This was my fourth year taking part in NaNoWriMo. And it was the first year I failed to hit the 50k word target. I’m surprised. And I’m kind of not surprised. I mean, I did get a late start on NaNo this year. After getting a few thousand words into a new romance, I decided that wasn’t a genre I wanted to think about all month. So
NaNoWriMo 2016 is well underway. Plotters have their stories outlined. Pantsers have hit the ground running. And aspiring and experienced novelists alike have that 50k word target in their sights. Today let’s talk about the NaNoWriMo writing process — what we’re working on, how we’ve scheduled our writing time during November, and what tools and resources we use to keep us on track. NaNoWriMo 2016:
NaNoWriMo has barely started, and I’m already behind this year. I changed my novel idea at the last minute (I believe around 10:00 p.m. the night before). I still haven’t finished the scene-by-scene outline, though I hope to by tomorrow morning. And it’s now November 3rd and I haven’t even begun drafting my novel yet. That seems like a cause for concern, right? But I’m
Maybe you want to set a story in an exotic location you’ve never visited. Or perhaps you’re creating an entirely fictional setting for your book. How are you supposed to describe real (or just realistic) locations if you can’t show up, meet some locals, and check out similar areas for yourself? Whether you realize it or not, story setting inspiration is right at your fingertips, 24/7. I’m
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) began yesterday. NaNoWriMo is the annual month-long challenge to write a 50,000 word first draft of a novel. I’ve only taken part during two years so far, and I’ve managed to reach my goal both times. I’m hoping to make this year my third. I’m approaching this NaNoWriMo a bit differently than previous years. My goal is to actually hit
National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a little over two weeks away. But if you plan to take part in it this year, you shouldn’t wait until November 1st to think about your new manuscript. Instead, use the rest of October for planning and outlining. Then, when NaNoWriMo begins, you’ll be ready to jump into your story. How I’m Spending My October Getting Ready
Did you know that you can turn your old blog posts into a .pdf e-book you can sell or give away to help build your email list? Right within WordPress? At least with the Anthologize plugin you can. This plugin lets you choose key blog posts and then group them into e-book sections before exporting. Now, it’s not a perfect solution. You’re supposed to be
If you’re thinking about launching a new author website or blog on WordPress, a good place to start is choosing an appropriate design. Today I’d like to share a bit of inspiration. Here are some of the best premium WordPress themes for authors that I’ve recently come across. These themes are designed to do more than host your author blog. They’re designed to help you
It’s no secret that when it comes to tackling large writing projects, I’m a planner. I work from outlines for nearly everything I write (even this blog post). I’ve tried several outlining strategies over the years. And ultimately I’ve taken bits and pieces of each strategy to customize my own process. Last year, I came across someone on the NaNoWriMo forums talking about The Snowflake
We recently talked about preparing for NaNoWriMo during October, and I shared some of my own plans such as using the Snowflake Method for this novel’s outline. Today I’d like to share some of the best resources for helping you plan your NaNoWriMo novel (or any novel for that matter). Here are links to character planning resources and some of my favorite more general tools
Last year was the first year I took part in NaNoWriMo. I participated mostly as a challenge that I could document here on the site. It went well. And I’m doing it again this year, although I’ll be following the traditional rules rather than last year’s “rebel” approach where I combined a few projects that I needed to work on anyway. This year I’m working
The other day I was reading an article about Google working with Barnes and Noble to offer same-day delivery of books in a few locations. It’s no secret that Amazon is also keen on making same-day delivery a reality for more shoppers. And it got me wondering. How might the rise of same-day deliveries affect book buying habits, and how might it affect the business
I was recently contacted by fellow writer, Melissa Breau. She was in the process of making some changes in her business, and as a result she no longer wanted to publish some of the content on her professional blog. Melissa made the suggestion of archiving her old content, written mostly for authors, here at All Freelance Writing. I took her up on that offer. As
One of the biggest benefits of indie publishing is the freedom it allows authors to assemble the perfect team to develop and represent their books. That includes bringing in the right editors. But what kind of editing help do you really need? You probably know that copyeditors and proofreaders can help you catch things like spelling and grammatical errors. But what about consistency and making
Recently we’ve been talking a lot about writing books, including Karen Wiesner’s recent release on writing fiction series. Today I’d like to delve a bit further into the decision we make as authors between pursuing a one-off novel versus looking for series potential. Both have their place. So let’s look at the pros and cons of both. Here are some of the most obvious upsides
