For those of you who don't know what Camp NaNoWriMo is, it's a writing event which happens twice a year, in April and July. During these months, the writing community comes together to work on their writing goals. NaNoWriMo, an event which happens in November, has the goal of writing 50,000 words in a month but the two camps are more flexible. They allow for individuals to define their own writing goals, whether that be to write 50,000 words, edit a manuscript, or work on their project for an hour a day. This will be my third Camp Nano and during my first two I came up with a couple tips and tricks which might help others--and I failed the second camp so I know how to avoid failure too. Here are three things you should do to make your July Camp productive and two things you shouldn't do. Do: Find writing friends to keep you accountable Accountability is key whenever you're trying to achieve a new goal or a goal which is bigger than your average monthly goals. Plus, because Camp NaNo is a community event, it can be easier to find writing friends. July, April, and November are three of the best months to make writing friends. Some of the many ways you can make writer friends are: -creating a writing instagram and connecting with like-minded individuals in DMs and comments -joining a Facebook group for Camp NaNo -starting a Youtube channel or commenting on writing vlogs to share your journey and support the journeys of others -start a writing Twitter and connect with like-minded individuals there -join a discord group, like the one my friends and I created for Camp NaNo Writing friends are amazing, not only because it allows you to hold yourself accountable for your goals, but also because it can help you create a long-term support system and make lifelong friends!! Don't: Create wishy-washy goals In the April Camp, my goals were too big and a little wishy washy. I kept changing up what my main goal was throughout the month and I struggled to get as much done as I would have liked. When you create writing goals, make sure they're clear and you have a good idea of what you're working towards. Do: Have SMART goals you can track To avoid wishy-washy goals, you can create SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Write down your Camp NaNo goal than ask yourself:
A SMART goal would be to write 40,000 words by July 31st on the novel I'm currently working on. A not SMART goal would be to write words across multiple projects and a free write journal with no deadline or way to measure progress. See the difference? Don't: Try to take on too much Speaking of last April, I had two goals for Camp Nano. One was a wishy-washy goal to edit my YA contemporary while the other was to write 50,000 words on a project I hadn't even started yet. Because of everything going on in the world, I thought I would have more time, forgetting all the boring responsibilities were staying around and not realizing how 2020 would affect my mood. I epically failed because I had bitten off WAY more than I could accomplish in one month--plus my first goal, to edit my YA contemporary--wasn't a measurable goal I could easily achieve. Make sure you're being realistic with your time and how much writing/editing you can actually get done during Camp. Do: Have fun as well as be productive While the main goal of a Camp is to get a lot done on your WIP, you should also try to have some fun. Meet new writer friends. Participate in Instagram challenges. Record some vlogs or write some blog posts to reflect on your journey. At the end of the day, writing and events like Camp are supposed to be fun--so remember that as you hustle towards your goal!!
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As Camp Nano is in about a month, I thought I'd start a Saturday blog series about how to make sure you're ready for it! (For those of you who don't know, Camp Nano is a writing event where writers decide on a writing goal to achieve in July and then work towards it.) The first step to a successful Camp Nano, or to any writing project, is to have an outline. And yes, I know some people can write novels without them but I can't. So if you're like me and need an outline, this post is for you. Today, I thought I would share my three step process to outlining a novel. Step One: Braindump all your novel ideas If you read my post about my writing process, then you know a novel idea usually brews in my head for a while before I write the outline. The first thing I do before outlining a new novel idea is to get all those ideas out of my head and onto the page. For this, I'll pull out my journal and just jot down all the fun ideas, no matter how big or small, onto the page. This can serve as inspiration for the beat sheets and oftentimes leads to me creating fully formed characters before I even use the beat sheet. Step Two: Use the Save the Cat Beat Sheet to Organize Your Ideas If you're unfamiliar with Save the Cat Writes a Novel, you need to buy this book! The author highlights all the beats you need to craft a great novel...and the book will revolutionize your outlines--however, any three act writing structure would work here. I divide up all my ideas into different beats which belong in a three act structure. Usually, I write these out on index cards, as I did when outlining my last novel back in October of 2019. I even blogged about it in case you're curious what the cards looked like! Step Three: Divide the Beats Up into Chapters and Create a Formal Outline