the writeblr garden's grow a plant (nanowrimo 2023)
announcing the writeblr garden's second event and first nanowrimo event: grow a plant! participating gardeners will be separated into teams to compete to finish their word goals with the highest amount of words. 🍃
this event will be hosted entirely on our discord server where we will be collecting words, hosting writing sprints, and giving you a weekly update on your plant. each gardener is welcome to set their own word goal but is highly encouraged to write more to boost their team.
each team's word goal is the total amount of words each gardener is aiming to write combined, so if someone drops out of the competition their goal will be removed from your total. but remember, you're competing against other teams to get the best plant, so write as much as you can!
the winning team members will get their own tag on the blog, along with a weekly shoutout and interview about each gardener's main wip. participants who drop out of the competition but were on this team will not be counted. anyone on these teams with less than 10k written will not be counted, either.
THE TEAMS: IVY, FERN, VINE
grow a plant will be running the entirety of november. to participate in our first nano event, join our discord server here! join as early as possible to ensure you get on the team you want. we're looking forward to growing with you 🌱
Pot plant for Mikey Always good vibes with this guys @putnamflowers #patrykhilton #sangbleulondon #potplant #growaplant #london #tattooing #panterabydgoszcz #ttt #dsrpttt #tattoodo #taot (w: London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqkFde7Hdtl/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1m6n5crmwaud2
Meet Rae, who got third place in our grow a plant event in november! Rae goes by she/her, has a second degree black belt in kendo, and you can find her at @koala2all. She has been writing for about 30 years, primarily YA fantasy.
Tell us about the WIP you'd like to talk about today.
I'll be talking about The Pirate Knight.
Being a pirate is all Nonie has ever wanted. Freedom, camaraderie, and a beautiful girl in port to welcome her back. But returning from a lucrative voyage, she finds her home in shambles and her bonny lass missing. Desperate to find her, Nonie makes a deal with the god of the sea. In return for helping return her lost love Nonie vows to become his holy knight, saving the weak and defending the helpless. Together with a cynical sorcerer, a naive orc, and an ex-girlfriend from a rival ship who promises not to rest until their mission is a success, Nonie sets out to prove that she can be a hero in time to save the love of her life. But when a world changing secret is revealed, Nonie will need the help of her friends to navigate the tempest.
Describe your writing process. Do you like to plan everything or are you more spontaneous?
I'm more spontaneous. I usually start a bit backwards actually. I know how I want a story to end, then where it begins, and the rest is a matter of figuring out how to get from point A to point B. Music plays a huge part in my process, as well. I often get inspired by a song for a set of characters or a situation, then I try to figure out where it can fit.
What have you found to be the most challenging and/or rewarding about writing?
The most challenging part of writing for me is that I often feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just kind of winging it, writing stories that make me happy about characters that I enjoy writing about… but up to a year ago I didn't know what a beta reader was. My background is in theater, so I know how to frame a story in three acts… but without the background in creative writing, the imposter syndrome is real!
Below the read more is more of our conversation with Rae
What inspires you to write?
Books were such an escape for me when I was little. All those amazing worlds and vivid characters really helped me through some tough times. And that's what I want to share with others. The world is a hard place right now. I want to give readers a place that they can escape to, with characters they can empathize with as they face trials and overcome them. And maybe take a little hope with them when they're done.
Share some advice for other writers.
The best advice I ever got was from a Terry Pratchett quote. He said, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." I am definitely the type of person who dreams of the first draft coming out absolutely perfect. When it doesn't come out that way, I can tend to get a little frustrated. But after I heard this quote, I realized that the first draft is going to be rubbish. That's okay, and that's what editing is for. First, I just need to tell myself the story.
What do consider your writing strength?
Dialogue and worldbuilding are my strengths, for sure. I have such a strong sense of the world my characters find themselves in. My favorite technique is to not explain too much to the reader, but let them come across the world naturally as the characters navigate through it. It's my favorite way of experiencing the world of a story! Dialogue writing is so much fun. I love bantering with my friends, and imagining the banter between two characters is just as entertaining. I myself am a bit snarky (in a delightful way, of course) and that tends to make its way into at least one of the characters speech patterns.
