During week four, I “won” NaNoWriMo by writing 50,000 words. In fact, my final word count for week four is 53,501. I hit 50,000 words on Friday night and it felt amazing because I hit the word count goal before the end of the month. However, my story is far from done. I’m anticipating at least 10,000ish more words before the story is finished. My new goal for the end of the month is to finish my first draft of this story. Anyway, that’s not the reason you’re here, you’re here to see how week four went writing like one of my favorite indie authors. Well, during week four, I wrote like Sabrina G. an author of multiple genres, or as I like to say, a “Brina of all trades.”
Sabrina G. has two books published and a third on the way. She has also co-wrote another book with Ayden Perry. I have a link to her books down below if you’re interested in reading any of her books. I’ve read her first two releases: The Rhythm Of Forbidden and There Is No Love and I loved them. Sabrina is an excellent storyteller and I think you’ll enjoy her stories. Sabrina also has a witchy-elemental book coming out on January 5, 2023! I’m so excited for that book to be released. I know how much work she’s put into that book so I’m excited to finally dive into that story. Now, onto Sabrina’s writing style. Sabrina describes her writing style as “pure fucking chaos.” She’s a total pantser. She says her characters reveal to her what they look like and how they want the story to go. She does use notes while writing but her notes usually consist of random quotes that her characters tell her and small stuff like that. She has a loose outline of how she wants the story to go but at any point, her characters could change her plans. Sabrina and I write similarly and I agree with her when she said her writing style is “pure fucking chaos” because mine is too. I may sound crazy but I do hear my characters in my head and they have a say in what I’m writing. It seems like during week four, my characters wouldn’t shut up. I guess they were happy to hear that I wasn’t plotting this week because they could finally be in control of their story. Three weeks of plotting was too much for their liking and they could finally have a say in what I was writing. For the first day, I did use my notes from last week for a chapter I didn’t write because of personal problems, but other than that, I didn’t use any notes or plot anything. I wrote as chaotically as I would do normally. Writing like Sabrina was a lot of fun because I could channel my inner chaos. Some of the scenes I wrote this week had triggering content but were surprisingly easy for me to write; but I get to add those topics to my trigger warning list. Overall, I had a blast writing like Sabrina and the rest of the indie author’s I chose to mimic. It was a fun experience to challenge myself to write in different styles. I definitely want to continue writing in a serialized format because I noticed my word count was much higher when I wrote in that format. However, I do want to take something from each of the authors I mimicked this month. I definitely want to write all the smut scenes first like Miriam, I want to write in my fuzzy socks under a blanket with my favorite candles lit like Sarah, and I want to continue to channel my inner chaos like Sabrina. I hope you enjoyed my “Write Like My Favorite Indie Authors” Series and I hope to do more series’ like this in the future. Did you participate in NaNoWriMo this year? Let me know about your experience in the comments!
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Week three of NaNoWriMo bites the dust, and my word count for week three is 40,434. I’m 10k away from “winning” NaNo, but if I’m being honest, I don’t think my story will be finished at 50,000 words. I have a lot to wrap up so we’ll see what word count I end my story with. This week I wrote like the lovely Sarah Sutton, a YA romance author of eight YA romance books. I’ve known Sarah since 2020 and she is one of my instant buy authors. All that means is whatever she publishes, I will buy it no if’s and’s or but’s; I will buy it! I don’t have to know what it’s about, and it doesn’t have to be a specific trope, I will buy it because none of Sarah’s books have let me down. Sarah’s books are sweet YA romances that are comforting to me.
Now, let’s talk about Sarah’s writing process. She is a plotter. She has a loose outline that she follows but she doesn’t plan out too many major points in the scene. She basically plots out what the key takeaway from the scene is supposed to be and writes from there. She typically writes in chronological order but sometimes she skips ahead then ties the scenes together later. Lastly, Sarah likes to light candles when she writes and she likes to be comfy. I took her suggestions and ran with them. I pulled out my fuzzy socks, my cozy blankets and my favorite candles and wrote! Each morning I would pull out my notepad and plot out the chapters I wanted to write. I plotted out four chapters for the week but only managed to write three of them. I think I would have written the last chapter if I didn’t have a lot of personal stuff going on. Saturday night should have been a high word count night, but instead it was full of procrastination and negativity. I made up for it yesterday though, I wrote 3,113 words to make up for my lost word count. Overall, writing like Sarah was cozy and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed writing underneath a blanket with my feet up while wearing my fuzzy socks. Throughout the week I burned through two of my favorite candles, so it’s time for a restock on those scents. Down below is a link to Sarah Sutton’s books. If you’re a YA romance lover then Sarah is the indie author for you! For week four, I plan to loosely use the outline I wrote for the chapter I didn’t write. I think it will be okay because Sabrina G. uses notes during her writing process; but for the most part she is a pantser. In case you didn’t guess already, week four of NaNoWriMo will be dedicated to the lovely Sabrina G. Week two of NaNoWriMo is complete, and my word count for week two is 27,122. I’m a little over halfway to 50,000. This week, I wrote like Jane Apatova, author of the Insatiable Series. Jane writes in a serialized method which was completely new to me. So, I did as one does and went to Google to search what serialized writing meant.
