Pep Talk Week 1: The Dancer and the Nag

Mat Morris comes to us as a veteran of the 30-day novel challenge–and not only a veteran, but a wizard, having completed 50,000 words in 24 hours. Enjoy his Pep Talk; we know it’ll fire you up for the challenge ahead!

 

Greetings, fellow Dream Warriors. Welcome to the beginning of the end.

Most of you don’t know me, and that’s fine. This isn’t about me. It’s about you.

You see, you’re about to embark on a journey that will change your life. You’re about to do something that most only fantasize about. You’re going to take that little voice whispering in your ear, and you’re going to set it free. And I’m going to share with you a dirty little secret that will let you do it.

Everyone has a story to tell.

Now, you might be wondering why I called you a Dream Warrior. And we’ll come back to that. Promise.

More importantly, you might be wondering why someone you’ve never heard of was asked to impress upon you some words of inspiration. Honestly, as I sit here on the night of my deadline, writing what amounts to my third attempt at arranging my thoughts into something coherent, I’m wondering the very same thing.

So, a short bit about me—the current voice in your head.

You see, I was asked to write this because of my past successes in completing these little word challenges. Technically, I’ve completed the challenge of writing 50,000 words in a single month on more occasions than I’ve actually counted. But what seems to impress (read: stupefy) people the most is that, on four occasions, I’ve completed it within a 24 hour period.

Yes. You read that correctly. Continue reading “Pep Talk Week 1: The Dancer and the Nag”

Another #JuNoWriMo Giveaway! #amwriting

JuNoWriMo Twitter BannerIt’s the middle of May. THE MIDDLE OF MAY! That gives us just over two weeks to finish our pre-writing (if we are the pre-writing sort), stock up on our favorite snacks, and enjoy a lazy evening or two before all our spare moments are full of words. To make the preparations even better we are having another giveaway!

Before you go check out the awesome prizes I want to remind you that there is still time to join the blog hop. It’s a great way to spread the word about JuNoWriMo and earn more entries for the giveaway.

Joining is easy.

1. Write a post.

You can copy and paste what you need to from this post, create your own unique post, or do a combo of the two. If you choose to write your own, have fun with it! Share a little bit about what you will be working on this June, talk about your favorite part of JuNoWriMo, share your favorite recipe for a late night snack on those nights when you need to stay up and write all the words, the sky is the limit. The only must is please include a link to the JuNoWriMo website.

2.  Join the linky list.
Once your post is live, join the linky list. That way everyone else participating can visit and help promote your post.

3. Hop!
Visit a few of the other participant’s blogs. It’s a great way to meet some of the other writers before the event.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with JuNoWriMo, it’s a month long writing adventure in the style of NaNoWriMo, complete with word sprints and plenty of other writers to cheer you on. The goal is to write 50,000 in one month (1,667 words a day). You can write whatever you want. Fiction, non-fiction, the final 50k to something you started five years ago. Anything. We’d love to have you write with us!

You can learn more and sign up here.

Our Facebook group is here.

Now for the prizes!!!

First prize – writer care package  including chocolate, coffee, assorted teas, and a JuNoWriMo mug.

Robot mug
Cute, right? Perfect for long writing sessions!

Second prizeJuNoWriMo swag pack including a JuNoWriMo button, JuNoWriMo sticker, and a hand-painted JuNoWriMo bookmark.

junowrimo rocket button
These buttons are a great way to show what you’re doing this June.
Robot sticker
What’s more fun than a sticker? Especially an adorable, writing robot sticker?
JuNo bookmarks
Now you can show your JuNoWriMo spirit even while relaxing with a book!

What are you waiting for? Enter the giveaway now:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Be a Featured Author

JuNoWriMo Featured Authors
JuNoWriMo is an amazing experience, and each year we like to highlight a few of our authors to help everyone get to know one another.

You don’t have to be published or even have a finished work to become a JuNoWriMo featured author. Just share a little about yourself and the project you’ll be working on in June.

We have eight spots available, and it’s first-come, first-served. We will open for submissions starting Friday, May 15th at 2pm Eastern Time. (Why 2pm? It’s to be friendly to the time zones of our participants across the globe.) When we receive 8 qualifying posts, we will close to submissions.

