Tag: National Novel Writing Month

NaNoWriMo 2014: Let’s Talk About…Setting

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Hello everyone!

NaNoWriMo is in its first full week! And I think I’m doing quite good. My goal for NaNo this year is 40K but I’m starting to think maybe I’ll reach 50, medical or even beyond, salve if I stay at the rate that I’ve been keeping up. In my first week, price I’ve reached just under 20K and I’m really excited to continue this novel.

And yes, it does still need a title. It has a really crappy edited cover that says “Evie and Austin Story” on the official NaNo website haha but it needs a legit title. If you guys come up with a title, please make sure to share them with me, because you get a prize if you pick THE title.

Let me know how your progress is doing in the comments!

Today we’re talking about setting. 

In all of the novels that I’ve written, I’ve based it on real world places, and done lots of research on those places. Or I’ve straight up used real places like New York City and Mesa Verde in Colorado and Brea, California.

But for this newest novel, I’m writing an entirely new setting: Macon, California. Its a coastal town in Central California that has some real world bases in Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz (especially Santa Cruz) and a little bit of Santa Barbara, but for the most part, its all from my imagination.

Do you know how hard it is to create a new setting! Its crazy. So while I’ve been trying to get my word count up, I’ve also been working hard at making sure that Macon seems like a genuine town. Because if there’s one thing that I’ve learned: setting is a character all in its own. Think of Middle Earth, Hogwarts, Tortall, Idris, Panem, Camp Half Blood. They all have their own personalities. They react to the story, they are effected by the story, they’re just so massively important.

So I scoured the internet to look for tips on creating setting and I gathered a few of them here for you!

1. Base Your Setting on Real World Places

It goes back to what I said about Macon. Macon is a completely fictional town. It’s small town, coastal, with a beach boardwalk, a small town downtown main street with family owned businesses. But I throw things off when I insert a baseball obsessed population. And that population is obsessed with the university that exists in this town. Sounds complicated right? There isn’t an actual place that exists like this. So I’ve used real life references in Santa Barbara, Monterey Bay and mostly, Santa Cruz. These three are all real coastal cities in California. Having these real life bases helps to create a town because you have examples. You know how things can be arranged because you have a real life basis for it. I have no idea how to arrange a fictional city because I’ve never been a city planner. I don’t know how that works. So I kind of mesh these cities together and voila, Macon, California!

2. Base Your Setting on Real Time Periods

Now, this doesn’t totally apply to me and this particular novel. My novel is based in real world time, right now, in the present. So that’s easy enough. I can have iphones and smart cars and macbooks and Netflix and it alllllll makes sense. This could also work for historical novels as well. You have a real world time period to base off of. There’s information out there (yay research!) that will help you to make sure your setting is historically accurate.

But this also works quite well for a fantasy novel, or science fiction, that sort of thing. You can base your fantasy society based on the medieval settings of old Europe. You can base your futuristic society on the Victorian age of the Industrial Revolution. Creating a brand new setting in a brand new world is HARD because you have no real world basis for this society. BUT you can use time periods to help you out. Feudal societies, capitalism, communism, empires, Chinese dynasties, the Crusades, etc. There is SO much history out there that you can rework to base your own setting on.

3. Create Rules

When I say create rules, this could go either way. In a completely fictional world, you need to make sure you create its government, its politics, its social strata, its laws, weather, climate, all that sort of thing. This is incredibly important because this is going to have an effect on the characters and the plot and all of that. Setting places an enormous part on our lives. Where we live, the rules we live under, play a HUGE part in our lives: getting our licenses at a certain age, drinking at a certain age, getting a job, paying bills, all those sorts of things come from the setting: where we live. So this is important when creating an entirely new place. Set the rules because you’ll need to follow those. They have a profound effect on your characters.

