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Thoughts On Grief
I have been listening to Anderson Cooper's podcast All There Is, that he started after going through his mother's things. It's here https://www.cnn.com/audio/podcasts/all-there-is-with-anderson-cooper/episodes/8a87220e-6ee9-4a04-8f6d-af0f00fb0365
I chose this photograph for my blog, because for me, grief is like a forest with that wonderful shaft of sunlight shining through it.
I think I will make this a series about grief, because to write about all the griefs of my life at once would make me nonfunctional. But, one person at a time, I can do this.
1966. 1974. 1979. 1982. 1988. 1989. 1990. The Years Of Grief.
At nine, I lost my grandparents on Mama's side six months apart. I was pregnant six times. I have two living children. Each time I was pregnant, someone died in our family.
I can compare the loss of a parent to the loss of a child, and I think losing a child is much harder. You expect to lose your parents. Nothing, absolutely nothing, prepares you for the loss of your child.
Scientists estimate that women lose 25% of their pregnancies before they know they are pregnant. But, once you know you're pregnant, you had a 99.66% chance of having a living baby in 1990. Miscarriages happen, but they are rare. Only 10-15% end in miscarriage. It's not as rare now, which makes me very sad.
I will come back and write about my grief, but not today. Until then, thank you, Anderson Cooper. People already told you it gets easier, and it does. I still miss the loved ones in my life. I will add that grief adds a depth of understanding to our lives unattainable in any other way. It is an instant bond with a stranger, to learn that you both have grappled with loss. I think true compassion cannot come to a person without a measure of grief.
What Are Tropes and Why Should You Include Them in Your Story?
Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Campfire Technology, a 2022 NaNoWriMo sponsor, creates writing software to help storytellers write better stories faster. NaNoWriMo writers can try out Campfire’s Manuscript Module for free thisNovember! In this post, writer Amanda Jones shares some of the pros of story tropes:
With NaNoWriMo 2022 quickly approaching, writers everywhere are plotting, planning, and exploring ideas for the worlds they intend to visit come November. This, of course, likely includes drafting the elements of your story from literary tropes!
What are tropes, you ask? The definition has changed slightly over time, but we have come to know them as the commonly used building blocks of the stories we read and write. Not only are they just fun to play with in a setting of your own making, but they help us connect over shared experiences, regardless of the places we are from or the time we live in.
As a member of several online writing communities, I’ve often seen anti-trope discourse such as: “If a book contains X trope, I won’t read it,” or “X trope is so overdone, I can’t stand it.” And it worries me to think there is at least one writer out there who will stop writing their story after coming across something like this.
I love @CampfireWriting and I am using it to write my @nanowrimo project starting at midnight. I've done all my prep this month in it. #amwriting #authorsoftumblr #authorsoftwitter
Pro Tips from a NaNo Coach: Writing with Chronic Injuries
NaNoWriMo can seem like a daunting task sometimes, for NaNo newbies and veterans alike. Fortunately, our NaNo Coaches are here to help guide you through November! Today, author Mimi Matthews is here to share her advice on how to set yourself up for noveling success:
Dear Fellow Writers,
In an ideal world, we’d all be starting our manuscripts this November, bright-eyed and clear-headed, limited by nothing but time and the scope of our imaginations. In reality, many of us—myself included—are dealing with physical or mental health issues that impact our productivity. That doesn’t mean we can’t write a novel in a month. It just means we have to prepare a little differently.
I’ve written all of my books while struggling with pain from a cervical spine injury. There’s no secret to it, only a little self-knowledge. Pain is a part of my life I have to manage along with all the rest of my responsibilities. It can be discouraging at times, but it’s never once prevented me from completing a manuscript. With that in mind, here are a few of my personal strategies for starting (and finishing!) a novel.
