Four Things that Instantly Deepen Viewpoint

I recently finished beta reading a novel where the viewpoint character had a big problem–one that negated whatever brilliance the plot, pacing, and other characters brought to the story.

What problem is large enough to do that?

The main character’s narration didn’t do anything to bring the character alive. At times, scenes even seemed to be narrated by a third party narrator rather than the main character.

Why is this such a problem? Because readers need to connect to the main character if you want them to keep reading (and of course you want them to keep reading 😉 ). Before readers can experience your exciting story or the plot twist on page 201, they need a character they can connect with so they know why those exciting events and plot twists matter.

If your characters feels like a disembodied voice describing events from far off, we have a problem.

Of course, no one consciously makes the decision to write a character that seems removed from the events of the story, so how do we make sure we aren’t doing that?

First, we need to make sure we have a strong character. They won’t seem real to readers if they aren’t real to the author. (READ HOW TO DO THAT HERE)

In this post, we will focus on how to go deep into the character’s viewpoint.

1. Make Sure They React to Events in Real Time

This one may seem obvious, but this was one of the main problems with the aforementioned story I beta read.

The viewpoint character would be in an intense scene, but there wasn’t an emotional reaction from her. She didn’t say much and when she did say something it was to ask questions that clearly needed to be asked so the author could get the other characters to give certain information that would move the plot along.

The result was a robotic character and a feeling that we were no longer in the main character’s head, but being told the story by a third-party narrator.

Even if you’re writing a scene where the dialogue needs to take place mostly between characters other than the viewpoint character, there should still be some emotional reaction to what the others are saying.

Example:

Main Character is witnessing their best friend being told by their parents that they are getting a divorce ( I don’t know what parent would do this in front of a child’s friend, but it’s just an example 😀 )

Friend’s Mom tells Friend that they are getting a divorce. Main Character puts a hand over their mouth. No way this could be happening to Friend! They’ve been friends since kindergarten and now they are in High School. Their parents were always so nice to Main Character when they visited. How could they be getting a divorce?

Friend’s dad tells Friend that he will be moving out by the end of the week.

End of the week?! Main Character thinks, but Friend’s dad promised to take Friend and me on a camping trip this weekend. Friend has been looking forward to this all summer. That’s just adding salt to the wound. 

Friend’s dad says he will be moving out of state and Friend has to decide which parent he will stay with.

Main Character feels their cheeks flush with anger. How could Friend’s dad make them decide something like that? Friend doesn’t get along well with their mom because she is so critical of him, but choosing his dad would mean moving away from the town he grew up in and all his friends.

It will mean moving away from me. The thought makes Main Character feel sick.

See how having the viewpoint character respond, even if it is only internally, immediately makes us feel like we are in their head?

This is probably the most basic, but most foundational tool to use to make a viewpoint seem real.

2. Use Speech Patterns

One way to make readers feel like they are in a character’s head is to use certain speech patterns. Yes, speech patterns are typically for dialogue, but they can be used for internal monologue too.

Think about the way your character speaks to themselves. Are they always questioning the motives of others? Are they always hard on themselves–constantly giving themselves an internal tongue lashing? Do their thoughts bounce all over the place, switching from one topic to another?

Spending some time making your character’s internal voice colorful will make their dialogue come alive as well.  So if their thoughts are all over the place, their dialogue may be as well. They may change topics of conversation quickly or speak too fast or jump to interrupt other characters. If they are always hard on themselves, they may constantly apologize when it is unnecessary, or they may be as hard on others as they are themselves, leading them to criticize other characters.

3. Give Them a Catchphrase or Mantra

This is a simple but affective way to immediately make readers really feel that they are in a character’s head. This works especially well if you are juggling multiple points of view in a novel.

Simply give a character a catchphrase or mantra that they repeat to themselves in different situations. It may be said to other characters occasionally, but it is generally something they think to themselves (they may never say it out loud).

Joe Abercrombie does this so well in his novel The Blade Itself.

Logen Ninefingers, a Northman warrior, is always saying to himself, “You have to realistic about these things” when things don’t go well.  Then there is the inquisitor, Sand Dan Glokta, always asking himself, “Why do I do this?” when he gets stuck with the most gruesome, unpleasant tasks.

As you can see, the phrases themselves aren’t anything superbly thought provoking or eloquent, but they do the job of bringing us into the character’s head.

I think it works so well because we all repeat things to ourselves, whether it is a mantra or a question. It could something like “Why does it always happen to me?” every time something bad happens. Or “better late than never,” or “better safe than sorry.”

4. Who They are is How They will View the World

We don’t view the world how it is, but how we are.  We are all looking at things through a different pair of glasses that alters what we see. If you really want to make your fictional characters come alive, they should too.

What is your character’s background? Where did they grow up? What is their occupation? What are their skills and hobbies?

All of these things will work together to create the lenses through which your character sees the world.

If your character’s father was an angry drunk you yelled all the time, that character may be afraid men with bellowing voices or immediately hate or distrust men who speak loudly. If they grew up in a family that had little and was constantly bullied and snubbed by children from wealthy families, they may distrust the wealthy character they are forced to work with, perhaps even be cold toward them or take their anger out on them, even if they haven’t done anything to deserve the treatment.

If your character is a musician or singer, they will notice the timbre of a person’s voice. They will be bothered by the one character who always sings off key around the campfire. They will use metaphors that compare things to the instrument they play.

