My Title: AUTHOR!

As I go into NaNoWrimo on Thursday, there is a lot I have been thinking about.

How many of the participants are traditional writers and how many are self published writers? But when you break it all down....does it matter?

That is what is so great about NaNoWrimo! It brings the writing community together for ONE COMMON GOAL!

Goal: SIT BUTT IN CHAIR, HANDS ON KEYBOARD, AND WRITE!

But (yes, you know I always have a but), it goes deeper than that for me.

There is a forum in the NaNoWrimo for Indie Authors. BUT why?

Is that divide still there? Has my head still stuck under the cover and not paying attention to the world of authors?

Good for me! My head is stuck in the interaction with my readers and that is where it should be. My readers don't care if I'm self published or traditionally published, they only care that they can get their hands on one of my books.

As I wake up in the morning, NOVEMBER 1st, and sit down at my computer, I will not have the thought of "I'm an indie author or self published author." I will have the thought of my readers in my mind, creating words that will flow through my fingertips, and spill out over the white screen of my computer.

And on DECEMBER 1st, I will wake up with a smile on my face, ready to face the first round of layering and revisions of the 50k words that I just wrote WITH MY READERS IN MIND.

CHEERS!~to a great writing month!

To check out my tips on making it through NaNoWrimo, check out my blog post from Monday!

Tips To Help Get You Through NaNoWriMo

This is the BIG week, and I don't mean Halloween! But that is a GREAT reason to celebrate!!

I'm talking about the 1st of November. Do you know what that means to THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND of authors?

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH

NaNoWriMo....

Every year, thousands of writers make a commit to get at least 50k words completed on their manuscript. That comes out to be a little under 1700 words a day.

1700 words? Easy!

Not so much! It's actually harder than you think. But I have some tips that might help get you through. After all, I'm a three time winner, full time mom of three-teenage boys, wife, full time day job, mom to three four-legged creatures, and friend to many, so I might know a few tips to help you out.

1) Tell everyone you interact with that you are participating!

I mean EVERYONE! This way they know that you are so busy with your free time that you don't have time to go to Macy's for that after Thanksgiving day sale. You have to treat this like it's a work project.

Head on over to the NaNoWriMo website and sign up! This is a peer pressure month for writers who are participating and having peers that you can rely on is a great way to make it through!

I have a few local writer friends who do participate and we have a meet at 9 pm meeting at an all night dinner where we hang out and write, write, write. It's great to have the support.

On the home front I have all planned meals. It doesn't take me long to write 1700 words, so I do have some free time, but it sure makes it easier to have the meals planned ahead. If you have a family and obligations like I do, make sure you have a supportive significant other that will run the kids here and there when need be.

2) Manuscript!

This is why you are here! Now....we only have a few days, so you should know your story/plot.  This is really a pansting activity for me, which means that I have a general story line, and characters, but I have no idea where they are going to take me. So I'm not so strict on an outline, but it's great to have an idea of the beginning, middle, and end.

3) Goals!

If you are like me and have other commitments, you have to manage your time! That is the biggest hurdle I have to overcome. I do this by making a daily realistic goal and this includes the weekends. I might make my daily goal 1500 words, but weekends I might do 2k a day. This is an example so I'm not even sure if the math adds up to 50k, but you get the picture.

4) Write, write, write!

You have to be flexible with your attitude. You might be one of those writers who have to edit as you go....DO NOT DO THIS WITH NANOWRIMO!

Write! Get the story on the page. If you have gotten to the end of your story, go back and add a twist. Don't worry if it doesn't flow because you are going to go back and edit anyways. This is the time to just write what your heart desires. You have to freedom! Isn't it great and doesn't it feel good to have that freedom???

5) Use the NaNoWriMo Website!

Go into the forums. Give support to others that are struggling! Take advantage of adding the words you have completed to your word count ticker!

There is nothing more motivating to getting to your goal then seeing that ticker closer and  closer to 50k! It really sings to my muse!

So what do you say? LET'S DO THIS!! Together!! Come on over to NaNoWriMo and friend me! I will support you!!

Find me on Facebook too! I'm going to be posting inspirational photos daily to help get us through it!!