Very useful advice. I am #disabled and struggle with #anxiety so yeah, I never thought about this kind of prep. My struggles are different, but all of my writing occurs while propped up in bed. I've been #homebound for years so outings, for me, are uncommon. #writing is my escape from my four walls of my bedroom :)
Step Up Your Character Game: Character Building Through Repeated Actions
There are many ways to establish character building in your writing. NaNo Participant Kathryn A. Patterson talks about how you can use repetition of certain actions to show off your characters’ personalities!
I find inspiration for my writing in the usual places: podcasts, the dog park, alien encounters. This year I found a nugget in, of all places, a book about how to build habits.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear discusses the word identity. He traces the origins of the word back to two Latin words:
• essentitas: which means the essential of something, being
• identitum: which means repeatedly
Identity translates literally into “repeatedly being”.
How does this affect my writing? Two words: character building.
Intimidation Got Your Pen? Never Fear, NaNo Has Your Back!
NaNoWriMo is almost here! If you’re feeling nervous about the upcoming month, NaNo participant Jessica Warrick wants to remind you that you’re not alone for this grand challenge and perfection is not required!
Well friends, it’s that time of year again. The leaves are turning here in the U.S. and writers all around the globe are gearing up for another whirlwind of NaNo November. If you’re anything like me, you may be finding yourself riddled with intimidation at the prospect of taking on this challenge. Whether you’re stifled by your word count options, overwhelmed by character or world building, are unsure about the order of events in your book, or any other thing(s) that ought to stand in a writer’s way, I can assure you: you are not alone.
Characters. We all create them, but it helps a lot if you have a picture of them, right? How do you get that? https://www.pexels.com/ I use this free stock photo site for pictures of people, props, pretty places, animals, inspiration, there's a bit of everything here!
Anything you download from here is public domain. That means you can use it in your book cover.
What's In A Word Count? For any of you new to this topic, I compiled a list of typical word counts from several sources. A lot of folks get very depressed if they don't make 50,000 words in their NaNo, which is coming next month.
But, maybe that story fits into one of these categories! There's nothing wrong with shorter story forms, so if you have something lying around that's less, take a look at this list! All writing is worthwhile. Don't ever give up!
I put together word count guidelines from several sources including Nebula Awards, Writer’s Digest, and several writer blogs [note, these are flexible]:
Micro Fiction: 55-300 words
Picture Book Ages 4-5 500 words
Picture Book Age 6 550 words
Picture Book Ages 7-8 600 words
Flash Fiction: -1,000 words
Children’s Chapter Book Age 7 1000-4999 words
Children’s Chapter Book Age 8 5000-10,000 words
Short-Short story: 1,001-5,000
Short Story: 5001-7,500 words
Novelette: 7,501-17,500 words
Novella: 17,501-40,000 words
Middle Grade Book Age 8 20,000 Words
Middle Grade Book Age 9 25,000 Words
Middle Grade Book Age 10 30,000 Words
Novel: 40,000 Technically
Middle Grade Book Age 11 40,000 Words
Middle Grade Book Age 12 50,000 Words
Novel: 50,000 Minimum
Young Adult Novel Teen: 50,000-70,000 words
YA Science Fiction 50,000-80,000 words
Romance: 50,000-100,000 words
Novel: 55,000+ words
Novel: <70,000 Maybe Too Short Unless It’s YA or Romance
Thriller: Suspense. Mystery: 70,000-90,000 words
Novel: 70,000-79,999 Maybe Too Short-Probably Fine
Novel: 80,000-89,999 Totally Cool
Non-fiction: Many subgenres-check.
Memoirs: 80,000-90,000 words
Science fiction: 90,000-120,000 words
Fantasy: 90,000-120,000 words
Novel: 90,000-99,999 Generally Safe
Historical: ~100,000 words
Novel: 100,000-109,999 Maybe Too Long-Probably Fine
Novel: 110,000+ Too Long
Super Novel: 120,000-300,000 words ‘Way Too Long Unless Your Name Is JRR Tolkien
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The .rtf has my cool colors, which didn’t transfer here. Oh, well!
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