If they are a cook, they might experience taste more vividly than other characters. They may try to guess the ingrediencies in the dish they are eating, or may stop dead in their tracks to inhale the smell of food wafting from inn, not because they are hungry, but because their brain is hard at work deciphering the dishes being prepared.

If they sew, they will notice the fabric and stitching of the clothing worn by the other characters. They may wonder at the pattern and try to deconstruct the garment in their mind, possibly getting so distracted that they miss out on something in the conversation.

You get the idea.

We compare everything we experience to what we already know, so nothing makes a character seem more alive than one who thinks like a (fill in the blank with your character’s skill or occupation) and colors their inner monologue.

If you write a character who reacts in scene, has a unique voice, maybe has a catch phrase or mantra, and who hobbies and knowledge color the way they interact with the world, you will have a stunning character POV that immerses readers.

Add in this bonus tip, and readers will forget your character isn’t a real person. 😉

Bonus: Take out filter words that such as “I saw” or “I heard.” Instead, describe what it is that the character is seeing or hearing.

Instead of, “I saw a hooded man run down the alley,” say, “A hooded man ran down the alley.”

Instead of, “Sarah heard the train let out a shrill whistle,” write, “The train let out a shrill whistle.”

Saying that the character saw, heard, or smelled something adds a barrier between them and the reader. The story is more immersive without them.

Now get to writing a scene with deep POV! Until next time, Epic Dreamers. Keep dreaming!

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Adding Depth to Your Character

One of the biggest things that can make or sink a story is the main character. This is the person whom readers are going to spend the whole story with, so it is important that they are colorful, vibrant, real.

Unfortunately, writing a character like that can be difficult. Bland characters are something I see a lot of when beta reading.

When I spent some time thinking about why this happens, I realized that there are two different areas that may need work. One is that the author is struggling to convey their character through viewpoint. They may have a fully-rounded character written in a character sheet, but they are struggling to create an immersive experience that allows that character to get across to readers.

The other thing that may be causing the main character to seem flat is, well, that they actually are. 😉

It may be that the author didn’t invest enough time building the character, and the main character exists solely to have plot events happen to them.

They aren’t believable to readers because they aren’t believable to the author.

This is the topic we’ll be focusing on in this post, since it doesn’t matter how deep you go in POV if you have nothing to work with. (I’ll give some tips for going deep into character point of view in another post.)

Step One: Give them a desire.

What does your character really want?

As human beings, we never stop wanting something. It could be as simple as a glass of water or as difficult as graduating law school, the the desire to attain and achieve is something that we all have in common.

Why is this important in creating a main character? Because readers want characters who are relatable. And there is nothing more relatable than the innate drive to achieve or attain.

Their desire should fit in with the plot, either by driving it directly or by being in opposition to it.

Example of a character’s desire driving the plot:

Say you have a character who wants to become a professional chef, and this desire is what moves the plot forward as we follow the character signing up for cooking lessons, creating new recipes, entering competitions, and applying for chef positions at restaurants. The story is about an average Joe becoming a chef at a five-star restaurant and the character’s desire drives that particular plot.

Example of a character’s desire being in opposition to the plot:

Now say you have a main character who wants to become a monk in the Holy Order, but right as they are told they are accepted, an old wizard appears and tells them they are the only one who can stop Lord Darthmort from destroying the kingdom.

Now they have to choose between their desire and their responsibility. Of course, since this is a story about a boy who defeats Lord Darthmort, the character will choose to pursue that path (or perhaps be forced to purse that path).

This makes things interesting because we get to see the character constantly struggle between their personal desire to make choices that will keep them pure and worthy of monkhood and their desire to save the kingdom from ruin.

*You’ll also need to keep your book’s genre in mind when coming up with this one. If you are writing a contemporary romance, you don’t want your character’s main desire to be to assassinate Dark Lord Darthmort as revenge for killing their family.

Step 2: False Belief

A false belief is the reason they have that desire we talked about in the previous step.

Ask yourself why your character wants this thing/position so badly and make sure the answer is something misguided on the character’s part.

In my book, The Hashna Stone, the main character wants to become a soldier. The false belief he has that is driving his desire is that he thinks it is the only way he can truly be valued.

Using the example of the main character who wants to join the Holy Order and become a monk…let’s call him Sam. His false belief might be that he thinks dedicating his life to the Holy Order will redeem him from an unforgettable sin in his past.

So, I said that this false belief is the reason your main character wants to achieve their goal, but you may choose to make it the thing that hinders it.

Example:

Let’s use the main character who wants to be a chef. We’ll call her Ava. Ava’s false belief may be that cooking isn’t a “real job.” Instead of this false belief fueling her desire, it directly hinders it. Now we have a bunch of opportunities for internal struggle between Ava’s desire to become a chef and her false belief that it isn’t a valid job and she would be better off spending her time going to business school.

Step three: Past Event

Now that your character has a false belief, they need a reason for believing it in the first place. Enter traumatic or tragic event.

In The Hashna Stone, Dalan’s desire to become a soldier comes from the fact that his deceased father was a famous warrior, and Dalan believes it is the only way an orphan like him can be valued.

For Sam, becoming a monk became so important after he witnessed the death of a childhood friend and was powerless to stop it. Perhaps his friend was drowning and Sam, not knowing how to swim, could only watch in panic. Now, he blames himself for their death and thinks dedicating his life to religion is the only way to redeem himself.

The “past event” may come in the form of many small events or critical comments rather than one major event.

