaster. Years later, I still become irrationally angry if I think about it too much, because everything else was so well done!

Others don't like to outline because they feel like it constricts them and they can't be as creative as they'd want. 

I always say, feel free to outline as much as you want; just be sure you're willing to be flexible. 

Discovery Writing

There's not a whole lot to say about this method, other than it's the "figure it out as you go" philosophy. You start writing and see where it takes you. This lends itself to being more organic. It's easy to say that this is more "creative," which I don't agree with. There's definitely creativity in outlining as well. 

The Pros of Discovery Writing

No bounds! No limitations! Do what you want! Discovery writing is awesome for people who don't like structure. If a random plot twist comes to you, you don't have to worry about re-doing that outline you worked on for hours and hours. You just go with it. Sometimes the surprises can be the best parts of your book.

The Cons of Discovery Writing

You may not know where your book is going. For me, this is the scary part because it's easy to get stuck. This is the beauty of planning. If you don't know what to write, you can just take a look at your outline and see what's coming next. 

It's easy for your book to lose track of where it's going. You may find yourself with scenes you don't know what to do with, characters who don't have a purpose, and when you get to the end you have no idea how to tie it all together. 

Overall, a majority of writers are a mix of the two methods, or it will vary with each project. I had one book where I had it heavily outlined and I relied on it for every step of the way! For projects like the one I'm currently working on, I have some details set and a few moments I want to be in the book, but beyond that I'm just seeing where the characters and the story takes me!

Brandon Sanderson, a popular epic fantasy writer, says he very much relies on his outlines. But then I've heard of authors such as Agatha Christie who claimed she didn't know who the murderer was until she reached the end of the book!

Basically - you do you. 

Challenges

Here we are. Week two of blogging again. I'm not going to lie, it almost didn't happen. Already I have a case of writers block. I have a few post ideas lined up, and a few favorites from my old blog I want to revisit, but I didn't want to pull them out quite yet. Which means... needing to think of something to write about. Particularly something that isn't just a "Currently I'm..." or a tag or something.

Not that there is anything wrong with those. It's just too early to fall back on them at the moment. That's part of the challenge though. Thinking of something worthwhile to share, but also something I'm willing to share. The Internet is forever you know.

Another part of the challenge is figuring out how I want to let people know a new post is up. Ultimately, I'd love for me to get on a regular once or twice a week basis so people know when to come to my site and check it out. However, that might take awhile and who knows if I'm that reliable. 

Right now, I don't want to post it to Facebook. It's just a little too public for me. I have plenty of friends I'd be find with reading this, but there are other people I'm not so sure. If they happen to come across my blog, that's one thing. But me putting it right there in their laps makes me nervous. Yet, if I'm writing things and letting them out there for all of the world to see - should it matter? 

Last week when I first hit "publish" I ended up talking to a friend of mine from college who also has a blog. Hers is very open and honest and she has it all out there on Facebook for all to see. She said it made her nervous too, but has been happy with how it's gone. She said now that it's out there, she feels much better. Maybe it'll be the same for me. I might see how this goes for awhile though before I make that move. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

These challenges are good though. If something is worth doing, I think it needs to have a challenge. That's how you grow and push yourself and become better. Starting from scratch is hard, but hopefully in the end it'll make be a better blogger and writer. 

So, there we are. Week two. It's not much, but it's something, and it's what's on my mind. 

Also, I've figured out how to add social media, Bloglovin (kinda), and an email subscription to this site! You'll find it all in the footer. Slowly but surely I'm figuring this whole Squarespace thing out. Hooray!