How to Submit

Write up a simple post about your planned project for June and send it to info.junowrimo@gmail.com. Here’s some things your post could include:

  • Some background info on yourself as a writer
  • Name, genre, and any other basic info on your JuNo novel (ie: related books, etc.)
  • Synopsis
  • Back story—your inspiration for the story, how you came up with the idea, or why the topic interests you.
  • Your Twitter name, Facebook profile, blog URL, or Goodreads author page (if applicable)
  • Whether or not you’ve started working on your book yet and if you have, your progress. Also, the progress you hope to make on it during JuNoWriMo. (Obviously 50K words, but are you going to finish it, get it to the halfway point, etc.?)
  • Photo(s) (if you have an image that goes with the book or if you’d like us to include a headshot, or both)

Don’t get caught up on the details, just think of it as a casual introduction about yourself as a writer and the project you plan on working on this June. If you don’t have a name for your book yet, that’s fine. If you’re a pantser and don’t actually know the synopsis until you start writing–no worries! Just talk about what sparked the idea and where you think you’ll begin.

The post should be approximately 500 words. Include any social media links you want us to share.

This is open to anyone who has not been previously featured on JuNoWriMo.com. Submit your final post on or after Friday, May 15th at 2pm Eastern Time. (Early submissions will not count!) This is to be fair and give everyone who is interested time to put a post together.

JuNoWriMo Blog Hop (and a giveaway!)

JuNoWriMo Twitter BannerCan you believe that it’s already May? Before we even know it, it will be June 1st, and we’ll all be tucked away in our favorite writing corners with a vat of our beverage of choice. We’ll be tallying up our word counts and gathering momentum as we sprint with other writers and tweet encouragements.

One of the best parts of JuNoWriMo is being a part of a huge group of writers, all striving for the same goal. At almost anytime, day or night, you can find another writer working towards their word count. You can ask for help brainstorming the perfect name for a character and get several replies. Plus there’s all the accountability you could possibly want.

This year we want to build up our community so we have even more writers to connect with. In order to do that we are hosting a blog hop to spread the word and we would love it if you would join us!

Joining is easy.

1. Write a post.
You can copy and paste this post, create your own, or do a combo of the two. If you choose to write your own, have fun with it! Share a little bit about what you will be working on this June, talk about your favorite part of JuNoWriMo, share your favorite recipe for a late night snack on those nights when you need to stay up and write all the words, the sky is the limit. The only must is please include a link to the JuNoWriMo website.

2.  Join the linky list.
Once your post is live, join the linky list below. That way everyone else participating can visit and help promote your post.

3. Hop!
Visit a few of the other participant’s blogs. It’s a great way to meet some of the other writers before the event.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with JuNoWriMo, it’s a month long writing adventure in the style of NaNoWriMo, complete with word sprints and plenty of other writers to cheer you on. The goal is to write 50,000 in one month (1,667 words a day). You can write whatever you want. Fiction, non-fiction, the final 50k to something you started five years ago. Anything. We’d love to have you write with us!

You can learn more and sign up here.

Our Facebook group is here.

One more thing! There is a giveaway, and these prizes are perfect to get you ready to write.

First prize – writer care package including a pen, post-it notes, and this official JuNoWriMo notebook.

Notebook

Second prizeJuNoWriMo swag pack including a JuNoWriMo button, JuNoWriMo sticker, and a hand-painted JuNoWriMo bookmark.

junowrimo rocket button

Robot sticker

JuNo bookmarks

What are you waiting for? Enter the giveaway now:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Pep Talk Week 3: Bribe and Bludgeon Yourself into Winning

This week’s pep talk is by JuNoWriMo co-founder Becca Campbell.

~

Chocolate fondueHowdy, hard-working overachievers and unmotivated procrastinators! Whichever of the two you are, you are awesome—did you know that? You’re writing a book, and that’s no small thing! Whether you’re ahead or behind on word count, the point is, you are out there getting it done—something that many will never even attempt, let alone try to do in thirty days. Give yourself a pat on the back: you deserve it.

Plan a Sweet Reward

Right now I want you to stop worrying about schedules and whether or not you’ll be able to hit 50K by the end of the month. Put that out of your mind and instead dwell on something more pleasant for a moment: how will you reward yourself when you do win?

Not if, but when. Continue reading “Pep Talk Week 3: Bribe and Bludgeon Yourself into Winning”

Writing a Premise

At some point, someone is going to ask you, “What’s your novel about?” If not in those exact words, you’re sure to field the question in some form. Do you have an answer? Sure, your novel is complex, full of characters, intricacies, histories, motivations, breakups, and makeups, but what would you write on the back cover of your published novel? What could you say in under 60 seconds to sell your story?

You need a premise. It’s key to staying on task, reminding yourself what you’re doing all month long, and letting others know what’s got you so focused/frazzled/frenzied.

