TBT: Advice On The Beginning (stuff I picked up along the way) #nanowrimo

For today's TBT I'm sharing Advice on The Beginning (stuff I picked up along the way). (Maybe this will help all you Nano-er's out there). Every page of a book is important but the beginning of a book has to be laser focused. It needs to sell the book to the agent, publisher, and ultimately, reader. There are many right ways to write a book but I wanted to share some of the advice I'd gathered from my many writing classes.

Enjoy!

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I’m not perfect – nowhere close, even, and I still have a lot to learn. But I have taken a few writing classes over the years (At RWA, LitReactor, and WritersDigest) that focused exclusively on the first chapters of a novel. The thought was, if we could get our openings to shine we’d have a better chance of nabbing an Agent. Of course, I think it was implied that we would continue revising and make sure that the entire novel glittered with excellence but in class we only focused on the beginning.

And one of my goals in starting this blog was to give back to this amazing, supportive, online community of writers. To that end, I thought I’d capture some of the fun, and hard, writing advice I’ve gleamed over the years:


Here's what I've learned:

1. Never start with a dream: LOL, I know. But Agents say it's still WAY overdone.

2. Never start with the weather: Again, heard it’s overdone. And opening with weather often fails to move the plot forward so it's wasted words.

3. Cut the first 50 pages of your book: Literally, one teacher, an Agent herself, said to take the first fifty pages and chuck them out the window. I was in shock. But the point the teacher was trying to make is that, usually, a book doesn’t take off until 50 pages in. Which means, do you really need the first fifty pages? The teacher, speaking from her personal (and subjective) experience, said most of the first 50 pages she receives in her slush pile are boring. Her advice doesn’t sound that crazy anymore.

4. Never include a flash back in the first 50 pages of your book: I think this advice goes hand in hand with item 3. The beginning is about conflict, action, and hooking the reader. Flashback's early in the story don't typically hook the reader (um, because we don't care about the characters yet). Save the flashback for the third act.

5. First sentence: This sentence must pop. This one, measly little sentence could be the only chance you get to hook an Agent. So make sure it's full of action. Generally, its advised that the first sentence should not be spoken, as in dialogue. But I’ve broken that rule. Aren’t rules meant to be broken? No, that’s not an excuse to stop improving your craft. *narrows eyes at you* I know what you’re thinking. Just know the rules and understand their value before you break them.

6. First 250 words: These are the NEXT most important words in your entire novel!!! Why? See number 5. An Agent may never read past 250 words. Use these words to setup WHO, WHAT, WHERE, and CONFLICT (It doesn't have to be the main conflict of the chapter but it has to be something). Think about the 250 words like the first scene of a movie. The reader, or movie goer, needs to be dropped into a world. In order to understand the world they need a few key elements: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, and CONFLICT all crammed into the first 250 words. Often, the first chapter will include all of these elements but not the first 250 – but you may have missed your chance. Rework the first 250 words to ensure the reader is dropped into a fully established world from the get-go.

7. First 10 pages: Can you guess where I’m going with this? These are the THIRD most important words in your entire novel!!! Yay! So you got an Agent passed the first sentence. They read the first 250 words and now what? Now, they read the full first chapter and it should be short-ish and punchy. In one class our assignment was to slash our first chapter down to 10 pages. Sounds arbitrary, right? But the point was to laser focus our opening and drill the first chapter down to the most essential facts and details. It was hard, but fun. The essential stuff includes action enough to engage the reader and keep them asking for more. But it's also something that makes the reader connect with the MC. How many books start with someone getting fired, getting dumped, getting lost, failing a class, getting an eviction notice, etc. These are little conflicts (although they seem HUGE at the time to the MC) that propel the MC into the next, MAJOR conflict.

8. Eliminate words that create narrative distance: This is especially important in third person POV but relevant to all POV. Words like "felt" or "Seemed" separate the reader from the story. I put together this list of words that I look for when editing my own WIP's. I cut these words and rewrite the sentences so they are no longer needed. Some of the words I target are: toward, felt/feel, seemed/seem, like, heard, saw, think/thought, looked, got, just, almost, big/small, very, never/often, important, thing/things/stuff, went.

