Pub(lishing) Crawl
PubCrawl Podcast
7. NaNoWriMo 2015: Ideas
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7. NaNoWriMo 2015: Ideas

Kelly and JJ kick off NaNoWriMo month! This week they talk about how to find an idea to write into a novel, and some tips about how to START writing.

Show Notes

It's all JJ, all the time this week!

Some Tips and Tricks

  1. Keep a journal to write down scraps of ideas, or Story Seeds

    • Character

    • Premise

    • Plot

    • Match any of the Story Seeds together for a novel--need at least 2 to start writing

  2. If Story Seeds aren’t coming:

    • Write a list of your favourite books

    • Identify which tropes are contained within them (visit TV Tropes as needed)

    • Divide the tropes into Character, Premise, and Plot

    • Pick 2, see if it sparks anything and start writing

  3. Start telling yourself the story—DON’T START WRITING YET—write a “long, shitty synopsis”

  4. Figure out the inflection/turning points of the first act

    • Inciting Incident: the thing that changes the status quo

    • The Point of No Return: the moment the protagonist takes action and becomes personally involved

  5. START WRITING

Troubleshooting

  • Describe your character using three adjectives, without describing their sex/gender, ethnicity, looks, or profession/occupation.

  • Specificity helps. BE SPECIFIC.

Books Discussed

Apologies for some audio issues at the end of the episode.

Off-Menu Recommendations

That's all for this week! Next week we'll have another pep talk for you, plus answering your questions! Comment with any questions you have for us about writing, drafting, motivation, etc. or send us as ask through Tumblr.

Discussion about this podcast

Pub(lishing) Crawl
PubCrawl Podcast
A publishing podcast about reading, writings, books, and occasionally booze.