Let’s use Ava as an example. Perhaps she believes that a chef isn’t a “real job” because her parents are successful business people who view her skill as a hobby and not a career path. This disapproval was drilled into her over years of skeptical looks when she spoke of her dream to cook in a five-star restaurant and conversations where her parents told her she would be better off pursuing a more traditional, stable career.

Step four:  Fear

Give them a fear that stands in the way of them attaining their desire.

If your character’s false belief hinders, rather than drives their desire, then you probably don’t need to give them a fear that hinders them from completing their goal as well.

Watching a character not only face external opposition to their goal–like a villain or antagonist–but also internal opposition makes things doubly interesting. It also serves to create a relatable character. Most, if not all of us, have faced fears in order to pursue a goal.

For Ava, she might fear judgment and criticism from others, making it difficult to enter cooking competitions (this fear would fit perfectly, considering all the judgment and criticism her parents gave her).

Using these steps will give depth to your main character, making them believable and relatable to readers. Well, that is if you can convey your characters through viewpoint.

Join me next week for tips on viewpoint characters!

Until then, keep dreaming!

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Creating Believable Characters

One big issue that I come across when beta reading a novel has to do with the believability of the main character. They have a name and their outward appearance is described, but there is something lacking that makes it difficult to believe that they are real.

How do we avoid writing characters that just don’t seem real?

There is a lot of different aspects that I could talk about to answer that question, but today, we are going to focus on three simple things you can give your character to make them seem like a real person.

Step zero: Name, Appearance, Hobbies, Skills

Generally, these are the first things that authors come up with for their main character, so I won’t spend long on this.

Knowing things like their name, age, eye color, etc. will help you to picture them as you go to the next steps and give them more depth. At least, I know I usually can’t move to the next steps without having a name and a general idea of what they look like.

You’ll also want to incorporate hobbies that have nothing to do with the plot. After all, they existed before this story. Only giving them skills that pertain to the plot might lead to making the character feel like a cardboard cutout placed perfectly on the stage of your story and not an actual person.

(Note: If you are struggling to find a name for your main character, there are all sorts of baby-name websites that are great for finding names. Feeling overwhelmed by all the options? Try this post, Naming Your Characters, for guidance. )

Step 1: Give Them Flaws

Character’s without flaws will come across as feeling flat, uninteresting, and unbelievable. Why? Because we naturally distrust anything that comes across as too perfect.

There isn’t a single human who doesn’t have a flaw or two, so a character who appears to be perfect immediately makes them seem unreal.

You may choose to assign your character a random flaw, but I think that giving them one that ties in with their backstory will really go the extra mile to make the character believable.

Flaws don’t just pop up randomly. They are formed from experiences and traumas in our life.

Say a character’s flaw is that they constantly exaggerate their accomplishments. Maybe they grew up in a family that didn’t pay them any attention unless the did something really extraordinary, so they learned that they only way to get people to notice them was to exaggerate everything they did to seem worthy of their attention.

Have a character whose flaw is being too gullible/naïve? Say they keep trusting a person, even when that person proved time and time again that they are using or hurting the character. They may have that flaw because they saw a parent being treated poorly, but not choosing to do anything about it. So, the character repeats the cycle.

Giving your character a flaw that comes from their past adds that little bit of depth that goes the extra mile in making them seem like a living, breathing person.

Step 2:  Add Some Mannerisms/ Quirks

A mannerism or quirk gives readers a visual that helps the character stand out from the others.

In fact, I think giving this information about a character makes them even easier to picture than information about hair or eye color. There are lots of people with brown hair or blue eyes. But a character who carries a notebook everywhere and always tilts their head to one side when asking questions…that is a character that comes alive in my mind.

Do they fiddle with hair when nervous? Or have a habit of gripping their sword in tense situations? Or sway a bit when eating something tasty? Bit their lip when concentrating?

Not only can these mannerisms be something added simply to give a visual, but they can double as a way to reveal something about a the character.

For instance, say we have a character who constantly pulls at their sleeves, even though they are already covering their wrists. It might be a quirk added simply to give the character a little memorability, or you could ask yourself why the character does this. Did they get a tattoo on their arm against their parents’ wishes? Do they have a scar from an accident? Did they use to cut themselves and are still self conscious about their wrist even though the scars have healed?

Step 3: Make Them Dichotomous

If you really want your character to come to life, add some dichotomy in their personality.

This keeps your character from being a cliché. The thief is sneaky, sly, and always wears a crooked grin. The wizard is wise and eccentric. The princess hates fancy dresses, balls, and anything to do with being a princess and just wants to wear boys clothes and beat people up.

Yawn. 

Surprise your readers with something about your stereotypical character that is out of place. Maybe the thief is clumsy. Maybe the wizard is really good at magic, but terrible at giving advice. Maybe the princess likes fancy dresses and isn’t good at fighting at all, but she has this strange habit of slipping the jewels off of guests’ wrists and fingers because she loves the thrill it brings her.

Real people don’t fit neatly into little boxes, so neither should your characters.

Giving your characters flaws, quirky habits, and a dichotomous nature will go a long way in making them believable and memorable, but there is more we can add give depth to our character.

Join me next week to find out what those things are! 🙂

Until then, keep dreaming!

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NoNoWriMo Tips: Week Four

We’ve made it to the last week of NaNoWriMo! As we enter into the final days of NaNo, you will find yourself in one of two camps. You will either be right on schedule with your word count and be thrilled to finally see the light at the end of the 50,000-word tunnel, or you will be woefully behind and not see anyway you can reach 50,000 words by the end of the month.