9. Rule of Three (aka, avoiding the info dump): when describing the setting – or ANYTHING, really- pick three important things and only three things to describe. More than three things is generally overwhelming to the reader. This is actually more of a best practice and not really a 'rule' but it sounds catchier as a 'rule' LOL. And it's possible to cut too much, so be careful. But if you’ve been told you info dump in the beginning chapters this is a good 'rule' to keep in mind.

And last, but not least,

10. There’s no single right way to write a book: If someone tells you there is a right way they are wrong (run away from them.) Every class opened with the teacher saying their advice was just guidelines in a highly subjective business. If something resonates with you, great, run with it. IF not, then feel free to completely ignore it, heck, maybe even try Ron Swanson's approach to witing:

It’s a lot of advice to take in. I know. And revising is already hard on the soul. But when revising to make changes associated with this advice I picked one task at a time and applied it through my entire novel. When completed, I’d pick another task and run with that. Focusing on one element at a time made the task of revising more manageable.

Want more thoughts on the beginning? Check out this post on Subjectivity in the First 250 Words.

Breadcrumbs at the beginning of the story by Chuck Wendig

Nanowrimo writing tips – or tips for writing that first draft (also by Chuck Wendig)

Second draft? What’s that?

What writing advice have you picked up along the way? Share what works for you here:

Welcome to #NaNoWriMo: 6 Things To Remember This November

It's November which means it is National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo). If you are undertaking the coolest (or nerdiest) word challenge in history this month then let me be the first to say, "Are you crazy?"

The answer is likely, "only a little."

50,000 words in 30 days is a gigantarama undertaking. I've tried to tackle NaNo 3 times and I've failed to meet goal....you guessed it....three times.

Before you get too deep into this novel-writing madness to understand the English language (oh yes, that can happen) I wanted to share a few tid-bits of advice from a humble, weary, word-nerd. My advice on NaNoWriMo:

1. You are not in a competition - unless you are competing against yourself. Then, by all means, compete away. This isn't about how much better you are doing than so-and-so. It's about setting a goal and devoting yourself to it.

2. There are no losers - if you write ONE word you are a winner. If you stall out at 19k (like I've done in the past) then you are still a winner because you have 19k toward a novel that you didn't have before.

3. Don't forget to celebrate achievements along the way - because, cupcakes! Write three days in a row? Hit 10k? 20K? or more? CELEBRATE. Just because this is a month long challenge doesn't mean you should only celebrate on December 1st. Set small goals and celebrate along the way.

4. Never start querying your NaNo Novel on December 1st - don't forget you need to edit (A LOT) before this baby will be query ready. Ask your new Nano friends if they want to be your crit partners when the project is finished.

5. Lean on your writing friends - they know how crazy this challenge can be and they are there for you. Don't be afraid to ask for help or talk something through (even if it's to vent about how dumb a character is being). This is a community and you are part of it. Enjoy it.

6. Above all - have fun! We word-nerds don't let our hair down every day. Enjoy it.

Are you Nanoing? Have advice? Leave it here:

I Can Haz Productivity: #NanoWriMo recap 2013

As some of you might have noticed, my 'month in review' post for November is late. I usually post my monthly word count recaps the first week of the following month.

My November post is late because I didn't win Nano and I'm struggling with what that means. I didn't come close. I actually wrote fewer words during Nano this year than the year before. Oh well. I can't bring myself to be disappointed but I can bring myself to a conclusion: NaNoWriMo is not for me. It's just not. That doesn't make me any less of a writer. In fact, I feel very accomplished in spite of missing the 50k word target.

November was a wild month, as it is for most people, with travel, and holidays, and family, and work. It's difficult to fit writing into your daily life in a non-holiday month. And although thousands of writers finish Nano each year, it's not a good fit for me.

I still had a very productive month: I spent time in Florida and Missouri. I ran a 5k with my family and competed in the Baker's Dozen auction (which posted in November but the auction took place in December). I was so honored and thrilled to be a part of this huge event. (Don't know about the Baker's Dozen? Check out details here. Visit my piece here.)

I've said it before, but I'll say it again, contests are wonderful, humbling experiences. I learned a lot. Met a lot of great people via Twitter and had a great time.

