elonanwrites

[elonanwrites]

NaNoWriMo Prep: How to Write 2000 Words a Day

Two thousand is a big number. Sitting down to write 2000 words can be extremely intimidating, so the first thing you should do is make that number friendlier.

Write 500 words in 4 writing sessions.  

Chop up that big, intimidating number. Start with a goal of 500 words. In one session, with no breaks, write them all. Take a break, then write the next 500. Repeat until you reach at least 2000. 

If you write 650 words in one session, don’t aim for 350 in the next. Let those extra words add up. A few hundred extra words each day will get you to 50k quicker than you could imagine.

I recommend timing your sessions, aiming for 20 minutes each time. The deadline will help you get the words out, With 10 minute breaks between each session, you can reach your 2000 word goal in two hours. Which brings me to the next point: 

Write fast. 

Don’t stop and think about your words. Don’t go back and improve a previous sentence. Save all of your edits for later. Focus on writing as quickly as possible, throwing everything you have at that blank page. This will actually help boost your creativity. Make your brain work so fast, be so focused, that it doesn’t have any space to doubt itself and you’ll be amazed at what you can come up with. 

But don’t worry if you can’t write 500 words in 20 minutes on day one. Writing quickly is a skill and it will take a few days of training. 

Let the words suck.

This is absolutely key if you want a high word count. When you’re writing an entire chapter in a day, you shouldn’t expect the words to be beautiful. You’re not aiming at lyrical prose. You’re mining raw material that you can work into art later.

Letting the words suck can include:

Writing [something happens here] in place of a scene.

Letting yourself use cliches as shorthand.

Dialog that is really exposition.

Long descriptions of things that don’t matter.

Letting your characters ramble until you discover what it is they actually need to say.

As long as there are 2000 words and they relate to your story, they’re exactly what you need. And if you hate having bad words on a page, once you have your 2000 for a day, you can go back and fix all of it. Take all the time you need. Just reach that word count first. 

Tip: if you do edit at the end of each day, make that a separate document from your official NaNo doc. This way, you can trim scenes, descriptions, and dialog without worrying about its effect on your word count. (If you make a scene/description/sentence longer, feel free to include that in your NaNo doc.) 

Don’t know what to write next?

So you’ve written 1200 words, completed a scene, and you have no idea where the story is going next. Here are some things you can do to get those 800 words in anyway:

Go to writeordie.com and FORCE the words out.

If that doesn’t work, reread the scene you’ve just written and see if you’re missing some obvious foreshadowing, some clue as to where the story’s headed. (You can also add a few lines to bulk up your wc.)

If that fails, take a walk and let the fresh air usher a solution to you.

If that fails, skip the next section. Write another scene. Go where the story is waiting for you. Come back to the other scene at a later time.

Helpful tip:

Instead of breaking your writing session into four parts, break it into five. Use your first writing session to sketch out an entire chapter, like an outline, but with bits and pieces of dialog and description. Figure out where you’re headed and a couple of key stops along the way. Knowing what you’re writing towards will make doing the actual, fleshed-out writing much easier and quicker.

You can also do an outline for the next day’s writing after you’ve gotten your 2000 words for the day in. Future you will be extremely pleased.

[elonanwrites]

CALLISTO RAURES + HE/HIM, TWENTY YEARS OLD

template and psd by @inspurations

[elonanwrites]

[SANCTA-SILJE ON REDBUBBLE]

hi, friends! i spent some time this morning making my illustrations available on [redbubble]! 

it’s been requested multiple times to have [the map of hell] available as a poster, which i am happy to now give to you! i’ve also added some favorite angels from holiest and favorite miscellaneous illustrations such as puppy cerberus, what pray tell the fuck, and the revelation lamb.

i still have more to add, and need to edit/format some illustrations to make them available on other products (i have plans for specific shirts, notebooks & stickers). but i have to say i am rather excited that i can now buy a blanket or tapestry with beelzebub or michael on it.

also i’m planning to have multiple illustrations available only through my own soon-to-launch webstore. these illustrations are some of the smaller, less complete ones, and i think they are a bit more fun since i get to be the one printing, color correcting, packaging/matting, and also scribbling my love for you all over the back & on fun cards before sending them on their way.

and as always, if you are interested in supporting any of my projects, and perhaps in getting free prints or drawing requests in exchange for your support, you are more than welcome to join me on patreon!

[patreon] [instagram] [wattpad] [redbubble]

[elonanwrites]

nanowrimo is about having FUN and being an ENTHUSIASTIC DUMBASS and getting SEXY and UNHINGED and doing sick kickflips with WORDS at MAXIMUM VELOCITY WHILST SCREAMING

[elonanwrites]

NANO WIP INTRO | THE GOLDEN ROSE

ONE REBELLION, ONE CHANCE TO CHANGE EVERYTHING.

