Vivienne's Adventures

Now is often when we start to get anxious about Nanowrimo, so starting today, stop working on your preparations and take a mental break. Don't do anything other than take time to do something fun. Enjoy Halloween for those of you who celebrate it. Dress up as something fun, or wacky, go to a coffee shop wearing dragon horns or a unicorn hoodie, whatever makes you smile.  November is still a few days away, so we're taking a break from everything writing related so that come November, we'll be starting Nanowrimo off with lots of energy and excitement! If you can, also try to see if you can join any write-ins happening beforehand so that you can meet some of the people in your area who're also doing Nano.  Whatever you decide to do, make sure it brings a smile to your face. <3 Oh, and follow me on YouTube for daily vlogs during the month of Nanowrimo! (Link below) I'm going to be posting a new video each day at 9am so that you have plenty of time to watch a short vi...

Alright, just a few more days to go! Now is the time to make sure you've got your external motivations ready! (Your rewards, I mean.) If you've never done Nanowrimo before, I suggest getting like ten smallish things that are reserved for each 5k word count. Stickers, your favorite candybar, $5 towards your favorite shop, a fancy new phone case, or something that makes you happy. Just remember to set these aside somewhere and save them for each 5k word count. (So, 5k, 10k, 15k, and so on.) Other external motivators include your friends and family! Tell people you're doing Nanowrimo! Make sure you also connect with people on nanowrimo.org who're in your area, so that you don't ever feel you're alone. Also, reach out to me!! Please, please do! I'm on the social medias and available through email, so please reach out if you need anything.  **This is why I'm blogging and making videos for Nano. I like cheerleading people on!! The link for my YouTube Nanowrimo...

Food! Food and snacks and caffeine are really important. As a writer, I tend to forget to eat (I'm working on that, though), but when I'm writing, if I have a snack nearby, I eat without having to think about it. Win-win for me! So I wanted to talk about snacks for Nanowrimo. Everyone has something different they like to munch on as they write. Some people have a container of mnm's, I like to have a bowl or two of skinnypop popcorn, and some like cheese sticks or cheeseits.  There are loads of snacks to choose from, so I suggest something that isn't primarily sugar. Fruit and veggies are good, as well as things like crackers, popcorn, and nuts. Whatever you choose, make sure it's something you can keep on your desk. (So you know, maybe a bowl of popcorn instead of a massive Costco bag haha.) Another aspect of this is meal prep. If you premake meals, you'll be able to get more writing done, since you won't have to spend as much time making dinner, for example...

So, we're almost ready for Nanowrimo! Now that we have a writing plan, where are we writing? I tend to write in a number of places, so my "workstation" is my laptop, my bag, and anything I need for the story. I like to take my notes and get the plot figured out in a physical notebook, so I have to make sure I have that particular journal with me, as well as pens, and my muse! I have a little stuffy of a hot pink dragon named Sylvia, and she goes around with me during Nanowrimo as a physical reminder of my stories, and what they mean to me. If you're going to be writing at home, make sure you clean up your desk area, and make it a happy space. Add something to your desk to remind you why you're doing this, and to brighten up the space. Having plants nearby is another great idea because they purify the air and help you breathe a little better. (The more oxygen in our brain, the easier it is to make the words go!) The more time you spend writing in this space will en...

And we're nearly there! Gosh, time always seems to go faster when you're trying to get ready for something, but longer when you're excited for an event to get here. lol Speaking of events, who's ready for Nanowrimo?? If you are, awesome!! If not, this week's posts are for you...and me as I frantically finish prepping myself. First thing on my list to do this week, the week before Nanowrimo, is to figure out what my plan is. I'm going to mark down time on my calendar for writing, to get an idea of how much time I think I'll have each day. I am a night owl, meaning I tend to stay up late, so if the day gets busy, I know I will usually have at least a couple hours before bed. I am also going to check the website for Nanowrimo ( nanowrimo.org ) to see what Write-Ins are happening in my area, to see if I can make it to any. The more I go to, the more I get written. Each person's life is different, though, so make a plan that works for you to get at least 1667...