(Okay, there are actually three camps. Some of you overachievers have already finished NaNo, but we aren’t going to talk about you because you make the rest of us look bad. 😛 )

If you are in the former camp, then congratulations! You are almost to the finish line. If you are in the latter camp, don’t despair just yet. The month isn’t over, and neither is your chance to write your story.

In today’s post, I’ll be giving tips to guide you though this last week (and those extra four days of the following week) for each camp.

First, advise to those of you who are on track.

 

Celebrate your success, but don’t slack off

It is easy to take a look at your success and think you deserve a day off. Well, you do, and there is nothing wrong with giving yourself a break day after all your hard work. Just make sure that one rest day doesn’t snowball into several, or before you know it, the whole week will get away from you.

Because there aren’t many words left in comparison to when we started this goal, it is easy to think that it is smooth sailing from here. You may think, “I’ve written 40,000 words so far, what’s another 10,000?  I can do that in two or three days. I don’t need a week and a half.”

It is great that you are feeling confident, but don’t let that (well-deserved) confidence influence you to make poor decisions.

If you want to give yourself a day off, make sure you come right back to it the next day. You’ve kept your daily writing commitment so far, don’t get off track now.

 

Use that almost-to-the-finish-line momentum, but don’t burn out

You may have the opposite reaction to being so close to the NaNoWriMo finish line and be ready to charge full speed ahead. This is generally how I get as NaNo draws to a close. Being so close to finishing gives me a renewed sense of excitement and determination (similar to week one). I start thinking that I should double my writing sessions or make a new, higher daily word-count goal.

I either do this because I’m thinking how good it will feel to finish early, or because I want to be an overachiever and have more than 50,000 words by the end of November.

This never works, however. I end up maintaining my extreme, self-imposed goal for a few days, but then feel weighted down and burned out towards the end of the week.

I’ve learned to keep my original writing goal, but allow writing sessions to go longer if they do so naturally.

If you are so excited about writing the ending of your novel that you sit for six hours straight and pump out 8,000 words, then go for it. But don’t feel like you have to up the ante to finish early or to finish more of your novel because you are writing a Sci-fi or fantasy and know it won’t be finished in 50,000 words. (Yes, that last one is me 😀 ). Steady writing sessions is what got you this far, and steady writing session will carry you to the finish line.

Now, for advice to those of you who are a bit behind.

 

Be realistic

I could tell you that you should never give up on winning NaNo, no matter how far behind you are, but that would be cruel. I don’t know how far behind you are on your word count, and it could actually be impossible to write enough words everyday to finish on time.

I’m not saying that you should give up, but definitely take a few moments to calculate how many words you have left and how many you would need to write daily to finish (actually, the NaNoWriMo website will do this for you).

If you need to write 10,000 words a day and you realistically only have an hour to write after work, well yes, it might be time to set NaNo aside (unless you have some writing ninja skills the rest of us mortals don’t have 😉 ).

If you know there is no way you can catch up at this point, skip down to You don’t have to write 50,000 words in a month to be a winner.

Other wise…

 

Don’t give up

If your words-per-day- goal is challenging but doable, than go for it! You may have to get creative in finding more time to write. You may have some long writing sessions and may have to give up doing some other things. But pushing yourself extra hard this week will be worth it, not just to win NaNo, but to finish your novel.

Think about it…you are going to have a finished NOVEL in just a little over a week! Isn’t that worth making some sacrifices for? (Okay, well it isn’t quite a finished novel…there’s still all the drafting and editing…but let’s not think about that just yet.)

Think about how amazing it will be to be able to say that you’ve written a novel. Anytime you began to feel overwhelmed when thinking about the sheer amount of words you have left, think about how good it will feel that you turned that story idea into a freaking, actual novel.

Remember not to stress about making every scene perfect. The goal of NaNo is to force you to put words on the page. Those words don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be there.

Keep this quote in mind.

 “When I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” –Shannon Hale

 

You don’t have to write 50,000 words in a month to be a winner

In the grand sceam of things, NaNo is just a month where we challenge ourselves to commit to writing everyday. It may feel life-consuming during November, but when December rolls around, life keeps moving just the way it always has.

Nothing terrible will happen if you don’t write 50,000 words by the end of the month. You won’t be forced to wear a badge that says “failed author” or made to delete your NaNo account. Your WIP will still be there after November.

I know it is still disappointing to fall short of a goal, especially one we are so passionate about, but remind yourself that you tried your best. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances arise that put a halt to even the most carefully-laid plans.

Think about everything that happened this month. Maybe you got sick, or had an unexpected family or work emergency. Maybe you had to take on an extra project at work or had to work more hours. Maybe your classes at school or college were more challenging than expected and you couldn’t devote as much time to writing as you thought.

If something like this is the reason your are unable to complete NaNo, then don’t be hard on yourself. Celebrate the fact that you worked hard on your novel in spite of the fact that you had a lot of other things going on in your life.  You are courageous for committing to working towards your dream to write a novel.

Maybe you are thinking over this month and see that there wasn’t anything that prevented you from sticking to your writing commitment.

Don’t feel bad about that either!

Maybe this was your first time trying NaNo and you found writing 1,677 words a day to be more challenging than you thought. You should be proud of yourself for trying something new!

Whatever the reason you are unable to complete NaNo, know that you didn’t fail because you didn’t reach 50,000 words. You won because you still wrote more words than you would have if you didn’t try. You won because you pushed yourself to grow as a writer.