What I found is serialized fiction is releasing your work in different installments; like a tv show. This doesn’t mean you’re releasing your work chapter by chapter; what it means is, each episode you release is its own short story with loosely connected narratives. With that in mind, I knew I had to do a lot of planning. It also meant I had to write these sections in chronological order (for the most part). I shifted my thinking from writing chapters, to writing episodes. Looking back at mine and Jane’s conversation, I followed her advice about writing in first person. “If I’m writing from a first person perspective, I try to focus on the characters' feelings, what they see and how they understand their surroundings. How they interact with their world.” With my research of serialized writing and Jane’s advice in mind, I started plotting out my episodes for the week. It’s weird to say, but the easiest part of the week was plotting out my episodes. This week, I plotted out five episodes. Actually writing those episodes was more of a struggle for me. I had my outline next to as I wrote but the voices of my characters yelled at me trying to convince me to change my outline. The pantser in me was trying to break through but I forced myself to follow my outline. Every day I followed my outline and wrote in chronological order. However, yesterday the love interest of my story convinced me to write a scene that takes place during the climax of the story. That scene in particular was hand written and I didn’t document the word count for that scene. I was strict the entire week, so as a treat to myself, I decided to write that scene. Overall, writing like Jane in a serialized format was fun. I’d actually like to continue my research on the serialized format and write my stories like that in the future. Jane is a Kindle Vella author of Fantasy and Spicy romance. Her books can be found at the link below. Jane’s book, Kiss of Sight is spectacular and her upcoming release, Dragon Blood is available for preorder now. If you haven’t checked out Jane’s Insatiable Series, run to Amazon now! Week three is dedicated to writing like the lovely Sarah Sutton, a YA romance author. The first week of NaNoWriMo is done and my current word count is 12,482.
For the first week, I dedicated myself to writing like the lovely Miriam Rosentvaig. I chose to write like her for the first week because of what her drafting process looks like. The reason: Miriam writes the smut scenes first! When she told me she did that, I immediately knew I wanted to do that first. After she writes the raw uncut version of her main characters then she shapes their background and the story. Miriam also told me she puts focus on her side characters. Side characters are important to her because they help shape the story too. She used the example of reading other stories and the side characters being mentioned once and never seen again. The last thing she shared with me was that she writes characters who are messy. She doesn’t believe in “perfect romances” with minor inconveniences. Life is messy and she writes realistic characters with real problems. Miriam is a plotter for the most part and I am a pantser, so as expected, the plotting aspect was a little foreign to me. However, I followed Miriam’s advice and wrote all the smut scenes first. I had an absolute blast writing those scenes. I learned more about my two main characters than I thought I would. I even added a few songs to the story’s playlist because they were playing on Spotify when I wrote those scenes. Never in my life did I think I’d associate a Slipknot song with a smut scene in a story. Anyway, after the fun scenes were out of the way, I focused on my character’s backstories and their motivations for their decisions in the story. I had sticky notes and random pieces of paper everywhere. I looked like a conspiracy theorist. After I was done with my main characters, I focused on my side characters. If I thought I looked like a conspiracy theorist with my main characters notes, well, I was sadly mistaken. The amount of sticky notes and random pieces of paper I used for my side characters could cover two at-home bulletin boards. Now, that may not sound like a lot of notes to you especially if you’re a plotter, but for a pantser, I’ve never plotted this much in my life. Now, for the last and probably most important part of Miriam’s drafting process. How do I make my characters messy? That part was surprisingly easy. When I developed their backstories and character motivations I noticed they were both messy and had some real shit going on. To keep from spoiling my story, I won’t share that here but just know these two are going to have some struggles that they need to overcome. I had a blast attempting to write like my lovely friend, Miriam Rosentvaig. If you’re interested in reading her books you can find a link to them below. Week two is dedicated to writing like the lovely Jane Apatova, author of the Insatiable Series. Hello, everyone! It’s been a minute since I’ve posted to the blog. I figured it was fitting for my comeback to consist of my NaNoWriMo plans! I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo the past two years and I’ve hit 50k words both times. This year, I