After I have all the beats down on index cards, I assign each index card to a chapter. I try to make sure there's about three scenes/beats per chapter so the chapters aren't too long or short, but this is just a rough guideline. Once each beat is assigned a chapter, I pulled up a Google Doc, name it "Draft 1 Outline" and set to work roughly outlining the main points of each chapter. For each chapter, I like to have mapped out any main plot points, any subplot progression, any character development, and the cliffhanger for each chapter which will keep readers reading. Curious how this all looks in action? Watch me outline in this vlog: Today I'm sharing my favorites apps and technologies for writers and the best part? Every program mentioned in this post is FREE (at least at the time this post was published). Read on to see what websites and apps you should be using to uplevel your writing life!!! These technologies can help with your planning, content creation, and your writing! 1. The Dunkin/Starbucks App So I didn't mention this in the original video but let's face it; writers LOVE to write in coffeeshops/go on coffee runs. And if you're going to be spending *too much* money on coffee, you might as well be rewarded by downloading the app of your favorite coffee chain! 2. Google Calendar Time blocks can change your life...especially when it comes to writing. Google Calendar is a free technology where you can block out 15 minute increments on your day. Every day, I map out an hour or so to work on my novel...and color code writing time in pink because pink is my favorite color! 3. PowerPoint I use a PowerPoint template I made when I first started my writing platform to create my quarterly goals. This template is branded with my color scheme and includes all the areas of my writing life which I usually plan. Creating a template catered to your needs on PowerPoint can be a great way to develop and track quarterly goals. 4. Sticky Notes on Laptop Screen Not physical paper sticky notes, but ones on my desktop screen. I have one sticky note for each project I am currently working on. Anytime I have an idea for a project, I write it on the sticky for that project. This is a great way to organize all my projects and remember what I'm working on every time I see my desktop screen. 5. Canva Do I really need to go into detail about the awesomeness of Canva? While there are paid options, the free version still allows you to create beautiful graphic design projects. AND you don't have to be a graphic designed to create something beautiful. I design all my Youtube thumbnails, Instagram story templates, Pinterest posts, and blog graphics on Canva. It's a free, user-friendly way to up the aesthetic of your writing platform. 6. Preview Preview is a free app where you can plan out your Instagram posts. Preview allows you to schedule your posts as well as add hashtag groups and captions to post. This is key to being consistent on Instagram if you're forgetful of social media posting like I am but want to have a consistent schedule. 7. Google Docs and Microsoft Word While you can invest in Scrivner, free word processing systems also work to write and revise a novel. I've done all my writing and revising in Google docs and haven't ran into any issues yet! The 10K Challenge by Mandi Lynn has been a popular competition going around the online writing community, and for great reason. The challenge asks writers to write 10,000 words in a single day. The truth is, I've been doing these challenges before it became viral. I love 10K days during the drafting process because it provides me with the ability to progress quicker in my manuscript. For those of you who haven't watched my writing process video or read the blog post, I write the first draft of my projects in one to two months. I wrote the YA contemporary project over January and May of last year (odd time gap, I know) and I'm looking to finish this YA thriller over May and June of this year. So what's the big secret to getting a first draft done so quickly? 10K days. Think about it. If the minimum a novel needs to be is 50k, 10k is one fifth a novel written in a day. If you're like me and your novels are a bit larger, it's still a decent chunk. My projects are around 80,000 words so a 10K day means I wrote over 12% of my novel in one day. Wow. That's still pretty darn impressive. Plus, 10K days can be really fun when done right. During my latest 10K day, I filmed the entire process as well as thought of a couple tips and tricks to conquer a 10K writing day. 1. Chose a day where you don't have a lot going on I know. I know. Life is crazy and there's all some obligation or responsibility but when planning 10K writing days, plans ahead so you can schedule one on a day where you have little to no other responsibilities. For me, I usually schedule mine for Saturdays because I am off work and can do any weekend homework on Sundays. I also schedule them a month out so I know not to make any plans with friends on those days. However, sometimes I will use plans with friends as reward. For the 10K day where I ended up writing 15,000 words last year, I had planned on hanging out with friends after finishing (even if I did end up bailing for an introvert night). This time around, my 9am break was a run with one of my old cross country friends. The day doesn't have to be completely clear, but planning a 10K day sometime when a lot is happening might not be the smartest idea. 2. Have productive and fun rewards I try to brainstorm 5-10 rewards before each 10K day. Usually, one of my favorite rewards is going to a coffeeshop to write for a portion of the day but with all the craziness which is 2020, I wasn't able to do that this. However, one of my rewards was still going through the Dunkin Drive Through for a latte. Another productive reward was writing outside once I hit 5,000 words. I also try to make sure at least one of my rewards is some form of exercise (yoga, running, Just Dance videos, etc.) because moving my body helps re-engerize me throughout the day. Other than that, my other rewards can vary greatly. I do always have one big final reward...which usually involves pizza, ice cream, and binge watching Netflix. Having a big reward to look forward to can help up your writing progress. 