What has been the nicest compliment you've received or what has been the toughest criticism you've received?
When I finished my first novel, I sent it to a knitting acquaintance of mine who happened to be a book reviewer as well. It was nerve wracking, since I had only let friends and family look at any of my writing before, but I had dreams of publishing and wanted to make the story as good as I could before I started sending it out. Her review came back glowing. Four out of five stars, and compliments about the worldbuilding, the characters, the plot, the dialogue. It was such a good feeling!
What do you love the most about writing?
My characters, and sharing them. I love making characters… ever since I was little. I get such a kick out of giving a character a backstory, and then seeing how they grow through the course of the story. Sometimes they really surprise me! And seeing them become important to the readers is really exciting, too!
finally introducing the long awaited winners of our november 2023 event: grow a plant! these interviews have been a long time coming and have been pushed off for a variety of reasons but! they're finally here. this post will act as a masterlist for the following interviews with our winners. not all winners will be receiving an interview because they either opted out or did not answer in time, so they will only be receiving a shout-out, linked in here!
please show some love to our plant growers, who's blogs will be linked below and a link to their interview will be added here once they're released! 🌱 only those who wrote at least 10k words for the event were counted as winners, and the names in bold also completed their goal during the event!
elliot - @elliotwriteswords, wrote 55,555.
etlu - @etlu-yume, wrote 53,056. read here.
tari - @mxxnlightwriting, wrote 50,115. read here.
rae - @koala2all wrote 50,000. read here.
delphi - who does not have a tumblr, wrote 30,065.
felicia - who does not have a tumblr, wrote 28,003.
victoria - @evenshadow, wrote 27,669. read here.
dani - @ikilledmyocs, wrote 20,000. read here.
sparrow - @theglitchywriterboi, wrote 11,733. read here.
Meet Sparrow, who got tenth place in our grow a plant event in november! Sparrow goes by he/him, xe/xim, and it/its, and you can find them at @theglitchywriterboi. He also loves making potatoes and fries (please share). Xe has been writing for his whole life, primarily fantasy, but delving a bit into horror.
Tell us about the WIP you'd like to talk about today.
I'll be talking about Deaths Diner
It's book one/five in a multiverse series. Four people who are living some how make their way into the waiting room [basically when you die, you go there, get sorted, go to your proper afterlife], so a few of the residents have to help them make it out alive. Unfortunately, 2/4 of the people needed to properly help them are unavailable. They have to find them before the 4 living die, w/o getting found out by the ruler of the land.
Describe your writing process. Do you like to plan everything or are you more spontaneous?
I have a loose idea of what I want to happen [sometimes it's as vague as "I want the end to be sad. Anything else, idk" & sometimes as much as I know the exact ending, but maybe not how to get there]. So mostly spontaneous w/ the occasional vague plan [though w/ The Obscure Ones series I do have a bit more of a specific idea, though not super planned out, there's still a decent amount of thought in it]
What have you found to be the most challenging and/or rewarding about writing?
All of it - it's easy to spit out words, but it's hard to make it good. Or at least good enough for me to want to share it & consider publishing. But the most rewarding part is having the final story there in front of me & seeing peoples reactions !!!
Below the read more is more of our conversation with Sparrow
What inspires you to write?
Other writers & my love for their stories & going "Omg I wanna make someone feel like this !!!" & also I just love seeing my ideas come to life
Share some advice for other writers.
Write for you !!! At least the first few drafts. Ofc listen to the feedback of your alpha &/or beta readers when the time comes, but when writing make a story YOU want to read, not a story you think will be on the NYT best seller list. It might be ofc, but don't try to make it [in the sense don't throw in things just to try & grab an audience, even if it doesn't work [or you don't actually like it. Make it good yeah, but don't try & hit all the popular book notes at the cost of the story making sense or you liking your own story]
What do consider your writing strength?
Idk personally, but I've been told people like the way I write characters & character dynamics
What has been the nicest compliment you've received or what has been the toughest criticism you've received?
One of my mutuals said this: "and your writing is so so cool. I mean to read more of it so please add me to your taglist because I really would love to see more! I just love the vibes of your wips, they're like grungy nostalgic kind of, and you really nail descriptions in such a cool way and your dialogue sounds hella real and flows so well. The settings are so cool they're so immersive and I haven't even read much but 👀👀👀👀👀" & it still makes me so !!!!
