My Bookish Resolutions for 2024: I looked at last year’s resolutions, and I was dismayed at how little I accomplished. One suggestion I have seen in several places is that it works better to set specific, concrete, achievable goals, rather than broad, sweeping resolutions. So I’m incorporating that concept into my resolutions this year. And in another bid to keep myself from feeling overwhelmed, I am limiting myself to five bookish resolutions.
Tag: writing
NaNoWriMo 2023
I’m signing up for NaNoWriMo again this November. I did it last year, and while I didn’t make the goal of 50,000 words in a month, I did write over 33,000 words. Granted, it wasn’t all scenes and chapters; that word count included some brainstorming and character development. But it’s… Read more »
NaNoWriMo 2022 – Past the Halfway Point
We’re past the halfway point of NaNoWriMo 2022 And I’m not where I wanted to be. A deadline on another, unrelated project left me with little writing time for several days, and none at all on the day before the deadline. Then I got my Covid booster and lost a… Read more »
NaNoWriMo, Week 2
Keep writing. Advice I’ve gotten from other writers: It’s easy to get discouraged. Don’t give up. Write every day, even when you think it’s crap. Just keep writing. As of the end of Day #7, with one week down, I have written 10,280 words. That includes scenes, snippets of dialog,… Read more »
NaNoWriMo 2022
I’m doing it. I’m scared to announce it, and I’m scared I’ll fail, but I’m doing it anyway. I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this November. I am announcing it here because I need both encouragement and accountability. To succeed, I will have to battle the dragons of procrastination, perfectionism,… Read more »
News & Notes – 11/18/2017
News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff Book News The 2017 National Book Awards winners were announced on Wednesday. NPR has the story, and a complete list of finalists and winners. Barnes &… Read more »
There’s No Such Thing as an Original Idea: Creativity and Borrowed Plots
Original Ideas? If there are only a limited number of basic plots, as many people claim, how does a writer make a book original, fresh, and interesting? Almost any plot line you can come up with has been done before. Heck, even fairy tales riff off each other — “Beauty… Read more »
News & Notes – 4/30/16
News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff Book News The Hugo Awards finalists for 2016 have been announced. The Sad and Rabid Puppies managed to influence some of the categories pretty heavily, but… Read more »
News & Notes – 7/11/15
News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff Book News The first chapter of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman was released on Friday morning. It’s printed in full at both The Wall Street… Read more »
NaNoWriMo starts on Saturday
I wasn’t going to tell anyone. I was just going to keep it a secret and maybe admit to it if I finished. But the NaNoWriMo folks urge you to tell people so you feel accountable. And so they know why you’ve dropped out of sight for a month. So…. Read more »