A DREAM – A STORY – A JOURNEY
November is just over halfway through and with it NaNoWriMo begins to wind down. With under ten days until the end of the challenge, I wonder where many writers are finding themselves. As for myself, at over the halfway point, I am still very much at the beginning of my story. I started out the... Continue Reading →
I finally finished the chapter/scene I’ve been working on for months now. It happened all at at once after many small sessions. The monumental effort it took to finish this chapter felt disproportionate to what it usually takes, but I know that’s not a unique case. Last week a very good friend of mine called... Continue Reading →
After I spent time last week digging through paper and digital files, looking through notebooks and papers, I realized I needed to be smarter about how I was archiving feedback. I paused from my revisions to work on an archiving system I hope to really lean into and follow moving forward. Not only did I... Continue Reading →
One of the most helpful things when I am revising is looking back over the feedback I’ve received on previous drafts of the piece. The challenge I always find myself battling when I get there though, is finding it and the process of reviewing it in a way that helps me during the project. As... Continue Reading →
Last week as I was revising, I felt the familiar hesitation creeping into my writing space. I sighed, knowing exactly what it was, and kept working. At some point though the feeling started filling the space and I knew I needed to confront it. There is always a moment (usually several) during a writing project... Continue Reading →
Last week I went back to my desk, opened my story notes binder, and returned to my story. It felt like letting out a long sigh and a tension I didn't know I'd been holding released from my shoulders. My characters were waiting for me and together we waded into the words. There is a... Continue Reading →
Each major revision, I'm learning, takes a bit of customization to my process to fit the most current project I'm working through. Having a process is key, but it is not what will get the job done completely. Last week, as I was struggling to finalize the new outline for the manuscript, to wrestle out... Continue Reading →
Writing this manuscript for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2021 was one of the most challenging writing tasks I've undertaken yet. It was the most amount of writing I've done in the shortest amount of time and I'm still reeling from everything that was dredged up from it. Like the setting of my book, stirring... Continue Reading →
Day 29: 0 words. I knew when I sat down with my computer and the words didn't come, that I wasn't going to finish the 10,000 I needed to complete this manuscript by the 30th. That's ok though. I don't want to force words when they don't want to be written as much as I... Continue Reading →
Day 22: 0 words. Another day of just not feeling well. Not the way to dive into the chapter that needs to be written. Day 23: 2,036 words. It’s written. This chapter is the one that will need the most work of anything I’ve written so far for this draft, and that’s ok. It’s done... Continue Reading →
Nikole Breault 