What do you love the most about writing?
The process - discovering what happens while writing it, meeting the characters while writing them.
✨ Sparrow also provided a link for a rough draft of xir wip, which you can read here!
Meet Dani, who got ninth place in our grow a plant event in november! Dani goes by she/her, is interviewing herself, and you can find her at @ikilledmyocs. She has been writing for about 10 years, writing fantasy and science fiction.
Tell us about the WIP you'd like to talk about today.
I'm going to be talking about my baby We Are Unsuper since that's all I've been working on lately.
The daughter of a ruthless Governor and an involuntary leader of a superhuman rebel group must partner up to put an end to the war in their city. But when Callista, the prized daughter of the city has been kidnapped by Unsuper and told to kill her father, it makes trusting them difficult- even if their goals are the same. Britta, on a path to discovering what Unsuper's really up to, begins to learn that her and the Governor's daughter aren't so different after all.
Describe your writing process. Do you like to plan everything or are you more spontaneous?
I am so spontaneous it hurts. I should outline, I know I should outline, but I don't :) It's just easier and a bit more exciting for me to write the story along the way. I have a brief idea of what I know needs to happen- especially after working on this wip for as long as I have, so I don't get too lost. I do get frustrated though which leads to me taking a break until I finally get ~the spark~ again.
Below the read more is more of our conversation with Dani
What inspires you to write?
Music, books, movies, games, my own life, etc. I can only listen to music when I'm writing though. I end up getting more focused on whatever I'm watching instead of writing but I always listen to the same 10 songs when I'm writing it seems. But video game soundtracks are where it's at.
What do consider your writing strength?
I wanna say dialogue. To me my dialogue feels fine until it comes to important conversations and it all goes out the window and everyone is infodumping. idk. Worldbuilding would have to be my top strength, it's just so fun and I love being able to feel like I live in my worlds. Whether I manage to put that all onto the page is another question.......
What do you love the most about writing?
Being able to dump out all my silly worlds somewhere. I have so many and I can only daydream so much. I like being able to read everything back and picture it like a movie. I'm just being self indulgent and making the stories I wanna see fr.
Meet Victoria, who got seventh place in our grow a plant event in november! Victoria goes by she/her, was once on a terrible and short-lived reality dating show involving hiding in a box full of go-pros and letting a stranger smell her neck, and you can find her at @evenshadow. She has been writing for about 16 years, writing horror, mystery, perchance a dash of romance.
Tell us about the WIP you'd like to talk about today.
I'll be talking about The Weather Outside is Frightful.
All Tessa wants is her perfect Hallmark Christmas movie romance, but when a Christmas Eve snow storm wakes the thing living beneath the ice, it looks like kissing someone under the mistletoe is going to have to wait…
Describe your writing process. Do you like to plan everything or are you more spontaneous?
I love planning and outlining. Planning and outlining are my favourite. I recently discovered zero drafting, and it's been a delight! Even despite my outlining, I usually go through 3-6 drafts of heavy revision on big projects before I feel happy enough to share with others. I love the idea of setting aside big chunks of time to work on my writing, but often it happens in 15-60 minute sprints between various adult responsibilities.
What have you found to be the most challenging and/or rewarding about writing?
The editing process is rough for me, as my own toughest critic. I find it tedious, and it's often hard for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel when I'm elbows-deep in the fourth draft and it feels like nothing is coming together. Beating that manuscript until it does what I want it to, and watching it shine at the end of all that is so rewarding. Having other people read it and like it is an incredible feeling too, but regardless of whether it actually makes it to the light of day, I love completing a work of art that I feel proud of.
Below the read more is more of our conversation with Victoria
What inspires you to write?
I want to live my dream of keeping people up at night because they're afraid something in the shadows will eat them. When you're scared of monsters under your bed, you're not worrying about whatever else life is throwing at you at the moment. I want to wrap readers in a comforting blanket of relief and escapism- except the blanket is made out of nightmares.
Share some advice for other writers.