November was also the end of my parole from Corporate America. I started a new job and that means getting up earlier, spending hours on the computer doing stuff OTHER THAN writing, and dressing pretty (I haven't forgotten you, yoga pants. We'll always have the weekends. *looks longingly at yoga pants*.) It's a fun job and the people are fantastic.

All in all, I didn't have much time for writing. No, scratch that, because it's all about priorities. I prioritized other areas of my life above writing. That's not to say I didn't write. I did. But other areas of my life had to take center stage last month. No shame in that.

Happy Employee Shot - taken before heading to my first day at the new job

Sunrise from my new cube

So what did my month yield? The productivity is as follows:

12 blog posts
2 novels read
1 contests entered
And words, lots of words *does happy dance*

For a grand total of 13,340 words. That’s my Not the best month ever - and no, I did not hit my 800 word a day goal, but any month with words is a great month. Check out how I did in Oct, and Sep, and Aug

This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for the year to 149,587! *blinks* *blinks some more* I just can’t believe it. I feel so legit because that’s a lota words.

How are your writing goals coming along?

Are You Afraid to Shelve Your Book Baby?

Alright, all those writers who have finished their first novel. Yay!

But, today we need to talk about a terrifying idea: shelving your baby.

That’s right. We need to talk about it because NaNoWriMo is over but fifty thousand words does not a novel make.
You may have heard a million stories on the interweb about writers who were discovered after writing their first MS and your thinking, *maybe* *just maybe* it's your destiny to be discovered that way, as well. Before you get lost in months and months of cuddling with your first-born novel baby let’s examine three common myths about shelving your WIP:

Myth 1: This is the book of your heart and therefore MUST be published:

I’m going to rip this Band-Aid off. No mercy: Nothing MUST be published. Nothing. And just because this book is close to your heart doesn’t mean you are entitled to anything. That’s right, I said entitled because chances are you believe that you are almost there. You’ve finished the damn book (which may, or may not, have nearly killed you) and now you are part of a small percentage of people who can say “I’ve written a book.” But there is still a business to publishing and finishing the book is only the first step in publishing.

Why you should stick that crying, goo-covered book-baby on the shelf:

Finishing the book was the first step. Next you’ll need to revise the heck out of that book. In order to revise you will need fresh eyes. When I say fresh I mean can’t-finish-this-sentence-without-reading-it fresh. You need to be so far removed from your MS that the smallest mistakes are glaring. Things spell check can’t catch should jump out at you. In order to get this perspective you need space. I know, I know, you’re thinking ‘but I’m a new book-mom. I can’t leave my baby alone for weeks. What will people say about my book parenting skills?’

Actually, no one will say that but that doesn’t stop you from thinking it because you’re scared. Here’s the thing, everyone steps back from their work. It’s the best way to get fresh eyes. I take 4-8 weeks off between books. That’s not to say you have to stop writing at all. No, keep writing. Write everyday. Just don’t write/revise/edit anything to do with your completed MS for a few weeks. Stick on the shelf and change gears.

Myth 2: This is the only book idea you have and anything else you write will be forced:

I hear you. I really do. Five years ago I finished my first MS and I panicked. I thought ‘This is it. This is the only idea I’ve ever had. Nothing else will come to me.’ So I spent years (yeah, I said years) revising that baby thinking ‘If I could get this right I know I could get published.’ And maybe, someday, it will be published. But I spent all my creative energy on that book-baby out of fear (not love). Think about that. I was afraid nothing else would come to me. I was afraid this was my one shot.

*hugs* *pats back* I know it can be scary but you are a creative, hardworking, artist. You are a writer, the real thing. Repeat after me: You are not a one-book-wonder.

Why you should punch fear in the face and shelve that book:

When I finally took the leap, and shoved that bratty book-baby into time out, I was free to imagine wonderful new worlds. I was flooded with ‘what-if’s’ that turned into great outlines. I’ve written more. Dreamed more. Learned more. All because I allowed myself to move on. It’s scary. I get that. But believe in yourself. Believe that this is not the end for you and see what dreams may come.