plan to do something different from the past couple of years. This year, I’ve selected four indie authors that I admire, so I can attempt to mimic their writing style as I draft my NaNo project. So, basically one week of writing in the style of that author. I have reached out to these indie authors and they explained what their drafting process looks like for them. I plan to mimic them to challenge myself to think creatively while drafting my NaNo project. This year, I’m writing a NA romance with triggering topics. I wouldn’t classify my project as a dark romance because it’s far from that. There will be topics discussed in the story that are not suitable for all audiences, but I plan to include a list of trigger warnings. The indie author’s I have decided to mimic for NaNoWriMo are:
Miriam Rosentvaig, a contemporary romance author (for now). Jane Apatova, a fantasy and spicy romance author. Sarah Sutton, a YA romance author. Sabrina G., a mood author who writes in the genre her characters tell her to write in. Three of these authors are plotters and I am not a plotter, so I definitely have my work cut out for me. The order they are listed here is the order I will mimic them in. Week one belongs to the wonderful Miriam Rosentvaig, author of the Dysfunctionally Perfect and Acting Like We Care series’. You can find a link to Miriam’s books below. Join me for the "Write Like My Favorite Indie Authors" series. Let's hope I can continue my NaNoWriMo winning streak! NaNoWriMo is over and not only did I win, but I finished my first draft of my first novel, Just what the other needed. I had a blast writing this draft. I found a few plot holes while reading it over but I intend to fix them and develop the story further. On the NaNoWriMo website, I received all of the accomplishment badges except one. I was a little bummed out not receiving the last one but it’s okay I still kicked butt this past month. I’ve been dabbling on sharing my story on Wattpad. I’ve shared the first two chapters to Wattpad and have gotten a good response. I’m still debating if I should continue to upload chapters. I’m lowkey worried that someone will steal my work but at the same time I want to share it with my friends in the writing community. I will do some more research on Wattpad and decide from there.
Drea's NaNo Reminders. Whether you got to 50,000 words or not, take pride in your work. You worked hard the entire month and should be proud of what you accomplished. Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? How was your experience? I beat NaNoWriMo by hitting 50,000 words on Sunday, November 22, 2020. Coming from a stressful week two where I couldn’t get the words to flow this was a nice change of pace. I did struggle once I hit 40,000 but once I hand wrote what I wanted to happen it helped tremendously. The biggest struggle I faced during week three of NaNo was dialogue. I didn’t know if I was adding too much dialogue. I would write a sentence, reread it, then I would delete it quite often during week three. Don’t get me wrong, I did that a lot during the first two weeks of NaNo too but I feel it was excessive during week three. When I hit 50,000 words I felt my heart drop. I honestly didn’t think I would beat NaNo by week three. I guess writing 2,000 words (or more) benefitted me more than I thought. Unfortunately, just because I won doesn’t mean my story is done. I still have to finish up the chapter I started and write the epilogue. My goal after I finish my first novel is begin editing and then share with Alpha and Beta readers. I don’t really intend on querying or self-publishing this book but I do want to share it with the people who supported me through NaNo.
Drea's NaNo Reminders. If you’re sitting at a computer or hand writing in a notebook for hours on end get up and stretch. While constantly writing I felt my hands cramp up and my body get tight. I set a five minute timer and I used that time to stretch particularly my hands. Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? How is your progress going? Week two of NaNoWriMo was a lot harder than week one. I’m still on track to get to 50k by the end of the month but this week I suffered from writer’s block and I was super distracted this week. I’m at the point in my work in progress where I know where I want the story to go but I don’t know how I want to get there yet. I guess that’s the struggle that comes with being a pantser. Yesterday, I decided to handwrite some notes for the chapter I was working on and it helped but I still didn’t finish 2,000 words until 8pm. It was kind of a bummer because I wanted to finish my desired word count before Fear the Walking Dead came on but I finished a few minutes before I laid down for bed. My goal for this week is to get to 40k. I think I’m going to start handwriting more notes and hopefully that will help. I usually handwrite my stories first then transcribe them to my word document but apart from my ten chapters of outlining I haven’t hand written anything. Maybe seeing the blinking cursor on my word document is giving me anxiety and that is triggering my writer’s block. I’m going to test this theory and hopefully get to 40k by the end of the week! I managed to get to 33,135 words for week two.
