Everly Lockhart

  In all my life, I've never created a fully functioning world. There never was a reason to, and it always came across as daunting and intimidating. But now as I embark on my NaNoWriMo journey, I'm faced with my greatest enemy: world-building.  A book I started reading is Creating Places (The Art of World Building) by Randy Ellefson. He brought to my attention to the nuances in a world that I never thought about, like equator location, the moon and high tide, or ocean currents. The process I came up with got broken down into four categories: Genre, world, land, people. Genre : High fantasy since the story takes place on another planet. The genre of a story is importnt as it tells you how much world should be built. For example, The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy. It takes place in a different world with its own history. The rules of that world a very different from our own. While The Princess Bride, it may take take place in a made up kingdom, the rules of the world mi...

Hello Authors, Do you prefer to grab a random pair of pants from you closet without making sure they match your top? Or do you prefer to plan exactly what you'll wear months in advance? I'm a plotter and I am proud! For years I was a pantser and for years I never wrote a completed story. My brain apparently is desperate for structure. But good for you if you can whip up a comprehensive story from the depths of your brain.  Normally I don't care what type of person you are, mismatched outfit and all, but for NaNoWriMo, YOU SHOULD WRITE A DETAILED OUTLINE. It will save you so much time if you have a road map for your trip to 50,000 words, and time during this month is a valuable commodity. Do not waste it deciding if your main character will or won't fall for the villain. Decide now that they will lure them into a false sense of security and then defeat them.  My NaNo: Outlining I've tried several software programs to help with outlining. Milinote, campfire, world anv...

 Ahh characters. One of the many reasons I read is to watch characters be broken down and shattered, only for them to miraculously piece themselves back together again. How is this done? Simple. Make them three dimensional. Your characters should feel as real as an actual person. They need conflicting desires, hopes, and dreams. They need to be dissatisfied when they get what they're after; they need to be flawed.  My NaNo Project: Main character: Pandora  Age: 20 Want: Travel the realms without anyone telling her what to do, where to go, or who to worship. Need: Her family needs her to provide food and money for them. Misbelief:  She is the only one who can keep her family safe. One day, she will be free from everything, but until then, she must stay in survival mode, enjoying nothing. Until she has everything exactly how she wants it, she can't be happy. What people expect out of her: Her father expects her to stay around the house cleaning, gardening, and hunt...

Hello authors,  Welcome to week 1 of NaNoWriMo prep! This week is all about developing a story that you're excited and passionate about.  This is the time to think hard about your favorite books and movies. What stands out to you? What makes them your favorite? What about the character or setting? If you need a more detailed guide to developing a story, NaNoWriMo has an in-depth guide that you can download here .   My NaNo Story Idea: A woman enters a magical competition where she must fight to survive.  I find it helps to starts a story idea as a single sentence. For me it's much easier to build off of this way.  I've picked out my genre, dark fantasy romance, so I already know there's going to be a love interest involved as well as some darker elements. 

  Hello authors,  Are you stuck on a WIP like I've been for several years? Are you lacking all motivation to write because of your current WIP? Do you want to desperately finish your WIP? Me too! Good news, National Novel Writing Month, AKA NaNoWriMo, is just around the corner. For those of you who are new, during the month of November, writers from all over the globe are joined together with the same goal in mind. Write 50,000 words in 30 days.  The best part is anyone can join. It doesn't matter if you're writing fantasy or an autobiography.  The official NaNoWriMo website offers a six week prep course that begins on September 19th and ends on October 30th. It takes you through all the steps needed to plot out your story and characters. I highly encourage this step as having a road map makes it much easier to write consistently.   To get started: Visit the official website here and sign up for free. This way you can keep track of your writing progress and find...