Wrapping things up, let's talk about some smaller details we didn't cover. When creating a world, especially for fiction and fantasy, some things to know are what people look like. Are they dark skinned? Do they have a range of skin tones and hair colors? One thing I want to work on with my stories is making my cast of characters more diverse.  If you have an all-white cast, your story isn't going to be all that unique, unless you're writing about a hidden society of albinos. The real world is full of people with different backgrounds, shapes, and colors, so let your story reflect that. When in doubt, think about other races like in Dungeons and Dragons, there are dwarves, halflings, elves of many varieties, orcs, and tieflings, to name a few. Now, once your figure out what people look like, what's normal and unusual, consider clothing. If you need help thinking of the best kind of clothing for your world, do some research. See what people wear all across the world,...

We've talked about general and in-depth world building stuff, now I want to talk about what to do when you have no idea what you're doing. I am one of those people with the personality trait of Input. This basically means that as I interact with Everything, I take mental notes and am constantly collecting story ideas. This is super helpful for creating stories, as long as I'm writing things down.  As you watch movies, read books, listen to conversations, and everything else, my advice is to pay close attention. Look into movies, TV shows, books, for ideas. Mythology, legends and lore, songs, and daily life are full of details you can steal for your stories. Facebook and Instagram, I've found, also have some random things that can inspire you. Another place to find inspiration or pictures that represent what you're creating, is Pinterest! I know Pinterest can be a bit dangerous for some, it's a fantastic way to kill time. It's also amazing for creating idea b...

Now that we've gotten an overall picture of your setting, one of the more important things to figure out for your story, is where specifically your characters are going to be. What's the main location, city, geographical region, or whatever? Is it underground, aboveground, in the air? Are your characters local to the setting, new to the area, or visitors? What else is different in your world? Is there magic? Do people have superpowers? How do they work? What is it called in your world?  More to consider, especially if your setting is in a city, is what's the leadership like? Is it a kingdom, queendom, oligarchy, democracy? How is the city set up or organized? What's the environment like in the city? What's the relationship of your city/country to the others nearby? Friendly?  Or is that even relevant to your story? Sometimes it isn't, but it's better to know or have an idea so that as you revise, that informs how you write the story. Tomorrow, we'll go i...

Today, I want to list off some things to help you figure out your world. Now, keep in mind, you Do Not need to know all this before you write. Some people like knowing all this beforehand, but it's up to you, and what works for you. That being said, sometimes having a list of questions will help as you write the story, so you know what to come up with on the spot when the story needs it. In later drafts of your story, you can figure this out to improve your writing. We're going to talk about Geography and Population first. When worldbuilding, consider how much different your world is from reality. You can go as far away from reality as you want, it's your story. What's the overall geography and topography of the area relevant to your characters' journey? Are there mountains, lakes, plains, valleys, oceans? What kind of plants exist here? Trees, flowers, vegetables, shrubs, fruits? Are there kingdoms, city states, seaside towns? Do you have nomadic tribes instead of ...

Now that we've covered plot and character building, the next big thing is setting. I love worldbuilding! I've created a story world with seven realms, and over the last nine years, I've figured out what six of the realms are like. (The seventh doesn't matter yet.) It's taken a long time to figure out the world my characters are running around in, so let me give you some tips to make your worldbuilding a bit easier. The first thing to consider is Where does your story take place? Is it based on the real world? If not, how is it different from Earth? Is it like The Princess Diaries where you have a small imaginary kingdom set in otherwise normal Earth? (That's fun to do!) If you're creating a world, I like to start with names. I figure out what each realm is called, then go into where my characters will be located. Small kingdom, large kingdom, city state, wide open plains? The fun thing about fantasy is that you can take inspiration from the real world and ex...