Whether you are ahead or behind, finished already or unable to complete NaNo, we all have one thing in common. We took a chance in November to dream, to believe in ourselves as writers, and to believe in our stories.

No matter our word count, we are ending November as stronger writers with a better understanding of our stories.

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week One

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week Two

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week Three

If you want to see if I finish NaNoWriMo or not, follow me on Instagram. I post updates in my stories. 🙂

 

 

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NoNoWriMo Tips: Week Three

 

Some people say that week two is the hardest, but I’ve always found the third week to be the most difficult to find motivation. Sure, in week two, some of the shininess and newness of NaNo and my WIP wears off, but there is still enough magic to keep me motivated.

If you can make it through week three, you are a hardened NaNo warrior.

It is week three that makes me question my sanity for signing up to write 50,000 words in a month, and leaves me certain that all these words are in vain because I’m going to delete the pile of nonsense as soon as the month is over.

To get through week three, here are some things to remember. (I’m sure I’m going to be rereading this myself.)

 

Your novel isn’t garbage.

At this point, you may feel like your novel is a heaping pile of garbage. No surprise, since you’ll be working your way through the middle of your novel, and that is notoriously the most difficult part to write.

If you are ready to archive your novel’s folder in a place you’ll never have to look at it again and forget reaching that daunting 50,000 words, know that you aren’t alone. The great thing about NaNo is, you have thousands of other writers who are going through the same things you are.

Doesn’t make you feel better?

Yeah, knowing there are other people feeling as lost as I am on their novels didn’t make me feel better either. Why do NaNo Pep talks assume it does? 😀

Anyway, I do have something that will make you feel better. At least, this little exercise works for me.

Grab a sheet of paper or sticky note. Now, write down three things that you really like about what you’ve written so far. It could be a scene, a character who has really come to life in this draft, a favorite line of dialogue. Or even the fact that you’ve written half a novel!

Keep this list somewhere you can see it. Stick it on your computer screen. Place it on your desk. Read it before you start writing or any time you feel like giving up.

Sure, there may be some things about your WIP that need fixing, but that’s why we don’t stop with the first draft. No one’s first draft is ready for publication. Focus on the things you are proud of, and remember that the purpose of a first draft is just to get the words on the page so you’ll have something to work with later.

 

Don’t be stressed about falling behind.

You may be a little behind at this point. Or maybe you are way behind and are scared you’ll never catch up.

First, take a deep breath.

What is going to happen if you don’t reach 50,000 words? Will the NaNo police come nab you and give you a life sentence that forbids you from writing? Will all the other NaNo writers show up to your house to shame you for not completing NaNo?

Sorry to disappoint you if you were hoping they’d post your picture on the home page with the words NaNo’s Biggest Loser underneath, but nothing so grandly dramatic is going to happen.

If for some reason you aren’t able to catch up and the end of November comes around to find your novel at 40,000 words or 25,000 words, then so what? Nothing bad happens. You can keep working on your story in December. You can walk away from NaNo knowing that you have more words down than if you didn’t participate.

But don’t give up on reaching that goal just yet. NaNo is full of ups and downs. You may be in a writing slump today, but tomorrow may bring a 5,000-word writing sprint that catches you up.

You still have the rest of this week and week four. You may be surprised at how many words you can crank out as NaNo comes to an end. 🙂

Remember why you started.

Why did you chose to write this story? Was it because you fell in love with the characters? Because the plot was absolutely thrilling? Because the world you imagined was stunning?

Reach back to those things that made you excited to start on this story. Pretend you are getting the story idea for the first time. Close your eyes and imagine that first scene you saw, or the first character that came to you. Spend a few minutes going through the first notes you took, or write something new that focuses on that one thing that made you excited to start writing back on November first.

You may choose to write a paragraph of your favorite character rambling to you, or bring more detail to a worldbuilding aspect, or dive deeper into a plot twist.

Remembering why you started writing this story will give you the strength to keep writing. Your characters deserve it, your world deserves it, you deserve it.

Keep writing! After this week, next week will fly by.

 

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week One

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week Two

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NaNoWriMo Tips: Week Two

We’ve made it to week two! If week one went well, your excitement and motivation is probably still high. I am still riding the high of finishing a whole week of NaNoWriMo and ready to see even more progress this week.

Having said this, I know this enthusiasm is about to take a dive as quickly as my energy when a caffeine high wears off.

Which leads me to my first tip about week two of NaNo…

Enjoy the NaNo high, but don’t count on it.

Enjoy the rush while you can, but don’t count on it pulling you though the month.

I don’t say this to scare you. But on my first NaNo, around this time I was thinking, “This is pretty easy. I’m so motivated. NaNo is like a magic elixir giving me writing superpowers!”

Then disaster hits….

Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but all that sparkly NaNo magic usually disappears by the end of week two or beginning of week three. If you aren’t ready for it, you may wonder what went wrong. Or decide that because writing isn’t as exciting as it was during week one, that something is wrong with your story.

I’m warning you now. Be prepared to have those rose-colored, NaNo glasses ripped off your face, but don’t let the change in scenery make you quit.

Celebrate your progress.

When the rush of excitement leaves, keep your motivation by looking at the progress you’ve made. You are probably around the 11,000 to 16,000 word mark by this time (depending on when you are reading this).

That is a large chunk of your novel! You’ve written more words than you would have in a normal writing week/week and a half. Take a moment to congratulate yourself on your progress.

Celebrate your wins, and don’t worry that it doesn’t feel as new and shiny as it did in week one.

Don’t delete words.