Now when you’re creating a fictional place in a real world, like me, a new town in California, the rules are already there, for the most part. California has laws and weather and all of those things already. What’s important is that you remember them. California is a little easier. If I make it a really super hot day in the middle of December…it might be a little confusing to others but to those of us who live in California, we would laugh because this really happens. (Its November, and we’re expecting 80 degree weather all week). But making sure you don’t make it a super hot day when writing your fictional town on the eastern seaboard? That’s important. Making sure your 14 year old character isn’t driving a car when logically that doesn’t make sense, things like that. Follow the rules.

4. React!

Treat your setting like a character. If something is happening in the story, how is your setting reacting to this. For instance, in my novel, my town is baseball obsessed. Say the the team wins a particularly difficult game. The town is going to react to this, obviously. It may not be something obvious that I distinctly point out but my main characters may go to lunch the next day, and the patrons could be wearing more orange and white (the team colors) than usual. There may be more banners in the window, the weather might look that much better, people will be happier. The setting reacts to the story. If the characters get in a fight, or have a bad day, the weather might be crappier or the sunny weather might bother them. React and interact with the characters and the setting. They have an effect on each other.

5. Its All in the Details!

Of course, details are always important. But for setting, I feel like its important because it makes your setting authentic and real. The hardest part of this for me is making them subtle and genuine. I want Macon to seem as real as possible and the details will make it so because it’ll seem like a real place. But every time I try and write a detail, I feel like its obvious that I’m trying to point out things about Macon and its hard. But the details are important. Where things are located, what the weather is like, the plant life, all that sort of subtle detail just makes it more genuine. Is it nearly an ocean? A mountain? This effects the weather, etc. There are stores on the main street but what kind of stores? That sort of thing. This is probably the one I struggle with the most and I’m working on it!

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What are some of YOUR tips on setting? Share the in the comments!

NaNoWriMo 2014 is Here!

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Hello everyone!

It is that time again, pilule time for NaNoWriMo!

Now, nurse for those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Its held every November, where a ton of aspiring authors (and published authors too!) challenge themselves to write a 50,000 word novel in just one month.

I discovered this for the first time last year. I know, I’m behind in the times. However…there are things I like about this and things that I don’t. I don’t believe in writing an entire novel in one month…its just not my thing. I also think 50K words for a novel, either YA or adult, is just not enough. But I love that it brings all these writers together, motivating and inspiring each other. I love that everyone holds each other accountable.

So last year, I created my own sort of challenge. I challenged myself to write 45K of a novel that I had already started, The Reawakened. It was already at about 20K when I started NaNo, so I had a solid backing for that. I wanted to focus on writing, yes, but developing the story, the characters, focusing on becoming a better writer that month, not just spitting out all those words. Fast forward a year later and that novel became The Awakened, the first in a duology, the novel that I’ve been editing for about six months and been querying for a couple months as well. You guys may know it well because I talk about it so much.

Now its my sophomore year of NaNoWriMo. I was hesitant to participate because I’ve been slumpy in my reading habits and I’m been unable to write but I’ve been motivated. I need to get over this overemotional, miserableness that has been me the past couple months. So I’m ready for this, and what better to snap me back into the life of writing than NaNoWriMo.

So I invite you guys on my journey!

It is going to be great. There will be a few posts a week and you guys can watch my journey as I tackle my new novel.

Now, my novel for NaNoWriMo is untitled…which will have a fun part in the posts on the blog. I was going to work on the sequel to The Awakened but I decided my focus for that world is editing and querying. Instead I decided to jump into my untitled young adult/new adult contemporary romance baseball novel. Its going to be great, and I’ve only written…500 words for it.

So here are my goals!

1. Write 40K words of this untitled novel. 50 would be great but 40 is my goal :) I will consider myself a winner if I write 40

2. Come up with a title. No, really. And you guys can help ;)

3. Develop, develop, develop. Develop my characters, my story, my fictional setting, etc.

Don’t forget you can join in on the fun, and check out the official website here.

Here is the plan on the blog, where you can follow my NaNoWriMo journey!

November 1st: About My Novel and Where I Write!