Hey everyone! Yes, this is a second post for today, I know, it's weird. haha But I have some news! Last year, I was asked to make a video series to help people through Nanowrimo. That didn't really end up going anywhere, though I did make the videos. So this year, I'm doing it myself! I'll be posting a new video to YouTube each day of November to help you keep going! I have just posted the intro video, so use the link below to check it out!  I cover some of the things we talk about in this blog, but there is more, so check it out and share it with the writers you know and love. My goal here is to help people with Nano's writing challenge, because I know how difficult it can be, and I like to help. <3

As important as it is for the story to have an arc, it's just as important for the characters. Both the MC and the antagonist (if your antagonist is a person) need some kind of character arc. Character arcs are the progression of your characters from the beginning to the end of the story. How do they change? Does their thinking shift? Do they go after what they want only to realize that changes part way through the book? Character arcs are similar to a normal plot line, but much simpler. There are three parts of a character arc to consider, and a million and five ways to find a character arc that works for your character.  First of all, W]what is your character's Goal? Second, what's the Lie they believe in the beginning? Third, what's the Truth? Broadly speaking, there are three common arcs: positive change, the flat arc, and the negative change arc. We see all of these in media, and there are a lot of examples. The positive change arc shows your character starting off...

I don't like to try and share guidelines with other writers because I feel that's limiting. That being said, knowing what the guidelines look like is a great place to Start. Then you have an idea of what to try to avoid, what to mess with, and how to tweak things to make your story unique. A few things I try to avoid in my stories:  I don't like adding new characters important to something in the story after the midpoint. It's different if you've mentioned them, or had them in the background, but if you suddenly add an antagonist to the last half of the book, it feels thrown together and unplanned.  Plot wise, I avoid putting my personal feelings, thoughts, opinions, and ideal into the story as the author voice. I give aspects to different characters, but my novels aren't about my personal agenda. That being said, I do find certain underlying themes in my stories that match what I care about (mostly that people are worth love, and Are loved).  One of the biggest...

Now, taking what we talked about yesterday with the Three Act structure, feel free to take that structure and mess with it until you get Your story. Breaking the rules is the fun part of writing, and the best part of Nanowrimo. Nothing is in cement, this is all hypothetically in pencil, so things can be rearranged, added, removed or whatever as you see fit. This outline and everything you put in it is flexible. My stories tend to start with the five point structure, and branch off into something that resembles the three acts. It works for me because I have space to figure out what I want to have happen in my story, and I tend to rewrite the overall plot points several times until I'm happy.  Plot twists are fun to add, and challenging your MC to really see what they're made of makes the story interesting. It's always interesting to throw things at your characters to see where they bend or break. Yes, that sounds sadistic, but if you think about it from the reader's POV,...

When it comes to plotting, there are as many ways to plot as there are types of stories. Even just in fiction, there are about a million different story types. But the biggest thing is knowing what you want to write about. Figure out your overall story idea and go from there. If you don't know, that's ok. This is why Nano is great for people who write by the seat of their pants as a way to figure out their story.  That being said, we talked about the five point structure last time, so today I'm gonna explain one of the other classic structures for novels: the Three Acts. The three act structure is essentially the Beginning, Middle, and End, but each section is broken down into what makes them strong and essential to the other parts. (I found a great, simple breakdown here at Novel-Writing-Help.com , which is what I'm referring to in this blog post.)  Put most simply, Act 1 is where the MC decides to act on a goal. Act 2 is the action, and Act 3 is where we see the conse...

Happy Monday, everyone!! So, last week we talked character building, this week is all about plot! I've learned a lot over the last several years about plotting out a story, and I know everyone has a different way that works for them. My process takes several steps.  I learned about one plot structure where you figure out the five main plot points, and that's where I like to start. These plot points typically look like this: 1. Inciting incident, or beginning 2. 1st plot point, something major happens 3. Midpoint reversal, a false defeat or false victory 4. 2nd Plot point, often but not always the big showdown 5. Conclusion, or end of the book There are other ways to plot your book or structure your story, but I like to start here, give myself a framework, and then build out from there. My books are speculative fiction, and tend to be 50-90k by the time I finish a draft, so there's a lot more than five events in the story. For my books as well, I've made it more complica...