I am guilty of stopping to rework sentences and paragraphs while writing the first draft. Editing while drafting may seem like you are giving yourself a smoother draft to go over later, but if your goal is to write 1,667 words in an hour and a half, you are going to fall behind quickly if you stop to reread and rewrite every paragraph.

Rereading also leads to deleting words. Lines of dialogue that sound stiff, descriptions that are bland, or awkward sentences beg to be deleted. But every time you delete a sentence, you are shortening your word count and making it more difficult to reach your goal for that day.

I get it. Sometimes it is unavoidable to read over the last lines. I’m not saying that you should never look back at what you wrote. Just be careful not to spend too much time trying to rework a paragraph or find the “perfect” adjective to describe your character’s home-knit sweater.

If you find yourself cringing at something you wrote and your finger is hovering over the delete key, do this instead; Put a line through it.  This way it still counts towards your word count, but you don’t have to worry that you won’t catch it when reading over your draft later.

Remember to give yourself a break.

Chances are, you’ve lived, breathed, and ate NaNo for the last week. That word-count goal is the first thing on your mind when you wake up, your next scene is the thing you daydream about in traffic, and your characters are there to talk your ear off before you go to sleep.  (If it hasn’t been this way for you, then I’m not sure whether to congratulate you or to tell you to step up your level of commitment. 😉 )

In the whirlwind that is the first week, you may be able to keep up a hectic pace, but most of us won’t be able to keep that same level of intensity for the whole month.

Of course staying motivated, working hard, and exercising your self-discipline is important, but you don’t want to burn out before the month is over.

Make sure that you carve out a time during the week NOT to think about NaNo, word counts, or that one character that might as well be replaced by a plant for all the lifeless dialogue they spit out.

I like to give myself Sunday off. I write much better during the week when I have one day to recharge. To do this, I need to write more words during the week or double the words on Saturday. This way, I’m not falling behind during my break day and having to play catch up when I start back. This would defeat the purpose of a break day because I would spend it feeling guilty that I’d purposely made the decision to fall behind or worrying that I wouldn’t be able to make the double word-count goal the next day.

It gives me an extra 277 words a day (or 3,334 words on Saturday), but it is worth it to me to have a guiltless break during the week.

Even if you prefer not to take a whole day off, or can’t take a whole day off, carve out some time during the week to give yourself permission to give your writer’s brain a rest. Take a walk, soak in a bath, or listen to an audiobook.

Giving yourself a scheduled time to take a guilt-free break makes it less likely that you will be too burned out to write one day and fall behind. It is much harder to write double the words when we perceive that we are behind or have “failed” than it is to write double the words when we see it as getting ahead or doing extra.

Now that you are ready for week two, get to writing! 😉 I’ll be back next week, and we’ll conquer week three together.

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week One

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week Three

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NaNoWriMo Tips: Week One

Today is the first day of National Novel Writing Month! I am stoked to be doing this again after taking a few years off.  I’m also a bit nervous because it feels like my first time all over again.

I took some time to think about how I completed NaNoWriMo in previous years….what worked and didn’t work…what helped me get through the month. Because I don’t have enough writing to do this month, I decided to write them all down and share them with you. 😉

I’ll be walking you through each week of NaNo as they come, so you won’t be alone in the ups and down that come with writing 50,000 words in a month.

These posts will give you an expectation of the unique challenges each week brings and the tools to overcome those challenges so you can finish your novel (or if you are a long-winded writer like me, half of your novel).

Week one is the easiest, since we are excited and motivated to start. But there are still a few things to keep in mind during this week to set yourself up for success for the rest of the month.

Set time aside to write in advance.

Thinking that you will do it “whenever you have time that day” usually means that everything else pulling for your attention is what you do instead. Having a set time will ensure that you don’t get to the end of your day and realize you have a mound of words to write.

No one wants to stay up two hours past their bedtime to write (well, unless inspiration hits 🙂 ). Or even worse, go days without writing, and then have to write 10,000 words in one day to catch up.

Everyone’s optimal time to write is different. You may want to get up earlier for a before-work writing session, or you may find that writing after dinner works best for you.

It is okay if this time you set aside fluctuates a bit. In my previous years of NaNo, I did the majority of my writing in the evenings, but also had my share of writing sessions before I left for work just to change things up a bit.

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach your daily word-count goal.

This one kills me. I use to feel like I “lost” that day if I didn’t write those 1,667 words, even if I did my intended writing session. The fact that I’d used all of my scheduled writing time and still didn’t reach the daily goal made me feel worse. I felt that I’d “wasted” it because I would be starting the next day out at a deficit.

Don’t do this! Allowing yourself to feel like you “didn’t make it” that day will only make you lose momentum, and it will be harder to start writing the next day.

Instead of thinking that you somehow “failed” that day, remind yourself that you showed up and wrote for the amount of time you said promised yourself you would.

If you have a set time to write and you actually sat yourself down and got some words out during that time, then you win for that day.

I’ve learned that word count ebbs and flows during NaNoWriMo. One day you barely make 1,000 and others you write 3,000. Don’t sweat it if you fall behind. You’ll make it up another day.

Be creative in finding time to write.

During my previous NoNoWriMos, I was lucky enough to have a job that went though waves of business, and then would be completely dead, so I would always bring my laptop incase I had some spare time to work on my story.

If you don’t have that luxury, you may still be able to squeeze in some writing time on you lunch break. Of course this depends on how long your break is and how long it takes to get to a nearby restaurant and get your order. You may want to bring your own lunch for this month to give you a bit of extra time.