Myth 3: A few famous authors were discovered with their first MS. I am going to be one of the few who get discovered that way, too:

*crosses arms* *taps foot* Look. I know you want to be the exception to the ‘no one ever gets discovered on their first novel’ rule (remember above when I said I held onto my first MS for YEARS!?!). But here’s the hard truth (no mercy!): You are not the exception – probably. It’s a very rare few who are discovered with their first MS. It does happen, but it’s so freaking rare. Chances are good that your first attempt will not be good enough to snag an agent or editor’s interest. Sucks, I know. You love your book-baby and you want it to succeed.

Why you should knee your ego in the balls and shelve that book:

Confidence is great. It’s what sent you down the novel writing path to begin with (because, let’s face it, this takes some serious balls). But when your ego is getting in the way of your evolution as an artist then there’s a problem. When your ego tells you ‘you are the best writer in the world’ kick it in the nuts and say ‘settle down, ego. I’ve got some work to do.’

I’m not saying you should ball up your newborn book-baby and throw it away. I’m saying shelve it. Step away. Write something new. Write something outside your genre. Force yourself to learn and grow as a writer.

Fear is the enemy. It creeps into your life in small, insidious ways. As writers we must be ever vigilant in our battle against fear.

Where you afraid to shelve your MS? How did you overcome that fear?

Write it Forward: #NaNo shove

Time for an inspiration break. If you're like me you need a bit of a shove to get NaNo back on track.

First, remember that anytime can be a good time to write. Write by hand if you have to. Write on your phone and email it to yourself. Lug your laptop with you everywhere.

Next, don't let your goals stress you out. *takes deep breaths*


And last, but not least, BICHOK: butt-in-chair-hands-on-keyboard.

#NaNo Push: Great is the enemy of Good

No, I didn't get it wrong. I know what the original quote is but I mean what I say: Great is the enemy of Good.

We want to be great. We want our drafts to be great. But Hemingway said it best:

Are you letting your desire to edit/revise as you go derail your NaNoWriMo goals? I've done it before *coughs* *remembers last years NaNo*

Don't let your drive for great derail your ability to complete the first draft.

Preparing for NaNoWriMo

You may remember my posts last year about NaNoWriMo. I had only started toying with the idea of daily word counts and the challenge NaNoWriMo presented got me all hot and bothered. See, I love competitions. I'm happiest when I'm competing against myself. It's why I loved performing as a musician, why I love running, and why I love writing.

But, for all my love of the game, NaNo blindsided me last year. I assumed I'd win and you know what they say about folks who assume (ass = me). And, I didn't win.

But I didn't lose. Nov 2012 was my highest word count at the time (aka best. month. ever! To-date).

So, to prepare for NaNo 2013 I'm approaching this beast differently. I know 50k in 30 days is tough. I worked my arse off last month and only made 40k in 30 days.

Here are some things that helped make 2012 NaNo a success:

1. Know thy self: setting a realistic goal - November sucks (in the best way). November is full of holiday planning, visits, vacations, shopping, and obligations. Additionally, if you have perfectioninst tendancies, like I do, writing a first draft to completion is on par with donning a hand sewn dress with the pattern still pinned to it. *brushes off chalk lines* I hate drafting because I want to polish as I go. I'm gunning for a win this year just because I want to win. Which means I'll have to plan around my own desire to polish as I go. I know it will be hard. I plan to set weekly word count goals. If I can get a head of the daily word count requirements my schedule can flex to meet other obligations.

2. Tell people: building accountability - Telling people your goals, whether they are word count, running, weight loss, or underwater square dancing increases your accountability to yourself. In other words: This shit got real.

3. Make friends: building support - I hope to build my writerly network again this Nov. In preperation I'll be building my network in Oct. It helps to have as many people supporting you and rooting for you as possible.

Here are some things I'm doing differently to turn up the heat:

1. Blow my pantser out the window with a directional charge a la Fiona Glenanne: I'm a plotter now, baby~!

Well, not really. I'm trying. I learned the hard way that a vague idea does not 50k make. I needed more than a concept. I need an outline. I need a plot and ideas and details. I'm turning Oct into my own personal plotting month in hopes that I'll have structure enough to unleash the beast in Nov.

2. Targeted collection of inspiration like a master spy:

Once I get into the nitty gritty of drafting I tend to collect inspiration. I do image searches and save pictures that remind me a characters. I dig up movies with plot elements that I enjoy or find similar to my structure. I build play lists to capture the essence of a specific character or scene. This month I will pull these items down before I start so that I'll have the inspriation ready when I need it.