Sometimes you're able to figure out your characters before November. Sometimes, you don't. It's totally fine if you don't really know much about your characters besides a few details when you start writing. In fact, sometimes that's the most fun! One of my friends usually creates his characters like this. He starts with a general idea, and then the character reveals themself as he writes. I've done this before as well, and it's honestly really entertaining. In one of my stories, a character I play at renaissance faire (you remember the pirate, Vela?), put herself in my book. Out of nowhere. She apparently decided she Had to be part of the story.  As the story's evolved, she's become integral to certain plot points. (*exasperated author sigh*) Up until this summer, I didn't know Why she was here, or How she knows everything. (She knows pretty much everything about one of my MC's, and seemingly everything that he's been up to, as well as th...

Now that we have the MC and the bad guys, take some time to figure out who else is in your story, if you haven't already. One of my favorite things to do when thinking about new characters is to look at the common tropes in movies, shows, and other books. Then I take those tropes and smash them.  For example, instead of the guy with brute strength and not a lot of brain cells, maybe he's a pro ballet dancer, smart as a whip, and shy. Instead of the damsel in distress, maybe the character is nonbinary, or decides to escape and live in the forest as a hermit oracle, or maybe she's actually manipulating and tricking everyone into thinking she's helpless, only to take over the kingdom. Or maybe the so-called chosen one is not as intelligent and able as everyone expects him to be. The point here is to take what's been overdone, maybe keep an aspect of it, and mess with things, make it yours. Take what appeals to you about a trope, personality type, or character idea, and...

For side characters, or other point-of-view characters in your book, you can ask them the same questions, and figure them out as you go. But, not all stories are about MC's and side characters. Who's the bad guy, villain, or antagonist? Is it a concept, an organization, a person, a monster, or some other kind of threat?  In a lot of my stories, demons are the main bad guys in the story, and I pit my MC's against awful characters who get defeated (hopefully) by the end. Not all novels go this route, so figure out what works for your story. If your antagonist is a person, or humanoid, rather, start asking them the questions from earlier. Also, consider how your villain is a threat to your MC or the side characters. What's the threat that this bad guy presents? How are your characters going to struggle in their fight against the bad guy? It's more fun, as a writer, to make your MC struggle to defeat the Big Bad. It's more relatable for readers if there's a bala...

Now that we've covered some of the basics, let's go a bit closer. Like I said yesterday, I'm going to share my list of the things I ask my characters when I'm creating them. What's your name? How old are you? What's your gender identity? Do you have family? Who are they? Where did you come from? Where are you now? What do you look like? (Hair, eyes, body type, etc) Do you have special abilities? What are they? What are you good at? What are you bad at? What's your biggest strength? What's your biggest weakness? What are you scared of? What's your favorite memory? What's the last nightmare you had? What is your main goal in life? What do you want? Does that change in the story? What's your favorite: Food? Drink? Quality in a person? Color? Person to be around? Environment? (You can go as far or not as you like with this.) I usually start with the biggest things, put in what I know, and add later as I figure things out. If you struggle with giv...

Happy October! Some people use this month to draw something everyday, some enjoy the Halloween excitement, and some (like me) take this month to get ready for Nanowrimo in November. I'm going to share my process for getting a story ready for the insane task of writing the entire thing in a month. When November starts, I'll also be posting daily videos to help and encourage you through the entire month's event. (Super excited for that!) First, this week, we're going to talk about building characters. It's hard to have a story without characters. It's possible, but for a novel especially, you need at least one main character. Maybe you have an idea of who they are, maybe not. I like to start with pen and paper and figure out what I Do know, and start asking myself questions to figure out the rest.  Some of the things you want to know or figure out about your character is what they look like, their gender identity, where they live or where they come from, and what ...

It's October!! Meaning, I have one month to get ready for Nanowrimo! In case you've never heard of it, National Novel Writing Month is a challenge to write a book, 50,000 words in just thirty days. This global challenge takes place every November, and I look forward to it every year. This year, I'm inviting you to join me on this wild ride called writing a book in a month, and I'm going to help you along. I'm currently working on a video series for November itself to guide and encourage you through Nanowrimo. Before that, though, I'm going to use my blog as a platform to help get you ready. I want to share my process for writing, including all the prep work, and share different ways to accomplish Nanowrimo.  All of this is free, in the hopes that it helps someone. I have learned so much in the last ten years about writing, and I want to share that. I love connecting with people, and this just seems a great way to do that! I'll actually be speaking about Nano...