What is a premise?

A premise is a one or two sentence (25-35 word) introduction to your character, his/her conflict, and the hook. It’s the foundation of your story. It works double time. You can use it to keep you on track, or as an elevator pitch to sell your completed novel.

Two ways to write your premise:

1. A present-tense statement. <— Best for planners

2. A “what-if”question. <— Best for pantsers

Whether you use the first or the second is completely up to you. The first option gives a much clearer guideline to follow while the second raises a question, but offers no answers. How open-ended would you like it to be? How much wiggle room would you like to have as you work on your novel? That will determine the best premise style for you.

What are the benefits of writing a premise?

1. A clear idea of what your novel is about. It forces you to break your idea down to its basic components, and ensures that you have the ever-important element that sets your novel apart from any other – the hook.
2. A guideline to refer to at any time during your novel writing process. As you write, many scenes will come to mind, and you will probably fall in love with most of them. Are they all relevant? Probably not. How will you know which ones are worth using? Your premise will make it painfully (or delightfully) obvious which scenes are necessary and which scenes can hit the road.
3. Takes less time and knowledge of the details than writing a summary. To write a summary, you need to know exactly what happens in your story. For a premise, you only need the bones. No meat necessary.
4. Less strict than a summary, leaving lots of room to move around. If you write your novel based on a summary, you will probably feel locked into some ideas and scenes that are present in the summary. There are specific occurrences that you’ll allude to in a summary. In a premise, again, it’s just the bones. You can dress it up however you want.
5. Having an elevator pitch ready. There’s no faster way to say what your novel is about. This is what agents, publishers, and readers are interested in. What is the purpose of your story?

Here are examples of premises using The Hunger Games:

1. Katniss takes her younger sister’s place as tribute in a fight-to-the-death reality television show. She not only fights her competitors, but herself, to win sponsor support, and stay alive.

2. What if 24 children are forced to leave their families to participate in a fight-to-the-death reality television show, only one coming out alive, to entertain the people of their world?

With a few planning days left before the 30 days of writing begin, it’s a great time to write your premise. Remember, you only need to know three things to do it. They are:
1. Your main character
2. Your character’s conflict.
3. The hook – What makes it different.

If you’re not quite ready to write your own premise, I highly recommend writing premises for your favourite books and movies. This will give you great practice in breaking hundred of pages or 2 hours down to their bare bones. For each premise your write, include the character, conflict, and hook, and stay between 25 and 35 words. Once you’ve done this for four or five books/movies, you should be ready to do it for your JuNoWriMo novel.

~

You might also be interested in:

Be a JuNoWriMo 2014 Featured Author
Be a JuNoWriMo 2014 Featured Author
Pre-JuNoWriMo Checklist
Pre-JuNoWriMo Checklist
Prewriting for JuNoWriMo
Prewriting for JuNoWriMo

Celebrate JuNoWriMo with Another Giveaway

Gearing Up

Ludicrous SpeedWhat is JuNoWriMo? It’s your opportunity to write 50,000 words in 30 days, whether it be a novel, a non-fiction work, or a handful of short stories. Whatever your project is, we’re here to help you make it happen.

We’ll challenge you with word sprints and dares, we’ll inspire you with pep talks, and – most importantly – we’ll be your support system when the writing gets rocky. The JuNoWriMo community is awesome when it comes to encouraging each other for success. There’s a closeness here you won’t find in other writing challenges. Jump in our forums for a brainstorming session, to hash out a story issue, or to simply connect with other writers. Win badges you can display on your Facebook page at each word count milestone.

The point is, if you have something you want to write “someday,” write it with us in June!

Sign Up ~ Win Stuff

This post kicks off the third and final in a series of giveaways for anyone who registers for JuNoWriMo 2014. If you’ve done JuNoWriMo in the past, you’re eligible, too. Just log in to your profile and update your status to show us you’re in for another year. (You can enter all three giveaways, so if you didn’t win the last one, now’s your chance to try again!)

There will be three winners for this giveaway.

The first prize is a writer care package full of awesome goodies such as: chocolate, tea, pencils, pens, sticky notes, notebooks, finger-less mittens, a hand-painted JuNoWriMo bookmark, and more! A big shout out to JuNoWriMo crew members Angi Black and Vicki Trask for donating to this awesome care package!

Our second prize is a helpful tool for preparing for JuNoWriMo. Alicia Wallace at Word Wielder is giving away an hour-long novel prep session to one lucky winner. What better way to get ready to write that book?

