Tag Archives: Janice Seagraves

Nov 3 2011

Thursday’s Thirteen: Nanowrimo’s Winning Strategies

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  1. I rarely prepare for the nano expect to clean my house and buy convenience food for my family. Although I did write this post last week to prepare for the nano.
  2. I won’t be doing much cooking or cleaning once the nano starts (although I will cook the Thanksgiving dinner).
  3. Sometimes I start three completely different MSs to see which one will keep my attention for the entire month. This can get a little dicey if I decide to do that on November 1.
  4. I never plot out anything. To quote Chris Batty (co-creator and former director of the nanowrimo website), “Plot Happens.” And it truly does.
  5. Whether your story is about a vegan werewolf, a mermaid afraid of the ocean, or a blood blind vampire, an engaging story line is key to keeping your interest for the entire month.
  6. My total focus is on word count and so should yours be.
  7. I tell my interior editor to “shut the hell up” and mean it.
  8. Do not edit. I can’t stress this enough and this is what messes up most writers who enter the nano contest. If it bothers you that much then promise yourself that you’ll edit after the month is over.
  9. ***Editing during the nano takes too much time that you can’t afford.***
  10. Do not read over what you wrote to where you left off the day before.
  11. It’s okay to read your entire ms in the beginning when your word count is low.
  12. However, when you get up to the middle word count (25 K) reading over all those words will take a great deal of time you can’t afford.
  13. My mantra and yours should be: is WORD COUNT, WORD COUNT, WORD COUNT.  Nothing else matters if you want to win!
Nov 3 2011

Thursday’s thirteen: Nanowrimo

 

1. I rarely prepare for the nano expect to clean my house and buy convenience food for my family, since I won’t be doing much cooking or cleaning once the nano starts (although I will cook the Thanksgiving dinner).

2. Sometimes I start three completely different MSs to see which one will keep my attention for the entire month. This can get a little dicey if I decide to do that one November 1.

3. I never plot out anything. To quote Chris Batty (co-creator and former director of the nanowrimo website), “Plot Happens.” And it truly does.

4. Whether your story is about a vegan werewolf, a mermaid afraid of the ocean, or a blood blind vampire, an engaging story line is key to keeping your interest for the entire month.

5. My total focus is on word count and so should yours be.

6. I tell my interior editor to shut the hell up and mean it.

7. Do not edit. I can’t stress this enough and this is what messes up most writers who enter the nano contest.

8. If it bothers you that much then promise yourself that you’ll edit after the month is over.

9. ***Editing during the nano takes too much time that you can’t afford.***

10. Do not read over what you wrote to where you left off the day before.

11. It’s okay in the beginning to read over your story when your word count is low.

12. However, when you get up to the middle word count (25 K) reading over all those words will take a great deal of time you can’t afford.

13. My mantra and yours should be: is WORD COUNT, WORD COUNT, WORD COUNT.

Aug 10 2011

Thursday’s thirteen: Why I don’t have time to write a TT

I was thinking about all the reasons I don’t have time to write a Thursday’s thirteen this week and then realized that I could do one.

Thirteen reason why I can’t do a Thursday’s thirteen this week.

 

  1. I’m tired.
  2. I worked in my garden and my arms, back and everything hurts. Is it possible for hair to hurt?
  3. I still need to put in my tomatoes into my garden. I know-I know, it’s August and way too late to be planting this late in the season. But the lady at Home Depot’s garden department gave me such a good deal on them, I just had to buy them. The poor things needed a home.
  4. I just erased my computer’s memory after a virus or whatever if was made it crash, and I have to add all my programs back in. And it takes way too much time!
  5. I need to catch up on the writing time I lost, because my computer crashed.
  6. I think there’s a critique on my critique group this week and just can’t afford the extra brain cells to spend writing a TT.
  7. I need to spend time with hubby before he starts the crush season at the local winery. When that happens, he works nights as the graveyard foreman and when he’s home he’s asleep, leaving me feeling like a widow.
  8. I need to get my daughter moving, so she can get ready for college which starts next week.
  9. I need to make sure hubby and my daughter have their chores done before next week. After next week they’re not going to get anything done, because they will be too busy.
  10. Argh!!! Why does everything have to start next week?
  11. Taking deep breaths before next week, so panic doesn’t set in.
  12. I need to do the laundry before  . . . yes, next week.
  13. Did I mention that I was tired?
Jul 13 2011

Thursday’s Thirteen: Conjunctions other than “And”

A lot of new and experienced writers lean very heavily on the word “and,” so many in fact that “and” has became one of the top overused words.

Thirteen conjunction words to use instead of “And.”

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1. Then
2. Besides
3. in addition
4. too
5. also
6. plus
7. in addition to
8. as well as
9. furthermore
10. including
11. moreover
12. more than that
13. together with