November 4th: Meeting the Main Characters of my Novel: Evie, Lucy, Jesse, Alex, and Connor

November 6th: Let’s Talk About Setting: Macon, California

November 8th: Actual Writing Advice from Actual Authors

November 11th: Character Interviews

November 13th: Treating Writing Like a Job

November 15th: Its the Halfway Point! Update, Struggles/Successes!

November 18th: The Inspiration Behind The Untitled Novel

November 20th: Character Playlists

November 22nd: Free Write: Lucy and Evie Celebrate Thanksgiving

November 27th: Meeting my Characters in Artwork

November 29th: My Sophomore Experience with NaNoWriMo

November 30th: Excerpt from my Novel…So Far

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Happy Writing!

NaNoWriMo-My Experience

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Tomorrow is the last day of NaNoWriMo! How did you do everyone?

If there is one thing I learned from this month, cost its that, this whether you met your goal or not, you are still a winner in my book. Writing a novel is NOT an easy task, and honestly, not everyone is made for it. So merely taking on this task makes you winner.

And if you wrote! If you wrote at all, that makes you a winner. Whether you wrote a thousand words, or all fifty thousand to meet the goal of NaNoWriMo, you are a winner! Seriously! Getting the words down on paper is the hardest part. Once you have words down, you can go back and change them or make them better or any of that.

This is definitely something I’ve learned from NaNo. I started off with a goal of 20,000 words. Once I had typed up all the writing I had done in a notebook (thanks for the advice, Cornelia Funke!), I realized I was already at 14K, and I only had 6 to write for the entire month. I knew I would be busy with blogging and school work and that sort of thing, but not that busy. So I switched my goal to 35K, which would still bring me at 20 for the entire month.

As of right this moment (and I still need to write today and tomorrow), I’m at 59,515, which brings me almost 25K over my goal AND brings me nearly to the goal of NaNo in the first place. You’re supposed to write 50K in the month of November and I’ve written 45K. And again, I still have to write today and tomorrow! So I’m confident that I am going to reach it.

Its funny, when I started my journey into the world of NaNo, I thought writing an entire 50K novel in one month was a crazy endeavor. I still think it is. I don’t think writing an ENTIRE novel in one month is the best idea. But I do love the idea of pushing yourself, and getting those words down on paper. I accomplished so much writing this month, so much more than I would have if I hadn’t pushed myself.

So here are the things I learned and gained from NaNoWriMo 2013.

Setting Goals = Great Motivation 

Seriously. Goals are amazing. For me, setting a goal, whether large or small, really holds you accountable. It also helps when you TELL people that you’ve set this goal because they can hold you accountable as well. But more on other people later. I hold myself accountable. I set a goal for the month and I hate not meeting my goals. I told myself that I would write at least 1K a day, and I told my writing friends and my boyfriend and they would hold me to that, definitely.

The way I see it is…my ultimate goal, and probably yours too, is to become a published author. And a published author is a JOB, its a career. You sign contracts, and produce books, and you need to treat it like a job. And its never too early to start doing that. By telling yourself that you need to write every day, no matter if you have “inspiration” or not, you’re being productive and you’re getting work done and you’re acting like a real author.

Writing Crappy Really IS Okay

No, really! Its going to be okay! I know that not all 59, 515 words that I’ve written so far are good. I know I will have to go back and fix things, move things around, and that kind of thing. I know that there are inconsistencies and there are some things that I need to more thoroughly research. There is a lot that is going to make it better. I realize that.

But by recognizing that and just writing, again, I got so much more done. You can’t fix a blank page, and I’ve written so much that a blank page is laughable. Once I really started to recognize that, yes, Sara, some of this is going to really suck, I just started writing. I have it down on paper. And I’m proud of it all, even if all of it isn’t that good. Because my novel has a skeleton now, it has a little bit of flesh and all that, but it can be better. But I have that skeleton to work on. And that’s great.

My Novel Changed Before My Eyes

It did! I was surprised at the changes I made while writing, and the surprises that met me around some of the corners. See, normally, I don’t force myself to write like this. It took me two years to write Another Chance for Summer and a year to write A Little Less than Famous. I’ve only been writing The Reawakened for about a couple months, and I’ve written SO much, and I’ve learned so much about it, while working so hard on it this month.

