Remember my Brave the Page Blog Tour post from August where I shared my Musical Playlist for Writing?
We are now deep into NaNoWriMo so I hope that many of you have tried to follow along with the writing community and are working on your novels or short stories. If you missed it, Brave the Page by Rebecca Stern and Grant Faulkner is a new book that will help jump start you into NaNoWriMo and help you with your writing. This book will help movitate and inspire young writers while also helping them with story, plot, characters and more.
Brave the Page
By Rebecca Stern and Grant Faulkner
Ages: 10-17 years old
Genre: Middle Grade, Non-Fiction
Published by: Viking Children's Books
Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0451480295
Order at Penguin Random House
Writing Tips
1. Pick a consistent time of day to write
I have been an author and a writer for over 20 years now and have worked on so many books in the web design, design and tech space since 1996. From co-authoring to contributing essays for books as well as freelance article writing, it can sometimes can be hard to get motivated to write. My best advice to you is to find the time of day that works for you and stick to it. Writing everyday brings consistency and helps you form a habit. I did this while writing my books. I would wake up at 5am before working a full time job so that I could be fresh and clear in the morning. I would write about 1 or 2 hours depending on how good I felt. If you only have 20 or 30 minutes to write, that's ok. Do what works for you to get words on the page.
2. Planning/Outline
I know some writers don't like to do this but I always even for small articles, plan out what I am going to write. An outline is a great place to start when you are working on a novel, short story or even an article. It doesn't have to be detailed but something enough to give you a skeleton structure so that you remember all the important elements that need to go into your novel. Once you have that set, I find that I usually plan out the next ideas in writing the story the day before I write so that I have some notes and bullet points to make writing flow easier the next day.
3. The Brain Dump / Write Now, Edit Later
It's important in the novel writing process, you get the all the words on the page and get as many pages done as you can. Get your ideas down and you can worry about the flow or add embellishments to your story later through the editing process.
4. Edit, Edit, Edit, Copy Edit
The reality is the editing process is probably the most painful because it can actually be a longer process to endure than the actual writing process. Make sure you read through the whole novel and make sure the flow is good. Go back and edit, move things around and don't be afraid to take things out or rewrite sections. Sometimes it's hard to stop editing because a novel can be such a personal experience, one where you are connected to your characters. It's hard to know when to stop. Have a good friend read it over and see if it makes sense to them or if they have questions on any characters. Then go back and fix whatever you need to do for your novel. Once you are done with the editing process, go back and copy edit the grammar and fact check things that need fact checking.
5. Reward Yourself
Mark important milestones in your outline and then reward yourself once you complete them. They can be anything from treating yourself to some fro yo or taking a break with your favorite sit com. A novel writing process is long so it's important to celebrate little accomplishments. You could even set up a sort of habit tracker where you check off each day you write and when you have written for X number of days, you get to treat yo 'self!
Pick up Brave the Page by Rebecca Stern and Grant Faulkner on Amazon.com.
Here are the other blogs featured on the Brave the Page Blog Tour for this week:
November 25
Lost in Storyland – How to start prepping for next year’s Nanowrimo
Thoughts from a Highly Caffeinated Mind –Checklist: What to do after you’ve written your first draft
November 26
Picture Books to YA – Creative Writing Tips
Mindful journaling – Inspired by the Book: Bujo Content
November 27
Alohamora: Open a Book – 5 Steps to get you in the mood to write
wildeyesbujo – Completed Nanowrimo Bujo Tracker
November 28
Some the wiser – Middle Grade Writing Group Reflection
A Peace of Mind – Tips and Inspiration from one kid to others
November 29
Sgraveswrites – Completed Nanowrimo Tracker
Review book provided by Penguin Random House
