One of the main things slowing down our writing speed while drafting is the infernal, internal editor. Here are three ways to override the need to write everything correctly the first time. Continue reading Why Writing Fast & Author Voice Go Together
Working within limitations actually forces our brains to solve problems more creatively. Continue reading A Creative Focus for 2021
Do you want to write faster and enjoy the process while doing so? Check out Fast Draft Your Manuscript and Get It Done.
Continue reading Fast Draft Your Manuscript: It’s NaNoWri
~ Plot Your Scene with the W-Plot Method ~ The W-Plot can be used to lay out an entire novel, but it’s true strength is in plotting scenes. I am doing NaNoWr again this year. I love being part of … Continue reading W-Plot Your Way to a Better Scene
~ Life in Fifteen Minutes ~ Do you know how much time you spend on daily activities like reading e-mail and perusing Facebook? Do you struggle to reach your daily word count? I know that I do. A while back, … Continue reading Fifteen Minutes Writing – The Book Factory Method
~The Path of True Love ~ I truly believe that the best way to learn to be a writer is to be a voracious reader. That said, how-to-writing books definitely have a place in honing one’s skills. I have read … Continue reading Plotting a Romance: What Works for Me
I love to read. In fact, I don’t just love it– I am compelled to read. I read everything. If there is a newspaper in the recycle bin, I read it. If there is a cereal box on the table, … Continue reading I love to read: Why reading during NaNoWri is a bad Idea
My first novel, written as a respite from working on my dissertation, took me five years to write. My second novel took seven years to write. My third novel took one month. What made the difference? Fast drafting. Fast drafting … Continue reading Fast Drafting My Way to The End or What I Learned from NaNoWri
Ready. Set. Go. Got my plot. Got my characters. Got my GMC outline. Got my alarm set. Everything appears ready for me to dive in and write my first 2000 words (Technically you need to write 1533 a day, but I aim for 2000 words a day – that way I get ahead a bit for the days I can’t write for some reason or other.) Problem is I also have a dentist appointment, a sister visiting from Scotland, the last broccoli and chard to harvest from the garden, and pizza night with the whole family. Not to mention constant … Continue reading NaNoWri starts Tomorrow and I Can’t Wait.
NaNoWri or National Novel Writing Month starts on Tuesday. This will be my third year participating. I don’t know why, but somehow tracking words and trying to attain the 50,000 word challenge in 30 days just gets my blood flowing and the creative juices oozing. So I am getting set for the race to the finish. NOTE: If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is here’s a brief overview. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. A small group of friends in California got together and challenged each other to write a book in a month and an idea was born. … Continue reading Why NaNoWri fires me up to write faster
ZARA WEST'S JOURNAL 