One, we came up with a title, The Reawakened. The title comes from one of my followers, Amber Harvey, and she won a personalized, sign copy of Legend by Marie Lu. So thank you for that, Amber! I’m right awful at coming up with titles so I’m glad I can make you guys do it!

Two, I introduced a character that is going to be incredibly important later on. I would have never expected that, at all, but I introduced them, in a small scene and realized…oh they are important. They are incredibly important and I know just to do with them…

Which leads to me to three…The Reawakened is NOT a standalone novel like I had intended. It is definitely a two part. I’ve already started thinking and outlining the second novel, since it helps with the first, AND I have a title for it as well. I’m very proud of that. I’ve decided to end The Reawakened so that it is either an ambiguous ending or a nasty cliffhanger, so that no matter what happens in its publishing future, it’ll be okay. But I was very surprised when I figured out that…yeah, I’m not done.

And that’s where four comes in…I’m at nearly 60K. I was aiming for a 75-80K novel, which leaves me only 15 to 20 K left to write. But I have SO much more that needs to happen in the story so I’m not sure how that’s going to work. I found that this is going to be a much larger novel than I had originally intended but I’m okay with that. Maybe it’ll end up right where its supposed to be once I’ve done edits and such but for now, its probably going to be closer to 90-100K.

The 15 Beat System is Gold 

I have to give some major props and thanks to Jessica Brody, who introduced me to the 15 Beat system. The 15 beat comes from the book, Save the Cat, which is a book on screen writing. However, you can adapt it to a novel as well. Its less specific than an actual plot outline, and for that, I love it.

I find that when I write an entire plot outline, I end up being so bored with my novel because I KNOW what’s going to happen each and every second of the way and its just boring. I’m just not a fan of it. I ditched my new adult/baseball/romance novel because I completely outlined it and I was SO bored. I may go back to it, because I really want to, but for now, just ugh.

With the 15 beat system, there are 15 beats, or plot points, you must hit to create a successful episode. Like I said, it works wonderfully with a novel. Instead of a fully specific plot outline, you have these 15 beats you have to hit throughout the story and it helps you as you write. I don’t know what will happen between each one, and its fun trying to get to each one. It really is. Its the most beautiful way to outline your story ever. Really it is.

Ditto the Book Bible

Make one. Seriously. It helps SO much, especially those of you who may be like me and are really bad with consistencies.

Check out my post on it here.

Have a Group of Supporters

For so long, I kept myself distanced from other writers because of so many reasons. There were two main reasons though: I am a competitive person and I didn’t want to have to compete face to face with someone. And I also didn’t want to  constantly have to measure myself up to people. I was SO lacking of confidence in my own writing that anyone else’s writing was always infinitely better than mine.

But I have learned that this is SO wrong. I’ve surrounded myself with fellow writers and we’ve supported each other so much this month, and we’re going to continue to support each other as we continue past NaNoWriMo. I created a Nano Support Group on FB and now converted the group to an Aspiring Authors Support Group. If you’re interested, you should definitely join.

Its also incredibly helpful to have people in your life who believe in you and support you. I really realized (again) how lucky I am to have such a creative and passionate boyfriend. We spend so much time together, not even talking, but its okay. Jon will be working on his music, and I’ll be on my computer, typing away. Its wonderful! We really support each other. I don’t know how many boyfriends would understand my desire to be on the computer for hours on end, but he does, and it helps me in my journey to finish my novel.

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NaNoWriMo has been an exciting and productive journey for me, one where I learned a lot about myself as a writer, writing in general and a lot about my novel as well. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished this month and what I hope to accomplish in the future.

For now, I have to do some last minute writing for today and tomorrow so I’m going to get to that!

Also, come back tomorrow for an exclusive excerpt from The Reawakened!

You don’t want to miss out on that!

Happy Writing!

NaNoWriMo-The Reawakened Playlist!