I’ve made it no secret that I’m a fan of the previous two writers’ reference books from Karen Wiesner — First Draft in 30 Days and From First Draft to Finished Novel. So I was thrilled when she sent me her most recent release for writers, Writing the Fiction Series. This was a timely read for me. I’m gearing up to take part in my first NaNoWriMo, when I’ll finish
While we’re talking to our featured guest, Karen Wiesner, this week about writing novels and planning fiction series, it seemed an appropriate time to talk about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). With NaNo just over a week away, thousands of authors and aspiring authors are getting ready to write a novel during November. Before jumping into a first draft, many writers opt to outline their
I’ve never made it a secret that I’m not a big fan of NaNoWriMo. The idea of pushing myself to write on someone else’s schedule doesn’t sit well with me. And I find the whole community aspect to be possibly more distracting than helpful. Don’t get me wrong. I get why people take part every year, and if it works for them, I think that’s
There is one thing almost every author overlooks when self publishing—and it may surprise you. Sure, there’s lots of talk about the importance of professional editing. Even I’ve written about it. And everyone knows it’s important to have test readers or a writing group who critique your novel. But I’m going to let you in on a secret: writing a good book won’t guarantee sales.
Note: Melissa no longer offers these services. This post remains as archived content for your reference. One of the most common questions I get as an editor is about what different types of editing there are and what each one entails. New clients aren’t always sure what level of editing they need and don’t know how to make that decision. Before you can decide between the
Before hitting “send” when sending out a new piece or before hitting “publish” on a new blog post, it pays to proofread your piece. Here are some quick things to check when proofreading your own copy. Homophones Perhaps one of the most common mistakes when when writing is misusing homophones–words that sound alike but are spelled differently. Spell check won’t catch a misused word; it
You may have had college professors preach to you to “show, don’t tell.” The ironic thing about that statement is that it contradicts itself. Take the video I’ve embedded below, for instance. In the video, a blind homeless man is begging for change. A young woman comes by and changes what he has written on his sign–and in response, many more people begin to give
Inspiration can strike anywhere and anytime for a writer. So I look for ways to take my work with me. I also look for ways to work more productively given that I balance writing books, publishing dozens of websites and blogs, and writing for clients. Lately my best tool on both of these fronts has been my Android phone. You can find a wide variety
Creativity is defined as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc. We often hear this concept expressed as “thinking outside the box.” Authors, perhaps even more than other creative groups, feel the stress to be “truly creative.” To avoid cliches. To add stunning plot twists. To do what has never
So perhaps you’ve done the hard part already and written a book. Or maybe you’re just doing some research because you’re thinking about writing a book. Either way, you should know that the publishing landscape today looks vastly different than it did a mere 15 years ago. Heck, it looks vastly different than it did 2 years ago. Authors today have a lot more options —
This year I’m participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time. For those of you not familiar with the acronym, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and it’s organized by the Office of Letters and Light. Participants begin writing on November 1st, and the goal is to write a 50,000-word novel by midnight on November 30th. As I said, this is my first year participating, but I’ve
Ever wonder what an editor does? Chances are it’s a lot more than you think. It’s an editor’s job to make sure your readers can see the forest despite the trees—that they don’t get caught up on typos and mistakes that will cause them to focus on the words instead of the story. And, in the process, a good editor will look for things you
You know me as Jennifer Mattern. That’s my “real” name, or at least it was before I got married. And it’s the name I’ll continue to use here and in running the bulk of my business. But I’m also pursuing fiction, and for that I use two pen names. I don’t stress over keeping those pen names private though. In fact, I’ve noticed a trend
Last month Tim Berry wrote about learning that a stop sign requires a full stop—one where the car rolls backward slightly—and how that reminded him of decision making. That sometimes we all need a full stop now and again to think things through and prepare ourselves to head off again in the right direction. I couldn’t help but think of how the same concept applies
[This post is part of a series on how you can maximize your ebook sales.] Almost every book includes an author bio. There’s a reason for this. The author bio tells the reader why he or she should care what the writer thinks. It tells the reader that the writer knows their stuff. This is often clear with non-fiction and how-to books; the author’s bio