Get Ready for NaNoWriMo 2009!

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this November? In less than two weeks the word frenzy is on! This is my first year as an official participant. I wrote a novel in a month on my own back in January and loved it so much that I couldn't wait to go again in November. Though still a newbie myself, I made a list of dos and don'ts after January's experience. I'm much better prepared this time around and so I thought I'd pass along what I learned.

Keep it simple. My plot got a little out of control last January. In the words of Tim Gunn it morphed into 'one hot mess.' The story had its good points but I overcomplicated the plot for the time I had to work everything out. My advice: streamline your plot. While I did manage to tie up my loose ends, I was nearly hospitilized in the process.

Stay in modern times. I wrote a medieval mystery last winter. While I do know quite a bit about the time period, I don't know it all and I didn't always have the time to look things up. I got frustrated and ended up with a lot of placeholders and generic descriptions as a result. So unless you know everything about the time period or you do your research before November, I suggest keeping your plot in the modern world.

Write what you love. For all my research issues in January, I do love both the medieval period and mysteries so I had a lot of passion for my story. Pick a genre and a subject that you love and it will push you through the dark hours in November.

Write what you know. Unless you do spend a lot of time researching beforehand, it helps to stick with things you're familiar with including settings, careers, cultures, and hobbies/interests.

Planning doesn't hurt. In January, I spent about five minutes the night before I began brainstorming for a plot. But I kept wishing I had thought things through a little more before I started writing. If you've written a novel-in-a-month before, you know there's very little time to think once you start. So this year, I'm taking the next couple of weeks to get my plot worked out, think about my characters (and name them all), and do any research I know I need to do.

If you've never written a novel in a month, I promise it will be the most thrilling, painful, and revitalizing experience of your writing life. If you're unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, definitely check out the official website and consider joining this year. And if you're a NaNoWriMo vet, pass on your words of wisdom.

NaNoWriMo here we come!

Writing Prompt: Funeral Home Antics

Something funny is going on at Whitfield's Funeral Home and your character is going to find out what.

Write the scene where your protaganist discovers the funeral home's secret. Aim for 2 pages.

Weekend Writing Prompt

This isn't so much of a writing prompt as it is something to think about. If you have a few minutes today, think about what your character(s) like to eat. What do they crave when they want comfort food? What do they grab out of the fridge or pantry to munch on in the afternoon? What type of dessert do they always choose at restaurants? It's these little details that often help to define real people, and it works for characters too.

Writing Prompt: Train Wreck

I cross a lot of train tracks where I live, but most aren't used during the day so I sail over them without stopping. Sometimes when I'm crossing a track I think, "what if I get hit by a train this time?" That gave me the idea for this prompt.

Your character crosses the same train tracks without thinking every day for work. Today is different. Today he gets hit by a train. What was he thinking about up until that point? What had his day been like so far? Was he in a hurry? Write a short story based on this concept in 500-1000 words.

Writing Tip: Incorporate What You Know and Love

I've often found myself less inclined to write what I know, and more interested in writing the exact opposite. However, as I've learned to incorporate more of the familiar into my writing, I've come to appreciate the value of applying that same advice. Using places, careers, and interests that you know and love has three key advantages:

1. Believability. If it's a place you've been (or lived in), an interest you have, or a career path you're familiar with, your writing will show it and your readers will buy it.

2. Less research. Instead of starting from scratch with something you know nothing about, you can go into your writing with a foundation. You may still need to do research, but you may be more driven to delve into the subject.

3. Enthusiasm. We tend to put more heart into something we're passionate about. So if you use what you know and love, either as a starting place for your writing or to fill in details, your enthusiasm for it will seep through and affect readers.

If you often shy away from including what you know and love in your own writing, try the opposite. Consciously choose settings, careers, or interests that you're familiar with and/or are passionate about. It may take you in unexpected directions and to equally exciting places as the unknown.

Try This>>
Experiment with your work-in-progress or another piece that takes place in unfamiliar territory. Change the setting and place your characters where you currently live, a favorite vacation spot, or another place you know well. Write a new scene in this new setting and see what happens. Are the details more clear? Do you find your writing is less stilted and more free flowing? How does this new environment affect your characters? Aim for 2-3 pages.

Weekend Writing Prompt

If you have 15-20 minutes this weekend, try this prompt:

Your character picks up the phone to make a call and hears someone she knows planning a criminal act. Who's making these plans? And what will your character do about it? Aim for 2-3 pages.

3 Techniques for Developing Well-Rounded Characters

You'd probably agree that one of the biggest challenges in fiction writing is creating dynamic characters. Even with an original plotline and interesting conflicts, if your characters lack development, everything else will fall flat. It's much easier to forgive a faulty plot with dynamic characters than flat characters within a fascinating story. You're less likely to fall into this hole when you know who you're writing.

Getting to know characters is much the same as making friends. How do make friends? By communicating. It's similar with characters. You need to get them talking just like a real person. How do you do that? There are lots of tricks and techniques out there. Here are three that I've found helpful in creating dynamic, exciting characters.

Technique #1: Character Journals

Why It Works: Getting into a character's head by speaking in his/her voice can help smoke out details you may not get otherwise.

How You Do It: Get started by summarizing the story from his/her viewpoint. You want to write how the character would write - not you. If you don't have a story for this character yet, just start with things you already know. Roll with impulses and don't fear rambling; rambling often leads to gems. Perservere when you feel like you're getting nothing; if you keep writing, you will uncover minor and major details that may change everything.

Give It a Whirl: Spend a session writing a journal in the voice of the main character from your work-in-progress. Choose a part of his/her life you'd like to know more about. Start with something you know and work from there, or go with the first thing that comes to mind. Aim for at least two pages.

Technique #2: Interviewing Characters

Why It Works: Asking targeted questions can help you get behind a character's actions to his/her motives.

How You Do It: You ask questions, your character answers. Like character journals, write the answers in the voice of your character. Answer honestly from his/her viewpoint, not your own. It may help to start with basic questions like age and birthplace and to move into questions that pinpoint a character's feelings about an event or the motivations behind one of his/her actions.

Give It a Whirl: Pick one character you want to know more about. Brainstorm for a few minutes, listing all the questions you can think of to ask. Then, spend the rest of your session answering them. Aim for 10 questions.

Technique #3: Daydreaming

Why It Works: Much like freewriting or free associating, daydreaming about your characters and their lives may help you make new connections or expand on ones you've already made.

How You Do It: Just imagine your character(s) at home or work, at a party or off doing their favorite recreational sport. Picture him/her talking to another character. Let them live in your imagination and go about things as you think they would. There's no paper commitment, so you can have them say and do all kinds of things that you might hesitate to put on the page. Let them act out of character just to see what happens.

Give It a Whirl: Choose one character to spend some time with and place them at a party, a typical day at work, or a night alone. What does your character do? How does he/she react to different people and situations? What does he/she wear or drink or think about? Play out these scenarios in your head, and put your epiphanies on paper.

What are your favorite character development techniques?

Illustration credit, Borqje