3. Track your progress During 10K days, I track my progress in my journal and up on my white board. On my white board, I have little squares to fill in for each 500 words. To be honest, filling in the squares is a reward in and of itself! In my journal, I write down the time stamps of each word sprint as well as the word count for that sprint and the total word count. No matter how good you are at math, make sure to keep diligent records so you know when you hit 10,000 words. 3. Start early Set your alarm for a little earlier. Make some coffee. And get some words written. 4. But don't be deterred if the day doesn't start as planned In this last 10K challenge, I only wrote 1,000 words before 10:30am...yikes, especially since I'm a morning writer. Yet, just like NaNoWriMo, a bad start doesn't have to determine if you reach your goal or not. I kept pushing harder as the day went on (and made myself some coffee which admittedly helped). Don't let a bad beginning determine your end, even if, like me, you hoped to get a lot written early in the day. 5. Don't let past failures define your current 10K challenge Last November, I tried to do a 10K challenge and failed. Epically. As in, I think I only wrote 4,000 words that day. Going into this 10K challenge, I was nervous, especially after such a dismal start. However, I got into the mindset that I could do this. Lots of people do 10K challenges and I even completed one a year ago. Who cares if the last time I tried this, I failed? Last time does not equal this time. No matter what happened in the past or earlier the day of your 10K challenge, don't let it define the outcome. Keep going and believe you can do it! Also, life hack: everything is easier if you believe you can do it, no matter the odds or your history. Writing playlists transformed my productivity. When I started creating playlist for each WIP, I instantly wrote more often as the music served as a psychological trigger for knowing when to write. When I hear one of my WIP playlists, I instantly want to work on that project. Why? Writing playlists help us maintain the aesthetic of the novel. It's kinda like a vision board, but for your ears. So how do you create a writing playlist? I create mine in the following seven steps using Spotify: Step 1: Write down a few words to describe the aesthetic of your novel For my contemporary romance project, I would use: -cutesy -indie movie -cozy sweaters -pink decor and fairy lights For my upcoming thriller project, I would use: --dark --badass females --mysterious ambiance --hazy Take a moment right now to write down random words for the aesthetic of your novel. Step 2: Link your descriptive words to a genre of music And get really specific about the genre. Don't just link it to pop but to main female powered, upbeat pop or slow and romantic pop. This can give you an idea of what sort of music to be on the hunt for, For my contemporary, I linked it to indie folk music you would play at Sunday brunch For my thriller, I linked it to dark, mysterious pop that bordered on indie rock. Step 3: Decide if you're doing instrumental music or music with lyrics Try out writing to both types of music and decide what works best for you. For me, I write with music that has lyrics although I think I'm the exception to the rule. Most writers I know write to instrumental music and that's great! There's tons of spotify playlists out there with instrumental music for any genre. Step 4: Think of one song or artist that defines the genre you chose Usually, this comes pretty naturally once you have determined the genre. Ask yourself, who is my favorite artist in that genre? What song in the genre speaks to me? For my contemporary, I chose the song Sunbleached Girl by Shag Rock For my thriller, I was stuck between two artists and chose both--Hozier (especially his newest album) and Billie Eilish Step 5: Create the actual playlist and add your guiding song(s) Remember to name your playlist something fun. And don't worry if you don't have a name for your book yet, just name it something you will remember it by. When I first created the playlist for my contemporary, I called the playlist "Fun Lil Novel". My thriller playlist is currently called "Thrills and Chills". After you add the first song, think of any songs by the same artist or similar artists that might fight the vibe of the book. Add those to the playlist as well. Step 6: Once you run out of your own ideas, add songs based on Spotify's recommendations Once you have added all the songs you can think of, Spotify should autogenerate some song recommendations. Listen to them and decide which ones to add. Usually, I know within the first