fantasy fiction

Why You Should Burn Your NaNoWriMo Novel

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If you’re reading this, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is over and you have one of the following in your quivering, coffee-stained hands:

  1. A string of nonsensical words that closely resemble the ramblings of a mad centaur.
  2. 50,000 words that are mostly just alternations of “I hate this” or “Crap!”
  3. A pretty solid attempt at something that might be considered a novel someday, somewhere, somehow.
  4. Something ready to be published, by George!

I’m assuming none of your answers are #4. If your answer is #4, then you’re a more talented and braver soul than I could ever be. Good luck to you and your prodigious career as the most awesome writer who ever lived.

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Cover to Cover II: From Idea to Story

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Monster HunterLast time on Cover to Cover, I introduced this series of articles, which follows a novel from birth to potential publication. The previous entry was all about ideas. How to grow them, nurture them, and expand them.

This time I’m going to show you how to take that idea and mold it into an actual story. This can be a daunting process.

So your idea is born. You’ve done your “What iffing,” your brainstorming, your smashing of numerous breakable objects. Now you have to go forward. The idea can percolate for a bit, but soon it needs to become an actual story. A story that has characters, a plot, a setting, and all that wonderful, wonderful magic that is going to consume your readers and give them many sleepless nights.

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