Monday, October 23, 2006

My Characters

One of the first things I did in my preplanning for NaNo was create the hero and the heroine.

The instructor of the writing course I'm currently participating in taught us to create a character outline. Not just form a bio but also include the character traits. I want to know who the character is now, how they will act and what motivates them. This will give my characters more dimension.

One valuable tool I used was the book "45 Master Characters" by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. I started with my heroine and from this book chose an archetype for her. Then I chose her personality type. May sound like a lot of work but it really was fun. I went through the same process for my hero.

I love to read a book where the characters come alive in my mind. And I want my novel to be that way, too!

Saturday, October 21, 2006

National Novel Writing Month

I plan to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. Ever heard of it? Go here for more information. http://www.nanowrimo.org/ The writing challenge starts November 1st so start planning now! You must write a minimum of 50,000 words by November 30th to be a winner.

Last year was my first attempt at NaNo. And was it an adventure! With lots of determination and hard work I had written 50,124 words by November 26th! Participating helped build the confidence I needed as an aspiring inspiredauthor writer.

This year I've done more pre-planning before NaNo starts. I'll share more about that next time.