If writing during lunch isn’t an option, you can still sneak in some “writing.”

For days I knew it would be too busy to bother bringing my laptop out, I could still jot some notes about what might happen in the next scene or add something to a character’s backstory.

It wasn’t adding to my word count, but it did save me some time when I sat down to write later. I would already have some idea how the scene would go, or I wouldn’t have to stop and think why this character would react this way because of the notes I took earlier.

If your job is so demanding that you’re laughing and shaking your head at the thought of even taking a few notes on your phone, don’t sweat it. This is why you have you designated time to write.

Enjoy it!

The most important thing to do during NaNo is to enjoy it. Sure, you are going to have your ups and downs during the month, but overall you should have a deep satisfaction that you are making such huge progress on your WIP.

Enjoy the ride! I’ll be back next week for tips on how to make week two a success. 🙂

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week Two

NaNoWriMo Tips: Week Three

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The Luckiest of Colors

The Luckiest of Colors

Katrin glowered at the two messy braids trailing down either side of her shoulders. Their coppery tones were even more bright with the fire casting its orange glow on them.

“It is your fault I’m out here,” she muttered.

She was the only child in her village with red hair, and that’s why her parents didn’t like her. Her mother would look at her, sigh, and tell her that they should have used black tea and sage to darken her hair before anyone saw her flaming locks. Her father thought she was bad luck and would blame every accident or ill fortune the family had on her. If Katrin caught a cold, it was because she was redheaded. If her brother fell and scraped his knee while playing with her, it was because of her hair. If a storm blew through and blew the shingles off the roof, if the crops didn’t grow well, if foxes came for their hens, it was all because of Katrin’s red hair.

And that’s why Katrin had to run away. She knew she was too young to be on her own—only eight—but she couldn’t stand anymore disgusted looks from her father and pitying ones from her mother. She would prove that she wasn’t “bad luck.” She would live on her own for a few days, and when no illness befell her, no trees fell on her, and nothing else happened that could be blamed on her hair, then that would prove that it must be someone else bringing the bad luck.

Katrin pulled a leaf from one of her tangled braids. She threw it into the fire, hoping it would give it a little more life, but the dying flame hardly seemed to notice Katrin’s offering.

“This is bad luck,” Katrin whispered to herself. She desperately searched the ground within the fire’s ring of dim light, but didn’t see any twigs she could add. Katrin gave a nervous glace at the shadowy trees around her, beyond the firelight. Her eyes played tricks on her, making the darkness wriggle and slide in way that made her sure something was out there, watching her.

As much as she didn’t want her only light to fizzle out, she was terrified of going out there to gather more firewood.

Katrin hadn’t been scared when she left her house before dawn, or while following a deer trial through the woods, or even as the sun began to set as she gathered firewood. But now that the moon was just a sliver in the sky and the sparks from the fire the only stars, she wished more than anything that she hadn’t left her house.

She may not have been allowed to throw wood in the fire (because her father thought her bad luck might cause the house to burn down), but at least there was a fire.

She wished she had gathered more branches, but hadn’t expected the wood to burn so quickly. She had been so proud when she lite the fire with the matches she took from the house, just like her brother showed her when her father wasn’t around. She had watched the flames leap unto the branches she collected and wished her parents could see her now. He father couldn’t say she was bad luck. She started a fire and nothing bad happened!

Katrin curled up in a ball and squeezed her eyes shut. She should go to sleep before the fire went out. Then she couldn’t be afraid of the dark because it was dark when she slept anyway. But Katrin didn’t feel any safer with her eyes closed. She kept imagining shapeshifting animals from the stories coming for her. They would start as tiny bunnies coming out from the shadows, then they would morph into wolves that howled and snarled.

When the sun rose, she would go straight back to her house. Being left out of every game the other village children played and having adults scowl at her when she walked by was better than being eaten by shapeshifting bunny-wolves.

Katrin bolted upright as an owl called out. She loved listening to owls from her bedroom at night, but out here they sounded menacing, like they were calling her to step out beyond the fire’s light so they would swoop down on her.

“Forget sleeping,” Katrin said. She made herself stand and inched toward the edge of the fire’s light. She froze. Did something move out there?

She listened, but didn’t hear any rustling.

Katrin took a deep breath, like she was about to dunk her head in the creek, as she moved from the fire’s small ring of orange light.

She squinted at the dark ground and let out a breath of relief when she found a stick. She swooped on it and kept looking.”

“One, two, thr—” Katrin let out a yelp.

Two silver eyes peered from the darkness just a few feet from the stick she was about to grab. She withdrew her hand and clutched her two sticks to her chest like they could shield her from whatever it was the eyes belonged to. A raccoon? A wolf?

There was the soft rustle and the eyes began to move. Towards her.

Katrin held the sticks out, one in each hand.

“Don’t come near me or I’ll hit you!” she said, even though she knew animals didn’t understand words.

The eyes kept moving.

“Ahh!” Katrin yelled and thrashed the sticks through the air, hoping to scare the animal. It stopped coming towards her, but it didn’t go away. Now that it was standing just in front of her, she could see that it wasn’t a very big animal. Bigger than a raccoon, but much smaller than a wolf. It hardly came to her knees. She could make out a slim body, pointed ears, a slender snout, and a long fluffy tail.

“A fox?” she asked. The silver eyes blinked at her. It’s tail twitched and Katrin thought it might pounce, but that isn’t what it did at all. Instead, it stayed where it was at, but it was definitely still moving.