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Hey ya’ll! How’s it going? We’re nearing closer and closer to the end of November, tadalafil which means that we’re heading closer to the end of NaNoWriMo.

Now, mind no matter what your goals are, you’re a winner! Because setting the goal out to write a novel, and doing the hard work for it? Its an incredibly daunting task and I commend each and every one of you who decides to do it!

And if you don’t finish, its okay!

But keep writing :) NaNoWriMo is only one month, and I want to see some finished novels from all of you!

Now, let’s see, what is today’s post? Oh yes! MUSIC! I love music! In high school, music was my LIFE. I was so passionate about music, it was insane. I’ve fallen a little bit out of it, because I focus more on keeping up with all the books and the book world, but I still love music.

And music really helps me to write. I know there are some authors who listen to music and there are some authors who need silence, but I definitely need noise. I write with the TV on, but mostly I write with music.

I’ve noticed that a lot of authors do playlists for their novels, and I realized I’ve never done that before. I just put on whatever I feel like listening to, but I decided to change it a bit for The Reawakened.

So that’s what this post is. I’ll be posting the songs I’ve been listening to like crazy, in order to help me write the novel.

You may want to pay attention a little bit too! Since you guys can’t actually read The Reawakened, you can get a little sneak peek of it by paying attention to these songs!

So here is my The Reawakened playlist!

Also, if you click the song title, it will take you to the song on YouTube for you to listen to!

Novel Theme Song: 

Nightmare by Set It Off

They’re coming, creeping from the corner

And all I know is that I don’t feel safe
I feel the tapping on my shoulder
I turn around in an alarming state
But am I loosing my mind?
I really think so
Not a creature in sight
But what you don’t know is that

My breathing gets faster
And so does my heartbeat
I wish this was over
I wish that this was a dream

The Rest of The Playlist

Sidewalks by Story of the Year

From the sidewalks, 
Running away from the streets we knew,
Side walks, 
Like the time we thought was made for you

All of the days have passed us by, 
All of the sun is gone…away

Partners in Crime by Set It Off

You’ll never take us alive
We swore that death will do us part
They’ll call our crimes a work of art

This tale of reckless love
living a life of crime on the run
A brush to a gun
To paint these states green and red 

Zzzz by The Cab

I’m high and dry, and kicked to the ground
I’m lost, and I’ll never be found

Singing myself to sleep 
and you’re still my favorite melody
It’s been three weeks
How long can his go on?
Singing myself to sleep
You’re haunting every memory 

Distance Disturbs Me by Set It Off

Separated by a scream,
its just a bittersweet success with a dash of failure
I’m hanging by a thread, intentions cut to shreds
I’m starting to lose my grip so 
Someone please distract me, I need a new obsession
Am I just going crazy?
I’ll never learn my lesson because

I would kill to be a mile away
or feel the breath you’ll take
But fate won’t let me

Swallow the Knife by Story of the Year

So let’s make this night be our best mistake
So let’s take the time to wipe the blood away
Now our hands our tied
and our world is caving in

Now our hands are tied
and the problems lie within
So we pray for night
to start over again 

Just One Yesterday by Fall Out Boy 

If heaven’s grief brings hell’s rain
Then I’d trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday

I wanted this song so bad for City of Bones. I really want it in City of Ashes or City of Glass. Let’s do this.

Monsters by I Am King 

And there’s something behind the clouds
that we can’t see
All things that once had meaning drag behind me
We’ve been living a lie
We’ve been living a lie
A masquerade that will end in destruction
You’ve been living a lie
You’re not all what you pretend to be

Get down on your knees
and we see the darkness and the light
Entwine, as the end of the world
becomes so clear to me 

It’s Over When It’s Over by Falling In Reverse

Take it back, take it back, my friend, 
All the things that you said about the end. 
This is it, this is me telling you it ain’t over til it’s over

Death Valley by Fall Out Boy 

We love a lot 
So we only lose a little
But we are alive
we are alive 

We’re gonna die
It’s just a matter of time
Hard times come, Good times go
I’m either gone in an instant
or here til the bitter end
I never know

