Adventures Up North

NaNoWriMo is, like, three days away. :O Today I will be giving a list of NaNoWriMo terms you ought to know!  This list has is generally organized by most important to least important.  If you've participated in NaNoWriMo before, you're probably already aware of some of these terms.  But hopefully everyone will find something new that they didn't know before! -NaNoWriMo.  Hopefully all the participants know that NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and that it takes place in November.  50,000 is the set word count goal.  Some argue over the pronunciation (some still say NaNo"ree"Mo instead of NaNo"rie"Mo).  This is also often shortened to Nano as well. -Camp NaNoWriMo.  This is a program similar to NaNoWriMo, but instead it takes place in the spring or summer months (the last few years, it's been taking place in both April and July).  It's less strict than normal NaNoWriMo in that participants can choose their own word ...

NaNoWriMo is less than two weeks away.  Cue panicky GIF: So for those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month.  NaNoWriMo takes place in November, in which around half a million people around the world attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November.   To find out more, visit NaNoWriMo's About page. (Someone count how many times I say 'NaNoWriMo' in this post. :P ) Surviving NaNoWriMo is no easy task.  Believe me, I've participated since 2012 (and never been very effective at it either...the best I've ever done was last year with 30,000 words).  In order to stay alive this month, a Survival Kit is necessary.  Naturally, since each writer is different, each writer's kit will be different, too.  But these are that things I need to survive this November: 1.  Computer.  Now, technically speaking, I don't have my own computer, but our family's laptop is barely ever used by anyone else,...

I was REALLY hoping to get tagged in this.  And then Hannah Heath tagged me in it. Go follow her right now.  Stop right there...no, no, I said stop!  Now, go click on the link, I know you can see it, and FOLLOW HER.  You will follow Hannah Heath.  This is a Jedi mind trick. Thank you, Hannah, for tagging me, I very much appreciate it. You're amazing. :)  You can also click here to see Hannah's post for this tag. Alright, let's get down to business.  So as you already know from the title, this is the Six Question Character Challenge.  But you probably don't know anything about my actual novel.  Which isn't good.  So let me introduce you to my story! My novel's working title is The Dragon Stone War .  This is a series title, actually, since I'm planning to make this story into a series.  So far, I've only been working on the first book and a bit on the second.  Anyway, the REAL title of my first book (the working t...

First, a huge thanks to my friend Rachel for guest blogging for me last week!   She’ll probably be back in a few months, after I give my other friends a chance to guest blog for me first. :) One map is more helpful than an entire travel guide.   Maps visually reveal the location of important countries, cities, and landmarks, and even more important, where all those places are in relation to each other.   All that can be shown on one screen or sheet of paper.   That kind of information is invaluable. So obviously, then, you need a map for your novel! I have gone through several drafts of maps for my novel’s world (I drew my first map for the book I’m currently editing when I was thirteen), but the basic directional locations stayed the same.   Now, I’m completely satisfied with my novel’s map, and hopefully some of the tools and techniques I used can help you in some way. In my opinion, every novel needs a map, at least a reference map for yo...

As an author, I feed off inspiration.  And one of my favorite ways to get inspired is to just sit back, plug in my headphones, and be transported to another world with the power of soundtracks.  Here are ten of my favorite scores that will both delight and inspire the listener: 10: Titanic (1997) Just because you haven't seen a film doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy its soundtrack.  In fact, you may end up enjoying the soundtrack even more.  The famous 90s film Titanic is no exception for me.  This glorious score is glazed with nautical themes, sounding authentic and original.  A fascinating listen. 9: Avatar (2009) Not to be confused with the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series (which also has a great score), Avatar  displays sounds completely unique in a new approach to soundtracks.  The film is based on the supernatural, so why wouldn't the soundtrack host some of the supernatural as well? 8: The Hunger Games (2012-2015) Fou...