I always like a happy piece of music. Moody music is perfect for finding the right tone for a scene, but sometimes there seems to be a lack of purely happy music to lift the spirit. Today’s music is another piece from one of my favourite YouTube musicians, Taylor Davis. Kokiri Forest is a light-hearted song that makes me smile. To me, this...
There are only a couple more days until NaNoWriMo kicks off. All the hard work writers have being doing in October will be put into use as they pound out their novels during November. As this is the last post in the NaNoPrep blog series, I thought that today is the perfect time to share some last minute tips and tricks that I...
We’re down to the last few days before NaNoWriMo. By now everyone should be reaching the end of their plotting and planning. Hopefully you’re all getting excited for the start of NaNoWriMo. I know I am. There are always so many things to prepare, and today I want to address one of the most important things. Your mind-set. Having the right attitude about...
NaNoWriMo is made up of a weird combination of days of intense inspiration and days of no motivation. Some days the book seems to write itself. And some days…it doesn’t. But, inspired or not, writers need to write every single day of November in order to win. The question is, how do you soldier on when motivation is gone? How do you...
I don’t play many video games, but I do love to listen to the music from the gameplay. It’s almost as good as movie soundtracks to write to, atmospheric, and filled with feelings that make it perfect for writing to. This week, I discovered an instrumental piece called Peril, from the game Halo 2. It’s only short, but it would make a great...
There are lots of things one can do when preparing for NaNoWriMo. During October, writers everywhere get busy plotting, world building, getting to know their characters, and preparing their books as much as possible before the craziness begins in November. But if there’s one thing I don’t seen people talk about very often when they discuss NaNoWriMo preparations is preparing your writing time....
Characters. Without them, there would be no books. Even the most epic of storylines isn’t going to rivet readers without a diverse cast of well written people to carry it through. So it makes sense that you would want to work out at least something about your characters before you start writing your book. That’s not to say you have to know every...
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One thing that is often overlooked while preparing for NaNoWriMo is world building. It is easy to forget about planning your world as well as your plot. But there is nothing worse when you’re in the flow of writing, than being pulled out of your book to work out what a town is called. That’s not to say that you have to draw...
I often feature a lot of moody music in my Writing Music posts. I’ve spotlighted everything from sad pieces to war tunes, and tension filled songs. Today however, I’ve chosen a piece from violinist Taylor Davis that is none of these things. While they’re all very beautiful and emotional pieces, sometimes you just need a plain happy piece to make you and your...
Outlining is one of the big things people ask questions about every year. Should you outline your novel? And if so, how much outlining should you do? It’s a valid question. NaNoWriMo is all about being spontaneous. It’s about starting with nothing and ending up with a novel. Some people believe that it’s best to just start with a vague idea and run...
It’s nearly November folks, which means that it’s nearly NaNoWriMo time. At this point, writers are scrambling to get ready to start writing on the 1st of November. (Not sure what NaNoWriMo is? Check out my post on it here). Sometimes it can be overwhelming trying to decide what to prepare before the big day. Do you need a full plot outline? What...
Have you ever read a book and then wished that you could visit its story world, a period in history, or the country it’s set in? I know I have. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is all about those places that books have made you want to visit. I’m cheating (again) this week and only listing my...
We’re halfway through October now, which means that November is getting pretty close now. This also means that one of my favourite events, NaNoWriMo is almost upon us. I discovered this event back in 2011 and I haven’t missed a year since. Today, in honour of this amazing challenge, I’m going to talk about NaNoWriMo and explain what it is, why I love...
Some music from televison shows and movies is just perfect for writing to. They hold a mood and a story all of their own. Plus they mostly don't have distracting lyrics. One of my favourite pieces to listen to, especially when I'm in a fantasy writing mood (which is very often), is the Game of Thrones theme. Of course, I have a favourite...
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