Overnight Larisa’s life changed forever, and nothing will ever be the same. Newly crowned queen, she has no time to grieve. The kingdom is falling apart and she constantly has a target on her head. And when a new guard arrives- one she can’t help but be drawn to- she’s even closer to losing her head. Every choice matters now and she can’t afford to think with her heart. Will she be be able to save her crown? Or will it be the reason for her demise?

[elonanwrites]

imo the best way to interpret those “real people don’t do x” writing advice posts is “most people don’t do x, so if a character does x, it should be a distinguishing trait.” human behavior is infinitely varied; for any x, there are real people who do x. we can’t make absolute statements. we can, however, make probabilistic ones.

for example, most people don’t address each other by name in the middle of a casual conversation. if all your characters do that, your dialogue will sound stilted and unnatural. but if just one character does that, then it tells us something about that character.

[elonanwrites]

Chelsea Wolfe, from Pain Is Beauty; “House Of Metal,” c. September 2013

[elonanwrites]

THE MONSTERS OF PARADISE; character moodboards — katherine gray ( vampire )

ah, here is katherine gray. have you killed any more kings this morning? not yet.

TAGLIST; @nepeinthe | @qelizhus

[elonanwrites]

Gucci FW 02

[elonanwrites]

NANOWRIMO ‘19 / PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT

‟ High-rise buildings stand tall against the horizon, stapling soil and sky together in silent defiance.  Long gone are the gods from the future. Long haunted are the heroes from the past. All that is left to the world is dust and death. Hollowed out cities filled with faces gone gaunt, bodies gone hungry, children gone under, six feet below rubble and tears.

tag ∣ playlists ∣ pinterest ∣ page ∣ nanowrimo

[elonanwrites]

When your favorite character dies but the writing of it is excellent

[elonanwrites]

Why isnt there a clothing brand that caters towards my need to dress like a fantasy novel wanderer. Give me scuffed leather boots and a knapsack and tatty overcoat with mice in the oversized pockets and billowy shirt with poofy sleeves and trailing laces

[elonanwrites]

all sparring scenes are inherently homoerotic but some are more homoerotic than others

[elonanwrites]

TEMPLATE 003: AFTERHOURS ( a free resource! )

╰     hello, users! “afterhours / bite psd” is a poc friendly and vibrant psd template duo. font can be kept minimal for a clean look. can be used as a writeblr wip slide OR a character graphic. credit is always appreciated. please do not steal or redistribute.

contains: one psd, two templates.

fonts used: karla, alvaro. 

image credit: unsplash.

download your template here. 

Keep reading

[elonanwrites]

[elonanwrites]

Story Aesthetics: ‘Holiest’ - The Leaders of the Heavenly Host

Uriel must be lying, Lucifer thought. They all had their roles: Gabriel to herald the end of times, Uriel to preside over Hell, Raphael to heal, and Michael to defeat Lucifer’s army and judge souls. Michael, to cast them all into the lake of fire.

Michael, to kill him.

That was the way it was written. Not what Uriel was saying.

[elonanwrites]

an [excerpt] from [the infernal apocrypha: wormwood’s fall] is now available to all $1.00+ patrons! and it’s full of delightful worldbuilding snippets! here is part of my commentary:

this scene, which actually comes before last month’s excerpt, is the beginning of the explanation of how each of the fallen angels has their own specific damnation, based on their most severe sins. this specific damnation binds them to its corresponding circle, but unlike humans, who are the ones suffering in those circles, the fallen angels (and also any demons who get bound and damned, such as asmodeus) are the ones inflicting the suffering. which could also be classified as a type of suffering, as most of them do not want to be doing this, and it has a detrimental psychological impact on them.

and, not yet covered in what is published of [holiest], we also get to meet the angel of the abyss, or rather, the angel who presides over the abyss. this is uriel, as often stated in lore. as reference, uriel is prince of the [hashmallim] in this universe, and the hashmallim (also known as the angels of the hours here), sing into creation everything for their specific hour of the day before it is wiped from their memory and they must go learn the next song for their next hour. and if you couldn’t guess, the actions in hell are also a type of creation, and the lucky dove who gets to sing that into creation is uriel. he is also the one who gets to deliver to the fallen angels orders for what must be done, and determines where they work. or, he’s the vehicle that provides those things anyway.

[click here to join me on patreon & read the scene!] [click here to find holiest on wattpad]

discover more on tumblr: [official blog] [preview of last month’s excerpt] [wormwood’s fall story tag]