thirty seconds of a song if it will fit the vibe of the playlist. Another tool to find more music is to go to the artist's page on Spotify. From there, Spotify will recommend similar artists and you can look through their stuff to see if any resonates with the vibe of your playlist. Invest the time to look for the perfect songs! Step 7: You have a completed playlist!! Congrats!! A rule of thumb I use to know when a playlist is created is when a WIP playlist has 30-50 songs. I do add new songs as I'm drafting and revising, but 30 songs gives you enough content to listen to the songs without them becoming repetitive and tiresome. This number might change for longer, instrumental pieces, but is a great baseline for songs between 2 and 6 minutes! Congrats! Listen away!! And if you want more tips, check out my friend, Madeline's blog post about how she creates her writing playlists!! We've all been there...we sit down to write and the words just won't come out. Or maybe we can't even motivate ourselves to sit down and write. And with the added stress of a global pandemic, it can be even harder to sit down and get those words out. But your stories matter and deserve to be written, possibly more now than ever before. In today's post, I'm going to share 4 tips to write when you aren't feeling motivated. 1. Change up your location I know, I know we all have to stay inside right now so this can be hard, but you can still change up your location in your house. Write in the kitchen instead of your bedroom, the living room instead of your office, etc. Even if you can't change locations, you can change the location you do have. For example, I almost always write at my desk in my room. However, this past week I added some more decor to make my days at my desk more enjoyable. Decorations or even rearranging furniture can give you a fresh perspective. And a fresh perspective and change can often lead to motivation. 2. Focus on time goals, not word count goals When you're feeling blah, giving yourself outcome-based goals can fail miserably. Instead, try to give yourself time based goals. Having to write 1,000 words today? That can feel insurmountable when you're unmotivated. Having to sit at your computer and try to write for an hour? Much less scary. With time based goals, we take out the expectations. I can sit anywhere for an hour but I can't always write 1,000 words in an hour. By removing the expectations for our sessions, we eliminate some of the pressure we put on ourselves, allowing us to breathe and do what we can--even if today won't be the most productive day. 3. Treat yourself well You can't expect yourself to feel energetic and ready to go if you're not eating the right foods, drinking enough water, taking care of your mental health, etc. Ask yourself a couple questions to see if maybe your problem is related to not taking care of yourself instead of motivation: --Have I drank enough water today? --Have I moved my body today? --Are my thoughts positive? --Have I washed my face and brushed my teeth? --Have I checked in with myself to see how I feel? --Have I gone outside? --Have I laughed today? --Have I eaten a solid meal full of nutritional food? --Do I need to eat some veggies or fruit? --Have I reached out to a friend or loved one recently for a chat? --Am I getting enough sleep? --Am I paying attention to what my body needs? If the answer to any of these questions is no, go and fix the problem. Then, come back to write and see if the words flow any easier. 4. Dress the part Sometimes, all you need to get work done is get out of the jammies you've been wearing the past few days (quarantine life, am I right) and change your outfit. Dress for the life you want to live. For me, that includes a lot of artsy, creative outfits I imagine a bestselling author would wear. It also involves cozy outfits that are a step above pajamas or sweats because cozy is still realistic, but not as bad as sweats. This might not work for everyone, but changing my outfit can change my perspective on the today, what I feel I can accomplish, and even how I view myself. Of course, if all else fails, give yourself grace. Some days we just aren't productive and that is ok. Celebrate what progress you have made, practice self care, and forget the rest. Oh, and before you leave, if you want to see these motivation tips in action, check out my latest writing vlog: Being a nighttime writer might be a challenge for a morning bird like me, but when my work schedule requires it or I'm on a deadline and want to get two writing sessions in one day, I can make it work! A few tips to develop a nighttime writing routine are: 1. Get your writing in before dinner or relaxing. At least for me, after dinner, Netflix, and reading, it's next to impossible to motivate myself to get any work done! 2. Treat yourself to a (decaf) coffee or smoothie while writing 3. Have defined goals for each writing session and set them ahead of time 4. Create triggers around writing. For me, I know once I change out of my work clothes and into sweats, it's time to get to work on my WIP! Curious what a nighttime writing routine could look like? Check out the vlog where I document my own routine for inspiration: What does your nighttime writing routine look like? |
AuthorI'm Angela Anne, a Young Adult contemporary writer committed to helping you achieve your writing goals + giving you writing inspiration. ArchivesCategories
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