3. Writing the synopsis first like a professional!

OMG, I can't believe I said it. I'm going to write the synopsis first. You hear of these crazy writers who do this and my inner pantser would recoil in horror. But not anymore. This Oct I'm writing the synopsis first. The story may change. In fact, I am posiitive it will. But having the synopsis will be my map. The outline that I mentioed above is like the mapquest directions I need to get to my destination. I just hope my directions will be more accurate than mapquest. LOL

What are you doing to prepare for NaNoWriMo?

Want more ideas? Here are a few blogs that might help:

25 things you should know about NaNoWriMo from my favorite pen monkey, Chuck Wendig at Terrible Minds

NaNo Prep: planning your novel by Janice Hardy

The Siren Call of NaNoWriMo (general thoguhts and practical advice) by Raewyn Hewitt

Pitfalls and how to avoid them by Lisa Cron via Writer UnBoxed

NaNo in Review (or 5 reasons I won for losing)

Let’s cut to the chase: I didn't win NaNo and that sucks. I lost the race and for a perfectionist-work-a-holic-type-A-personality-hot-mess like me it was a hard pill to swallow. On November 30th I looked something like this:

But I didn’t wallow in my sorrows for long. Ultimately, a lot of good came from my 30 days of writing abandon (even if it wasn’t words on the page). I figured I owed it to myself to be kind.

So, without further ado, here are the 5 reasons I won for losing NaNo:

1. I actually started a new WIP. I've labored over a project for a long time trying to get it *perfect*. Needless to say I was in too deep and needed some perspective. NaNo was the perfect writing vacation and it always feels good to start a shiny new project.

2. I learned I’m a Plotter in training. I always thought I was a plotter. All of my projects started as a short summary and built into an outline. I thought I was totally great at plotting…and then NaNo kicked me in the face. Something like this:

I was 15 days into my NaNo project and realized I had exhausted my plot. I needed more depth and I hadn't done enough prep. Lesson learned? I should take plotting more seriously for better productivity. I bought a few books to help and have been soaking up as much about plotting as I can.

3. I LOVE SCRIVENER. I had never used it before embarking on the NaNo project and I am madly in love. Maybe even stalker-restraining order-obsessed. Still, Scrivener is a very useful tool and I can’t see myself using anything else for my projects in the future.

4. I learned a lot from Tweeps. The writing community online is amazing and NaNo is 30 days where it truly shines. There were all sorts or tweets, blog posts, and stories online and on the NaNoWriMo site to offer insight, assistance, and encouragement to NaNo plebes like me. See my twitter feed for some of my favorite posts over the last 30 days.

5. Even though I failed to hit 50k I got words. On. The. Page. Yippie!

*F&@$ Yeah*

In true perfectionist-work-a-holic-type-A-personality-hot-mess I took on more than I could realistically deliver. I had one out of town trip, 1 party, several long days at work, 2 Thanksgivings (yummy), and 1 Half Marathon during November. It was a busy 30 days and I still managed to get 17,690 words. This month reminded me that there is never a *perfect* time or circumstance to write.

Writing requires discipline and commitment to yourself, your craft, your vision, etc. NaNo reminded me that I can do more than I thought. It’s a nice feeling.

What about you? What did you learn from NaNo?

#NaNoWriMo Panic Attack

What am I thinking? I've signed up for my first NaNoWriMo and it starts in just a few hours!

Luckily I've been needing this kick in the butt so I can't complain. I've been nursing a draft for too long and am in need of a story vacation. NaNo is my story vacation.

Story vacation? What's that? Just check out Aimee Salter's wonderful blog. Aimee is a YA author, represented by Brittany Howard of the Corvisiero Literary Agency. Her blog is one of my favorite sources on the web for writerly advice. She recently published a post about when, or if, it's ever okay to consider 'giving up' on a book. Her wonderful words of wisdom can be found here.

She proposes that sometimes all you need is a vacation from the draft you've been living and breathing for the last - oh year or more. Now, when you think of a 'vacation' you're probably picturing this:

And not.....this:

But that's how I roll. I like hard work so NaNoWriMo is my kind of party.

How do you #NaNoWriMo?