Our final prize is a JuNoWriMo t-shirt in style and color of your choice. There are many great options to choose from like this year’s new rocket ship logo. Check out all of our options here.

JuNo t-shirt ludicrous

 

Giveaway

More than anything, we want you to tell other people about JuNoWriMo, so you get BONUS giveaway entries for a couple of things. First, write a blog post to gain 5 bonus entries.

One important note on that: You MUST write a post about: A) What you’ve gained from JuNoWriMo in the past, B) Why your readers should do JuNoWriMo, or C) What you hope to get out of JuNoWriMo 2014. You may NOT copy and paste something from our website as your post. Doing so will get your entry disqualified, plus it’s also plagiarism. Unfortunately we had some people misunderstand this in the last giveaway. We appreciate that you’re spreading the word about JuNoWriMo, just please do it in your own words. 🙂

Your second way to get bonus entries is to donate to JuNoWriMo. Any donation made in 2014 (minimum $10) gets you 5 bonus entries! (Plus, there are other incentives for donating.)

What are you waiting for? Sign up now, then enter the giveaway! Don’t forget to tell all your friends so they can join us, too!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pre-JuNoWriMo Checklist

JuNoWriMo is just around the corner! Wow. April really flew right by us, and May is for all the planning, excitement, and preparation we like. Hopefully, you’re ready and feeling good about getting prepared. Here’s what you should get in place this month:

  • Premise – Who is your main character? What does he/she want? What stands in the way? Boil your entire novel down to one sentence.
  • Milestones – Know the turning points in your story.
  • Get to know your characters – You can search the internet for their faces, role play and take personality quizzes as them, and interview them. Be sure to figure out what they want, what they like and dislike, where they spend most of their time, where they live, how they react to various things, who they like and dislike, and what they look like.
  • Writing space – Choose nice, comfortable places where you are likely to feel inspired and be productive. Now is a good time to stake out those coffee shops, delis, libraries, and bookstores in your neighborhood to see which have the right noise-quiet balance, availability of writing fuel, and comfort.
  • Schedule – Some people have to juggle things around and/or squeeze in writing time here and there, 15 minutes at a time. That’s fine, but if possible, it’s nice to set a time to write every day. Routine is good!
  • Develop a plan for the worst – You may decide you don’t like your novel any more. You may get bogged down at work. You may question your ability to write a novel. You may get off track and end up writing something that’s not quite what you planned. You may not hit the daily goals you set for yourself. What would you do? All of those things can be scary/discouraging when they happen, but they can all be overcome with [cue dun-dun-dunnn] a plan! Make a list of your three worst JuNoWriMo nightmares, and decide how you’d deal with them. They won’t be so scary after that!
  • Research – If there’s anything you’re not sure of, look into it. If some parts of your novel absolutely must be factual, do the work now. Research can be quite the time-suck, especially when you’re just looking for a way to procrastinate. Protect your writing time. Keep June research-free by getting the facts in May.
  • Writing tools – Computer, netbook, Alphasmart, notebooks, binders, pens, pencils… Make sure they’re there and ready with lots of space/ink/storage for your word avalanche.
  • Support system – You need people in your corner! Tell people what you’re doing, but only the people who will encourage you and be positive about the challenge you’ve chosen to take on.
  • Meal planning – We highly recommend cooking lots of freezable meals or cutting deals with spouses. You probably won’t have much time for meal preparations, and when you have some, you’ll want to spend it writing, or in the forums.

Well, that about covers it! If you manage to get those things all sorted this month, you’ll be well on your way to a successful JuNoWriMo season. Be sure to look out for more blog posts which will help you out with accomplish some of the tasks mentioned here.

Sign Up for #JuNoWriMo 2014 and Enter to Win Cool Stuff

Gearing Up

JuNoWriMo Button_edited-1

What is JuNoWriMo? It’s your opportunity to write 50,000 words in 30 days, whether it be a novel, a non-fiction work, or a handful of short stories. Whatever your project is, we’re here to help you make it happen.

We’ll challenge you with word sprints and dares, we’ll inspire you with pep talks, and – most importantly – we’ll be your support system when the writing gets rocky. The JuNoWriMo community is awesome when it comes to encouraging each other for success. There’s a closeness here you won’t find in other writing challenges. Jump in our forums for a brainstorming session, to hash out a story issue, or to simply connect with other writers. Win badges you can display on your Facebook page at each word count milestone.

The point is, if you have something you want to write “someday,” write it with us in June!

