Villains Need Happiness, Too!

                                                      

It's March 20th! The First Day of Spring! The International Day of HAPPINESS! You can't ask for a much better day to choose positivity and joy. How are you making yourself happy today?

How about some writing?

NaNoWriMo: Don't Stop!

If any of you are doing NaNoWriMo, you might be able to relate a certain struggle of mine. I'm not as far along as I'd like to be. I know, I know, I'm probably the ONLY writer on the planet who has EVER gotten behind on her word count.

The thing is, this beast called NaNoWriMo? This monster of a project?

IT'S REALLY HARD.

Surprise, surprise.

If you're one of those types who's all, "yeah-I'm-already-at-60k," I'm going to make a positive life choice and say GOOD JOB. You rock.  Now go away. (Kidding...)

For those of us who aren't quite at that level of word-production, it can get rather...discouraging.

NaNoWriMo Inspiration!

NaNoWriMo is upon us! Confession: this is my first time. Every year it has come and gone while I was distracted by other projects. But not anymore! I'm making it happen! And so, in lieu of a wordy blog post, I offer up a collection of inspirational 'get started' snippets that will hopefully help fuel all my other Wrimos out in the trenches with me. Click each photo for the original link. If you really want to, you can feel free to check out my writing Pinterest board for more. Now get writing!

Stay Calm and Stop Comparing

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re either related to me (hi, mom!) or you’re a writer. Or maybe you just really want to be a writer. If you’re the latter, first read this. Now, if that sounds good, I’ve got a warning for you: Writing can be stressful. So can ANY creative career, or even hobby. Us weirdo artistic types (aka “all humans”) have a tendency to form some toxic habits when we’re growing in our art. Habits that will only bring us down in the long run, my friend. I’m here today to rant--er, talk with you about one particularly cantankerous habit: The Comparison.

Let me open with a simple suggestion: 

The Dreaded Opening Scene: How to Make it Awesome In One Simple Step

We’ve all done it. You know you have. Trying to figure out if you’ll buy a book, you open it and glance at the opening paragraph. For me, I try and give it at least a page. Some people only give it a sentence.

And then you decide:

Yes, I love it, I’m gonna read (re: buy) this.

Nah, lame, moving on.

Writers are readers, too, so we’re hyper-aware of this when we’re writing the opening scenes of our stories. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a book, a film, a play, or a blog post, the same laws apply, and the same desperation can sneak through. We need an opening that will entice a reader to continue, after all, and that decision is often flippant, emotional, ephemeral, and impossible to perfectly predict. We therefore end up all the more eager--grab that reader by the earlobes and don’t you dare let go! Otherwise you’ll fail! And all your work will be for nothing! And they’ll take away your writer’s club card!

Well, no, definitely not that last part. And not really the other parts either. But opening scenes are, unfortunately, often paramount to the success of your story.