A happy writer is a productive writer! If you feel like you're not getting as much written as you want to or it's harder than it should be, sometimes the answer isn't optimizing your writing routine but quitting your job and dumping your hot romantic interest and demanding better for yourself. Maybe, idk. Also don't use so many adverbs or something.
What do consider your writing strength?
Atmosphere! I love moody castles, foreboding forests, and cozy libraries of forbidden knowledge. I want my readers to be able to feel like they're there.
What has been the nicest compliment you've received or what has been the toughest criticism you've received?
I once had a teacher say "you're so much better than everyone else" and I've been insufferable ever since.
What do you love the most about writing?
When you get to a dramatic or important scene you've been looking forward to and you get to live in it and see it take shape and form in front of your eyes- that's the best feeling.
Meet Tari, who got third place in our grow a plant event in november! Tari goes by she/her, and you can find her at @mxxnlightwriting. She wrote her first story when she was six, and has been writing with the goal of publishing since 2020. She writes romance and fantasy, along with dabbling in a few other genres.
Tell us about the WIP you'd like to talk about today.
The WIP is "A Spark of Magic" a YA Urban Fantasy novel (the first in a series!)
Isaac has turned into a merfolk and that puts everything in his life in jeopardy. To try and fix this predicament he asks Alice for help, someone he believes to be a witch based on a rumour he heard. He's right that she's a witch, but what he doesn't know is that she can't summon her magic. What starts as an unlikely partnership turns into something more as every answer they seek seems out of reach and the secrets they encounter make it hard for them to trust anyone, including each other.
Describe your writing process. Do you like to plan everything or are you more spontaneous?
I am more spontaneous, but my process changes depending on my writing project. Sometimes, I have a scene, a couple of characters, a small playlist for vibes and I just go for it. In those cases, I discover my story along the way, and through subsequent drafts, I work to make it cohesive and the best it can be. Some require more planning, and in those cases, I tend to outline the vast majority of the story, but there's always something that even I, as the writer, don't know from the start.
What have you found to be the most challenging and/or rewarding about writing?
I think writing can be a lonely endeavor, especially when you don't have writer friends to help you keep motivated. It's also challenging because more often than not, only you know your story and its characters and world, and translating that from your mind to the page can be hard, especially when you're a perfectionist. On the flip side, there's nothing better than finishing a WIP. Writing "The End" on a draft is always incredible. No matter how many times I do it, it always feels like the first time. It's the culmination of so many hours of work, of meeting characters and watching their journey from start to finish, of writing their story. It that feeling of "You've done it", you know? And no one can ever take that achievement from you.
Below the read more is more of our conversation with Tari, along with a link to pre-order her novel now!
What inspires you to write?
People. Loneliness. I want to write stories to keep people company, to be there for them when they feel like no one is. Mostly, I write stories because it's the only way I know how to live. They've been an integral part of my life for so long that I would be incomplete without it.
Share some advice for other writers.
Just keep writing! Never look down at your own work, always look at it from an inquisitive lense. Look at how far you've come, at how much you have improved. Be fascinated by your previous work and know that it's the foundation for the writer you are today. You will always be improving, so celebrate that, even when it's hard. On that same note, never put down your work when sharing it with others. That will have them create expectations of your work before they get to enjoy it. Present it as a blank canvas and let people create their opinions of it, good or bad, but always remember that it is your story. Make it the best it can be for you, not for others.
What do consider your writing strength?
I'd say dialogue is my strength as well as character building! With dialogue is great to go over everyone's speech patterns and see what kind of words they would use and how they would chat with others (and notice how that changes depending on the character they're interacting with), which also influences character building.
What has been the nicest compliment you've received or what has been the toughest criticism you've received?
Whenever people say they were moved by my writing that always feels like the greatest compliment. As for the toughest criticism, as a perfectionist, I am my toughest critic.
What do you love the most about writing?
The entire process of falling in love with a new idea and making it the best it can possibly be. Nothing will ever make me as happy as when I have a random idea that consumes my entire existence and demands to be brought to life. Sometimes, it's not you who chooses the story. Sometimes, it's the story that chooses you.
✨ Tari's novel, A Spark of Magic, is available for pre-order now! Check out the information on her post here.