In Dreams by Like Moths to Flames 

I’ve been asleep for too long
In a life that’s not my own
Never wanted to feel alone 

Come wake me up
I’ve been asleep for too long
Never wanted to feel alone
Lost myself
Slow to love
So cold

We watch the world turn
But never stop to think about who we are
Take me back to the start
Mend all the pieces that fell apart 

Breathe by Sienna Skies 

There comes a time when we will choose
A time in life which we’re confused
this feeling we will share exists
It sometimes translates with a kiss
The floor is ours
Let’s not waste any time now
Or we’ll regret everything 

Nothing Like Today by Divided by Friday 

Take me back to when I had it all
Before I let my feelings fall
‘Cause lately I’ve been hating who I am
I took for granted what I had
and watched it wash away
But tonight, I’ll let it out
Tonight, will be nothing like today

No Control by Set It Off 

Fall to my knees, God I beg you please
Show me just an inch of mercy
help me, help me, I’m doing all I can
Pretend I’m unaffected, but their pain became my present 

Swear this isn’t what I wanted
God, this house is haunted
The way that this could, if things were a melody
And after all of this we’ve been through
I wish we could switch shoes
This life ain’t fair for us all

My walls are built, and on display
I drown in guilt, due to dismay
Maybe someday I can see how this has shaped me
Bite my tongue, with swelling lungs
I gasp for air and let this go

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I hope you enjoyed listening to some of the music that has been inspiring to me!

What are some songs or some bands that help you when you are writing? Share in the comments!

NaNoWriMo-Character Interviews

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Hello Writers and Readers! Happy Monday!

I hope you’re all having a good week, viagra 100mg immersed in the world of reading and writing, for sale and enjoying the fun of being a part of a nerd world.

I’m working hard on my novel, pounding out as many words as I can. I’m a little over 30K right now, which leaves me at about 15K-ish for the month. It also has a title now too! It is called The Reawakened, and I’m so excited about my awesome title, that I’m just dying to wake up every day and write!

In today’s NaNoWriMo, we are going to learn a little more about my characters, Katy and Ash. You can read about the basic 411 of them, and the other characters in my novel, in this post here.

For now, let’s dive into the character interviews. I had never done this before, until my good friend, Hayley, from Geek and Book Nerd, asked me to do one to help her in her school assignment. I realized how much help it was, to sort of break down my character. I surprised myself in interviewing Katy then and now I’m hoping to learn about her and Ash in these interviews.

I hope you enjoy!

Katy Valentine Interview 

Tell us about yourself. 

My name is Katy Valentine. I’m 18 years, living in Manhattan, NY, and attending St. Joseph’s Prep as a high school senior. I live with my dad, who is a New York City cop, and spend two holidays a year with my mother in a small town called Constance in Nebraska.

What makes you happy? 

Reading. Escaping into a world that is so unlike our own, even the world that now exists, with the reawakened running over the world. I used to spend a lot of days immersed in science fiction and fantasy books and movies and TV shows. I also love to dance.

What makes you afraid?

Before the virus and the reawakened, I would have said, I fear losing myself, of trusting someone as much as my dad trusted my mom. Now I fear for my life, and I fear for the lives of those who I’m trying to survive with.

What are you hopes and dreams? 

I hope to survive. I hope that there will be a time when I can pick up a book and read it and enjoy it again. I want to be able to go dancing again, and I want to be able to go to a baseball game. I want to get married and have kids and go back to school. My dream would be that things would go back to normal. I wish the reawakened would go away.

What is the plan? With the reawakened? 

To survive? I don’t know. It seems like everyone has  plan, and a different plan at that. Some people say the plan is to just survive. Some people say there’s a place to escape to, where you’re supposed to safe. I don’t know. My immediate plan is to NOT shoot Ash in the face.

Who is Ash? 

Ash is my next door neighbor. Well, he was my next door neighbor. He’s kind of the bane of my existence. He drives me insane, which is kind of hard to deal with because he’s also kind of ridiculously good looking and its intimidating. He is pretty much impossible to take seriously because he’s always making jokes.