Drea's NaNo Reminders. Take necessary breaks and engage in self-care. If the words aren’t coming out don’t torture yourself just because you need to hit a certain word count. Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? How is your progress going? Let me know in the comments! It's my first year participating in NaNoWriMo and I've decided to blog about my experience during NaNo. For those of you who don't know, I currently listen to a podcast called Hot and Bothered and they challenged their listeners to write a romance novel. I took that challenge seriously, and decided to write an adult contemporary romance for my very first NaNoWriMo. I won't give any spoilers to my story. I just want to give a quick update. My story is rough! It is so hard not to go back and edit. If I'm going to get to 50,000 words I need to keep writing. My daily word count goal is at least 2,000 words. So far, I've achieved that goal. Before NaNo started, I outlined 10 chapters of the story. I anticipated those 10 chapters would have taken much longer to write, but I was mistaken. I finished those 10 chapters in the first three days. I tried so hard to be a planner but I hate outlining with a burning passion. I'm a pantser at heart. I like torture myself by going in blind.
There were days I did not feel like writing but I sucked it up and fought through. Luckily, writing is a form of self-care for me. However, if you're not feeling it make sure you take care of yourself first. I've decided that in these weekly blogs I will remind you all to take care of yourselves in a segment called, Drea's NaNo Reminders. This week I want to remind you to remember to hydrate. When writing 50,000 words you get distracted and forget to drink water. I know I did so please hydrate while writing. I finished the first week with 19,126 words. I still have a long way to go but I'm excited to continue this journey! If you're participating in NaNoWriMo how is your progress going? November is national novel writing month (NaNoWriMo for short.) During NaNoWriMo, writers of all ages take on the challenge to draft a novel (at least 50 thousand words) in 30 days! It’s insanity to think people do this for fun. Well, call me insane because this year I’ve decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. A podcast I listen to challenged its listeners to write a romance novel. I gladly accepted the challenge and started planning out the story. I typically write action thriller stories so changing my genre to romance will be challenging but I’m excited to try it. I follow a lot of writers on my social media and I came across an original tag created by Holly Davis. It’s called the NaNoWriMo survival kit. I decided I want to participate in the tag and that is the purpose of this blog post. The tag consists of 8 questions and tagging three writers to do the tag. Well, I don’t intend to tag other writers to do this so I will just answer the questions.
What are you working on for NaNoWriMo this year? As I mentioned earlier, I was challenged to write a romance novel. I call it, Project Just What The Other Needed. What apps do you use to help you write and stay motivated? I write in Google Docs. I used to write in Microsoft Word but my subscription expired and I haven’t had the money to pay for it. Grammarly is also a must. I am not the best when it comes to grammar and punctuation so having Grammarly is a huge help. YouTube is a huge help too. I’ve been participating in writing sprints and they have helped keep me motivated. Where do you like to write and what’s your favorite writing spot? If I am on my laptop I like to write at my kitchen table. If I am writing in my notebook, I don’t have a preference on where I write. I carry a notebook with me all the time so I will write whenever I have any free time. What are your writing space must-haves? My laptop, my laptop charger, my notebook, a few pens, my phone and headphones. What are your favorite drinks and snacks to have when writing? Typically when I write I like to drink either water, coffee, or tea. I’m not really a snacker when I am writing but if I had to choose something I would probably say popcorn. What are your favorite writing distractions? Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch. I know earlier I said that YouTube helped motivate me but when I am not participating in writing sprints it’s a huge distraction. What are your favorite ways to get back on track? Participating in writing sprints on YouTube. Having others to write with and hearing their progress motivates me. Not only that, but sometimes just plugging in my headphones and listening to music can make all the difference in getting me back on track. What are your favorite writing rewards and milestones? One of my goals for NaNo is to complete 10 thousand words in a day. I’ve seen plenty of other writers accomplish that goal and I definitely want to give it a try. If I do achieve that goal I will make sure to reward myself with some bunny tracks ice cream. I’m very excited to participate in NaNoWriMo this year! It’s my first time participating and I am hopeful that I will succeed in writing 50 thousand words. Wish me luck everyone and if you have participated in NaNoWriMo please let me know how it went for you! |
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