Skip to main content

Past Characters

I said yesterday that I would elaborate further on the reasons why I love and hate writing with characters I've written with in the past, so this is my attempt.

Reasons why I love it:
  1. I don't have to spend time getting to know the characters.
  2. Because I already know them, I know how to make them talk to me.
  3. Because I know how to make them talk to me, writer's block is not much of a concern.
All of this should bode well for NaNoWriMo. But, as you may have guessed, it does not always do so.

Reasons why I hate it:
  1. Because I know the characters, my brain assumes details are not necessary.
  2. Because of above stated assumption, I forget to add details about the characters, and sometimes their surroundings, too.
  3. Because I forget to add these details, I end up with a less than stellar story.
Which equates to lesser word counts for NaNoWriMo. Lesser word counts = no 50K. No 50K = no win. No win =...

I think you get the idea.

But why does any of this matter if NaNoWriMo is about getting everything out without letting the inner editor that will be screaming take control (besides the obvious word count issue)? I'm not sure. What I do know is that the inner editor is already having a fit at the idea of not being allowed more than surface grammar and spelling errors for a month. Everything that comes out is going to be interesting.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: (including today) 3 days

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now,  that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

[Five Minute Friday] Purpose

Fiber bars, strewn along the side of the road. There had to be at least a dozen of them, still in their wrappers and completely unopened. No box in sight. Really? That's about the reaction my younger sister and I had when we stumbled on them on our early morning run. Really? along with disgusted sighs about the wastefulness of it. These were the expensive ones, not a generic store brand that kind of tastes and kind of looks the same sometimes. So, when we weren't keeping an eye out for their box, we speculated about what had happened. And wondered how many more we were going to see before the end of our run. "Maybe they took one bite and thought they were gross," my sister said. "So they threw them out because they didn't want them anymore." I let out one of those disgusted sighs and nodded along with her theory. "Yeah, or they got in a huge fight, and threw them out in a fit of rage." "That's a possibility." And

How to Make Sure Your Book Review Request Does NOT Get Deleted

I've been hesitant to write this post. That is due, in large part, to how angry I get some days after reading book review requests. I curse, I rant, I snark. My cat will tell you it's not a pretty sight. But I also feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about what it is that makes me feel those feelings AND how to not stir them up. I'm not the only reviewer that gets frustrated when I see certain things in my emails from authors looking for a review. And I know I'm not the only one who gets triggered enough to ignore or delete those messages. I never feel good about doing it. It's just that I'm hitting the proverbial wall here and I want to hit it a little less often. So if you're an author looking for loving advice on how to approach reviewers (especially this one), read on. Review Requests I Always  Delete Before I get into what to do, I wanted to take a minute to look at what not to do (and how I handle it). Want to know what immedi