Do you like Ash? 

Nate is a complicated person. The guy is ridiculously good looking, and he makes me laugh. My best friend Madison would say that I’m in love with him, but the guy is infuriating. Cocky, can’t take anything seriously, and has been driving me insane since we were five years old.

I’m sending some denial. Are you sure you don’t like Ash Matthews?

Okay, let’s be clear on something: everyone likes Ash Matthews. How can you not like Ash Matthews? The guy is smoking hot. Do you know how many dark haired guys there are with blue eyes that pale? Or ones that have flat stomachs, and impressive arms? Yeah, I didn’t think so. But he’s Ash! He can’t take anything seriously, everything is a joke to him. He eats all the rations, and he’s always touching me.

I’m really thinking that there is a lot of denial with you. 

Can we maybe talk about something else?

What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are?

I’m stubborn and determined, which really could go either way, as a strength or a weakness. I know how to fight, due to years of my dad paying for kickboxing and karate and self-defense classes. I’m fast, I think I can run really fast. But I’m terrible with a gun, despite hundreds of dollars for lessons.

What are some things you miss about the world before? 

New York pizza. My dog Bandit. Going to a Mets game.

Ash Matthews Interview

Ash’s interview is shorter, because the story is all in Katy’s point of view and anything Ash says will be too revealing to the story.

Tell us about yourself. 

I’m Ash Matthews. I’m eighteen years old, and I am a senior at St. Joseph’s Prep. I’ve lived in Manhattan since I was nine years old, and before that, I lived in Boston, with my parents, who are lawyers. I play both football and baseball at the school, captain for both. I’m a quarterback and a pitcher.

What makes you happy? 

Playing sports, watching sports. Making a play that makes people cheer because it makes me feel good. And I like seeing Katy. I like hanging out with my friends. I love making people laugh.

What makes you afraid? 

Not being important. I don’t like the idea of being insignificant. Sometimes I don’t know what the point of being here is if you aren’t doing something important. That’s hard to deal with right now because all I’m trying to do is survive. My life is important and I’m glad I’m surviving but I wish there was more to it.

What are your hopes and dreams? 

I wanted to make something of my athletic ability. It probably sounds stupid but I had hoped I could get a scholarship for football or baseball and continue playing sports. Sports seem so insignificant now but it was what I was good at. Now I just want to get to a place where I feel safe, and where the people that I love feel safe.

What do you think of Katy? 

Katy is an amazing person, and I don’t think she sees that sometimes. She’s strong, and stubborn as hell, but she’s resilient. If there is any person in this world that I’d have to have by my side, its definitely her.

What do you miss about the world before the reawakened? 

I miss my friends, and I miss the laughter and the humor that used to exist. Every time any one laughs now, its like…it feels wrong. It doesn’t feel right with the way the world has been. I miss being happy and making people laugh.

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I hope you all enjoyed reading and learning more about Katy and Ash! They are becoming so important to me, and I can’t wait til you can learn more about the both of them in the actual novel.

Check back later this week for more posts on NaNoWriMo, including advice on tackling writer’s block and maybe, if you’re lucky, I’ll post a very small excerpt to The Reawakened!

Happy Writing everyone!

NaNoWriMo-Best Writing Advice I’ve Received

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Hey Writers! How are you doing! I hope great. Its Day #6 of NaNoWriMo, this and writers all over the world are pounding out thousands of words to get those novels done. I’m doing pretty well right now, but we all know there are days when we feel lost, when we need a little words of encouragement to help us out.

One thing that I always make sure to ask every author, when I meet them or interview them, is what sort of advice or tips they have for aspiring authors.

So today, I’m sharing some of the best advice that I have received for you, and sharing some of my own advice, and how helpful it can be to always be involved with other writers, for advice and support and encouragement.

I recently started a Facebook group, called the NaNoWriMo Support Group, and all of you writers are MORE than welcome to join us!

Now to the advice!