The shadowy figure of a fox began to waver, dark shapes bubbled and morphed in the darkness in front of her.

Katrin walked backwards until she was back by the fire, still holding the sticks out. It was a shapeshifter. She was sure of it. Maybe the little fox was about to turn into a bear.

Her heart was beating so hard that she heard it in her ears. She was about to run, when a boy stepped into firelight.

He was about her height and looked to be eight like her. His hair and eyes were silver.

“You have red hair,” the boy said.

Katrin forgot to be scared. “Red hair? You’re a fox who just turned into a boy, and that’s what you are worried about? My red hair!”

“I’m a boy who turns into a fox.”

“I know that!” Katrin sputtered, still miffed that he pointed out her hair right away. Apparently, even forest animals didn’t like girls with red hair.

“You said that I’m a fox who turns into a boy, but I’m a boy who can turn into a fox. There’s a difference.” The boy smirked like he said something clever.

“Great. But you are still a fox boy. That’s weirder than having red hair.”

“I didn’t say your hair was weird.”

Katrin was about to say, “Yes, you did,” but then she realized that he actually didn’t say that. “Why did you say I have red hair then?”

“Because you do.”

“You have silver hair,” Katrin shot back, still not sure if this boy was insulting her or not.

“Yep.” The boy looked very pleased with himself.

“And silver eyes,” Katrin said as if that would get to him.

The boy clapped his hands slowly. “You know your colors. Good for you. Or at least red and silver. What about the color of that tree over there.” He pointed to the darkness beyond the fire.

Katrin clenched her teeth, trying to think of something to say back. Oh, this will make him mad. “I see why you are a fox. I bet no one likes you when you are a boy.”

“I bet no one likes you either.”

Katrin smacked his shoulder with one of her sticks. “Go away!”

He held his hands up. “I didn’t mean that they shouldn’t not like you. I just meant that they don’t. Because of your red hair and everything.”

Katrin could feel tears prickling eyes. Even out here in the woods, she couldn’t escape people who teased her because of her hair.

The boy’s silver eyes widened a bit, then darted to the fire. He looked uncomfortable. Katrin wondered if he saw that she was about to cry. “I didn’t mean…I meant that people don’t understand us.”

“Us?” Katrin’s voice came out wavery.

“Yeah. Us shapeshifters.”

“I didn’t know they were people,” Katrin said. In the stories, they were always animals who turned into bigger, scarier animals.

The boy’s sliver eyes blinked and he cocked his head to one side. “Aren’t you a shapeshifter?”

“Of course not. Why would you think I am a shapeshifter?”

“Because you have red hair,” he said at the same time.

“What does that have to do with it?” She, frowning.

“People with red hair turn into red foxes. Just like people with sliver hair,” he pointed at himself, “turn into silver foxes.”

Katrin wished she could turn into a fox. Then she wouldn’t be afraid of being in the forest at night.

“I can’t turn into a fox,” Katrin said, shaking her head.

“How old are you?” the boy asked, tilting his head in thought.

“Eight.”

“Yeah, you have plenty of time before your awakening.”

“What is an awakening?”

“It’s when a shapeshifter first turns into their animal. It happens around eight, nine, or ten.”

Katrin wanted it to be true. If she could be a fox, then the woods could be her home, and she wouldn’t have to go back to her parents. Weather she was bad luck or not.

“Someone would have told me if I was a shapeshifter,” Katrin said. “My parents never told me that one day I would turn into a fox.”

He shook his head. “They wouldn’t. Normal people are afraid of us.

“They aren’t afraid.” Katrin sighed. “They’re just mean.”

“Nah, they act mean because they are afraid of what you can do.”

“I can’t do anything.”

“Yet.” The boy gave a her a smile.

Katrin shook he head. “I need to go back home. Can you take me there?” The woods would be a lot less scary with a fox boy beside her.

“I can. Or I can take you to our village.” He turned and stared walking.

“Wait.” Katrin didn’t want to be alone again, but she wasn’t sure she should follow him. “What village?”

“The one all of the shapeshifters live in.”

“But I’m not a—”

He turned back around and rolled his eyes at her. “If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be out here.”

Katrin hesitated. Maybe she was a shapeshifter, and that was why everyone acted so strange around her. They were scared she would one day turn into a fox, right in front of their faces.

But maybe she wasn’t a shapeshifter. She could get him to take her home and then tell everyone that she’d survived a night in the woods without anything bad happening. That might be enough to prove that she wasn’t unlucky.

“Can you take me back home?” she asked.

He shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”

She smiled at the thought of going back to a big warm fire and a bed and all her dolls.

She frowned. Back to her mother’s disappointed looks and her father’s blaming of her for everything that went wrong.

Katrin stepped up beside him. “Let’s go to your village.”

The boy grinned and his silver eyes glinted in the dying firelight. “Are you going to keep those sticks the whole way.”

“Yeah,” she grinned and whispered, “There are foxes in these woods, you know.”

“Yep. Two of them.”

Katrin liked the sound of that. She wasn’t the only one with an odd hair color anymore.

Katrin put both sticks in the single flame left of the fire and watched them light. She handed one to the boy.

As they walked into the darkness, flaming sticks held high, Katrin looked down at her messy braids. They reflected the flame’s orange light.

She smiled. You’re the reason I’m on my way to a new home.  

As Katrin skittered through the shadows, listening to the boy describe her new home, she thought of something that she’d never thought of before. Maybe red hair was the luckiest of colors.