I plan to join NaNoWriMo this year because I really enjoy the rush that this contest gives me. There is nothing more invigorating then rushing to come up with the plot, any semblance of a plot, and and then writing 50,000 words in the space of 30 days. I have no idea what I want [...] Read more »
Character Writer: Character Development Software
Character Writer is writing software that will help you flesh out your characters. I have been looking for character development software since I found Character Pro 4 a number of years ago. When I found Character Writer during an unrelated search, I downloaded it immediately. Here are my findings. Installation and Setup The installation of [...] Read more »
Shades of Evil, A Paranormal Thriller: Draft Two Completed
I have been working on this story since I crossed the finish line of the 2008 NaNoWriMo competition, trying to solidify the plot to something intelligible and believable. The mind mapping technique worked to outline the newer characters, and I had constructed what I thought was a solid plot at the time. My characters evidently [...] Read more »
Scrapping NaNoWriMo This Year
I started this year’s contest with the best intentions, but it just didn’t happen. Every time I launched my word processor, my mind would immediately focus on the rewrite of Shades of Evil, even as I stared at the words of the outline I started the weekend before the start date. My progress on that [...] Read more »
NaNoWriMo: Just Around the Corner
About two weeks ago, it occurred to me that this year’s NaNoWriMo is starting soon. To get myself in the spirit, I poked around and found these posts. Must-Have Tools for NaNoWriMo from Learn to Write Fiction NaNoWriMo: How I Create Characters Benjamin Solah has got some great posts on how he prepares for NaNoWriMo, [...] Read more »
Creative Frenzy
Writing I’ve finished the rewrites of Chapters 3 through 5. I feel like I’ve gotten a better sense of who my antagonist is. The mind mapping technique is really helping me out not only for character development, but to get a visual of what should happen by the end of each act. With this technique, [...] Read more »
Writing Progress: Shades of Evil
The rewrite is going very well so far. I’ve just finished the second chapter and plan on starting the third sometime this week. So far, I’ve established (re-established, if you read Prosperity) that Amanda is clairvoyant and that people often get squeamish over the subject, depending upon their religious beliefs. I’ve also established what she [...] Read more »
How to Draw a Basic Mind Map of Your Characters
Knowing the Basics About My Characters Before I start writing my stories, I have to know the basic attributes of my characters: Who are they? Where did they come from? What event brought them into this story? What are their attitudes and why? How will they solve the problem in this story? Will they grow [...] Read more »
Experimenting with the Mind Map Technique
Introduction Mind mapping is a brainstorming technique that has been around for decades. I first heard about the concept in high school, when one of my teachers asked us to draw up a mind map of a chapter in our text book. He didn’t explain it very well, and therefore most of us blew it [...] Read more »
Writing Progress: Back to the Drawing Board
After careful consideration, I’ve decided to scrap the draft of Shades of Evil that I’ve been working on. I made the same mistake that I did with Prosperity by crowding the plot with too many characters. There are also some inconsistencies that I felt needed attention before I can continue. Yesterday, I spent the better [...] Read more »
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