“Take risks and be brave. No one will write exactly the way you do. So take some risks and put yourself out there on the page. If you think, ‘I probably shouldn’t write about this…’ or ‘This is too weird/revealing to write about…’ that’s probably the very thing you should put into your story.”

-Libba Bray

With the novel I’m working on now, this really helped me. Sometimes I think, god is this seriously the weirdest story synopsis ever? But maybe that’s a good thing. I let myself write what feels right, even if it doesn’t always seem to be the best. We have to get out of our comfort zones when writing. 

“Write the kinds of stories you like to read. If you don’t love what you’re writing, no one else will, either.”

-Meg Cabot

SO true. I  could never write a mystery novel, or a crime novel. Those aren’t my cup of teas, so I write what I’m passionate about. I really hope to get back to my baseball idea because I love baseball so much. 

“Never let anyone make you ashamed of what you love to read and write. Always pursue your passion, and write/read relentlessly and shamelessly.”

-Rae Carson 

Passion. Passion. Passion. If you’re passionate about what you’re going to do and it’ll show. Its the same way I operate with my blog. Its all about what I’m passionate about, and somehow, you guys keep showing up! And that’s awesome. I hope it works for my novels too! 

“Don’t be afraid to write badly. All writers have awful first drafts. That’s why they’re called first drafts. Sometimes you have to just get through the story before you can make it pretty. I think a lot of new authors quit halfway through the book because they’re afraid that it’s not good. The first draft won’t be good. Just finish it and fix it later. The hardest part about writing a book is getting to that last page. and remember, it’s okay to write crap. Crap makes really good fertilizers.”

-Jessica Brody

This was HUGE for me. HUGE. I think sometimes I get so focused on writing well, that I don’t just write. Being able to worry less on whether its good and just getting it on the page has helped a lot. Marlene Perez quoted Nora Roberts when I met her, something about not being able to fix a blank page. That has really stuck with me the last few months. Sometimes you just need to write, and you can go back and clean it up and make it better later. 

“Just tell the truth and make it cool” and “Learn the rules so that you can break them.”

-Lex Thomas

This just makes me laugh every time I see it because it reminds me that while this is something that I want to make my career, it is also something that I really enjoy, and its fun and makes me incredibly happy! 

“It’s okay to write a shitty first draft.”

-Gretchen McNeil

Ditto. Keep writing, no matter how crappy it seems. We can always go back and fix it! 

“There is no such thing as an aspiring writer. If you write, you’re a writer, and I can’t wait to see what you do.”

-Stephen Chbosky

This makes me so incredibly. He wrote this on my “writing advice” poster, and I love it. For one thing, the idea of Stephen freakin’ Chbosky reading MY novel makes me start fangirling and I haven’t even published said novel yet. But its so uplifting and encouraging. I AM a writer. I write. I can do it. 

“Get rid of boring friends!”

-Eoin Colfer 

It seems funny, and silly but its true! Make your life exciting, fill your life with exciting and fun people. This will be inspiration for your books. The excitement of your own life will bleed into your novel. Be exciting, be your own inspiration! 

“Remember, its never too early to treat writing like its your career!”

-Shannon Messenger 

I love this piece of advice. By making writing a priority and a responsibility, it makes you accountable. I may not be intending to write an entire novel in the month of November BUT setting a goal, and holding myself accountable for keeping that goal. Treat like its something that HAS to be done and it’ll get done! 

“Make sure you have something worth selling before you take it to market. It’s all about the books. Focus on craft first. Too many writers take their work to market before it’s really ready, getting distracted by a focus on query letters, agents and publishers. Marketing a bad book is like trying to push a boulder up hill.”

-Cinda Williams Chima

This is awesome. Because once you’ve gotten over that crappy first draft, you gotta work very hard to clean it up and make it the best it can be. Write multiple drafts, and make it the best it can so that anyone you try to sell it to you would be insane to pass it up. 

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I hope you enjoyed the different writing advice, from some SERIOUSLY awesome authors :)

What is some of the best advice that YOU have received before? Share it below in the comments!