Getting ready for NaNoWriMo 2010!
I'm slowly working my way through my huge October to-do list, so I'll be ready to attack my new novel on November 1st. I can't wait! The idea hit one night while I was out having dinner with my girls. I jotted down lots of ideas and can't wait to dig into some plotting and characterization exercises. I don't even know what the main character's name is yet! I'll visit the Social Security site soon to snoop around for names that will work well for my novel. If you still need some names for your manuscript, check out this awesome site!
Agent Jill Corcoran posted something on Facebook that really stuck with me. Here's what she said:
I keep reading queries with beautiful writing but NO STORY HOOK. Create your hook BEFORE you write the book. Then write your hooky book beautifully.
We have half a month to get those hooks ready! I know how important they are, especially in this market. It definitely makes sense to make sure the hook is as strong as possible before plunging into a new novel. That was an issue I had with my MG, Ruby Bella Brown, Super Average Girl. It needed something stronger to hook the reader and move the action forward from chapter to chapter. I'm amazed at how much adding a hook or two can strengthen a novel...and it upped my word count from 30,000 to over 44,000 words.
If you're stuck on a title, Jill Corcoran gave some tips on her blog. The cover info is wonderful too, but if you just want the title tips, scroll down a bit.
My Mom Wars revision is coming along great. Yay! That's the one I wrote for NaNo 09. I have about 65 pages that I think are in fantastic shape and over 100 pages in various stages of revision. I'm hoping to finish doing at least one round of revisions on the entire novel before November 1st, but I had a slow revision week because I was stuck on a bee sting scene. I kept checking details (it wasn't easy to find experts, but luckily a few writing buddies helped me with that). But then I got bogged down in too many details and it really slowed the pace. I'm slashing away now, and think it's coming out well. I can't wait to hear what my crit buddies think of it!
The bee sting scene was inspired by last year's October attack. We had Lolly for less than a month when I saw her freaking out in the backyard, surrounded by bees. I'm so grateful my girls weren't home. I only got stung once while trying to rescue my pup. We're lucky she wasn't allergic--she had so many stings we couldn't count them all! Poor pup! Lolly didn't even learn a lesson from this--she still tries to eat every bug she sees.
2010 seems to be the year of the wasps. My girls wouldn't come in the garage because they saw one wasp, and I called in my pest control company again when I realized that it was way more than one wasp. I don't even want to think about what would've happened with all these wasp babies flying around my house! Luckily, none of us were stung this time.
Agent Jill Corcoran posted something on Facebook that really stuck with me. Here's what she said:
I keep reading queries with beautiful writing but NO STORY HOOK. Create your hook BEFORE you write the book. Then write your hooky book beautifully.
We have half a month to get those hooks ready! I know how important they are, especially in this market. It definitely makes sense to make sure the hook is as strong as possible before plunging into a new novel. That was an issue I had with my MG, Ruby Bella Brown, Super Average Girl. It needed something stronger to hook the reader and move the action forward from chapter to chapter. I'm amazed at how much adding a hook or two can strengthen a novel...and it upped my word count from 30,000 to over 44,000 words.
If you're stuck on a title, Jill Corcoran gave some tips on her blog. The cover info is wonderful too, but if you just want the title tips, scroll down a bit.
My Mom Wars revision is coming along great. Yay! That's the one I wrote for NaNo 09. I have about 65 pages that I think are in fantastic shape and over 100 pages in various stages of revision. I'm hoping to finish doing at least one round of revisions on the entire novel before November 1st, but I had a slow revision week because I was stuck on a bee sting scene. I kept checking details (it wasn't easy to find experts, but luckily a few writing buddies helped me with that). But then I got bogged down in too many details and it really slowed the pace. I'm slashing away now, and think it's coming out well. I can't wait to hear what my crit buddies think of it!
The bee sting scene was inspired by last year's October attack. We had Lolly for less than a month when I saw her freaking out in the backyard, surrounded by bees. I'm so grateful my girls weren't home. I only got stung once while trying to rescue my pup. We're lucky she wasn't allergic--she had so many stings we couldn't count them all! Poor pup! Lolly didn't even learn a lesson from this--she still tries to eat every bug she sees.
2010 seems to be the year of the wasps. My girls wouldn't come in the garage because they saw one wasp, and I called in my pest control company again when I realized that it was way more than one wasp. I don't even want to think about what would've happened with all these wasp babies flying around my house! Luckily, none of us were stung this time.