On November 2, Kasie and Rex worked on the NaNoWriMo thing. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

NaNoWriMo, Brainstorming, Pre-Writing and “The Frenzy” 

Agenda

• Reminders about upcoming events and news
• NaNoWriMo basics
• PreWriting & Brainstorming

Link to the podcast

Segment 1

This weekend is the South Carolina Writers’ Association’s Fall Retreat in Beaufort, S.C. Our faculty were amazing yesterday (Friday) and the Pat Conroy Literary Center has been a tremendous partner and host. Get more information on the event here.

Also this weekend will be the announcement of the SCWA’s Spring Conference. Where and when will be revealed on the social channels so pay attention to Facebook for those updates.

Lastly, Write-Publish-Sell will host a local event at ConverSpace on the Upper East Side on November 23rd. If you’ve been thinking about writing a book, go learn the basics from Alexa Bigwarfe, publisher at Kat Biggie Press, and author of the Success in Publishing Academy.

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. Learn more here. Best practices for NaNoWriMo show up in a ton of blogs. We like this one.

Pantser versus planner is an age old debate. We took it on an episode when we first got started. Check this link for that. But like NaNo best practices, there are a ton of blogs on it. Like this one and this one and this one.

Segment 2

NaNoWriMo needs preparation. The research you’re doing is about context. You need to have an understanding of the environment you’re meant to be writing about. Sometimes you hit a wall and think, “I need to know more about that to do it justice.” Don’t let that stall the frenzy. Mark the spot and move on. You can come back later.

Are you writing with the reader in mind?

In the beginning, telling the story is about you, the writer, getting the story on the page. We know eventually you have to go to marketing the thing to the reader, but let’s be honest. If you were writing with the reader in mind you may not be committed enough to finish the project.

The process for writing — when does the reader come in?

When do you think about querying?

Segment 3

What do you need to know about the character before you start writing?

The profession — does it matter? Is it pivotal to the action of the novel?

The location — is the town a unique individual town? Or is it a cliche of the 

How is that information going to be presented? In straight exposition approach? Or in characters comparing notes about the place?

Segment 4

What tools are you using to write? I explained Scrivener to Rex during the commercial break. Here’s a link to a video about the features and benefits of scrivener for novelists. Here is another write up about this software.

How do you build a career as a writer is very different than how you publish a book. Forbes.com actually weighs in on this question here.

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