Sign Up ~ Win Stuff

This post kicks off the second in a series of giveaways for anyone who registers for JuNoWriMo 2014. If you’ve done JuNoWriMo in the past, you’re eligible, too. Just log in to your profile and update your status to show us you’re in for another year. (You can enter all three giveaways, so if you didn’t win the last one, now’s your chance to try again!)

There will be three winners for this giveaway. The first prize is a writer care package full of awesome goodies such as: chocolate, tea, pencils, pens, sticky notes, notebooks, finger-less mittens, a hand-painted JuNoWriMo bookmark, and more! A big shout out to JuNoWriMo crew members Angi Black and Vicki Trask for donating this awesome care package!

Our second prize is a JuNoWriMo coffee mug. Keep your beverage of choice at hand as you write your way through June – this mug is the perfect companion.

Screen shot 2013-06-01 at 11.43.22 AM

The final prize in our giveaway is a helpful tool for preparing for JuNoWriMo. Alicia Wallace at Word Wielder is giving away an hour-long novel prep session to one lucky winner. What better way to get ready to write that book?

Giveaway

More than anything, we want you to tell other people about JuNoWriMo, so you get BONUS giveaway entries for a couple of things. First, write a blog post to gain 5 bonus entries.

Second, print out this flier and post it locally at coffee shops, libraries, bookstores, or anywhere you have permission. Take a picture so we can see where you posted the flier, and you get another 5 bonus entries (you’ll post this image online, either on a public Facebook page/Pinterest/Instagram/Flickr or on your blog – just somewhere we can view it publicly).

***Note: photo must be clear enough to show us both the interior of the location AND the posted flier (not just a close-up image of the flier) to be a valid entry.

Another way to get bonus entries is to donate to JuNoWriMo. Any donation made in 2014 (minimum $10) gets you 5 bonus entries!

What are you waiting for? Sign up now, then enter the giveaway! Don’t forget to tell all your friends so they can join us, too!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sign Up for #JuNoWriMo 2014 and Enter to Win Prizes!

Happy April!

Ludicrous SpeedGuess what – it’s April! That means there’s only two months until June. And what happens in June? JuNoWriMo, of course!

What is JuNoWriMo? It’s your opportunity to write 50,000 words in 30 days, whether it be a novel, a non-fiction work, or a handful of short stories. Whatever your project is, we’re here to help you make it happen.

We’ll challenge you with word sprints and dares, we’ll inspire you with pep talks, and – most importantly – we’ll be your support system when the writing gets rocky. The JuNoWriMo community is awesome when it comes to encouraging each other for success. There’s a closeness here you won’t find in other writing challenges. Jump in our forums for a brainstorming session, to hash out a story issue, or to simply connect with other writers. Win badges you can display on your Facebook page at each word count milestone.

The point is, if you have something you want to write “someday,” write it with us – in June! Our theme this year is Ludicrous Speed Ahead, because that’s how we want you to go at it. Jump into your book and write the whole darn thing in a month. Sound difficult? You can do it!

(If you don’t know why we’re traveling at ludicrous speed, it’s because light speed is too slow.)

Sign Up ~ Win Stuff

We’re hosting a series of giveaways for anyone who registers for JuNoWriMo 2014. If you’ve done JuNoWriMo in the past, you’re eligible, too. Just log in to your profile and update your status to show us you’re in for another year. The first giveaway begins NOW!

What can you win? We’re giving away a writer care package that includes: a notebook, tea, a shot glass, pens, art cards, a keychain, and more. A big shout out to JuNoWriMo crew member Alicia Wallace for donating this awesome care package!

junopackage

Our next prizes are generously donated by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi from Writers Helping Writers. They are giving away two copies of either of their books (winner’s choice), The Positive Trait Thesaurus and The Negative Trait Thesaurus, two excellent writing tools for figuring out your pesky characters before June.

Neg and Pos

The final prize in our giveaway is another helpful tool for preparing for JuNoWriMo. Alicia Wallace at Word Wielder is giving away an hour-long novel prep session to one lucky winner.

Giveaway

What are you waiting for? Sign up now, then enter the giveaway! Don’t forget to tell all your friends so they can join us, too!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Important note: If you’re already signed up for JuNoWriMo, you should have gotten a newsletter email from us over the weekend. If you did NOT get the newsletter, contact us and we’ll get you added to the list. We’ve had some issues getting previous participants subscribed to our newsletter, and we don’t want you to miss out on anything! If you are registering for the first time, you’re safe.***