National Novel Writing Month

This website offers an interesting challenge: write 50,000 words in 30 days...
They value quantity not quality. Which some may say will eventually help with the quality and ease of your work.
Note to self: Remember to do this next year.

Being thankful

I am thankful for the following:
1. Having a wonderful, supportive, loving family.
2. Meeting a group of friends that truly understand the things I say.
3. For Scooter, who says goodbye to me in the morning and greets me when I get home.
4. Being able to go to school.

During these times, I think of where I've been and what I have been able to be a part of to become the person I am.

I would like to write stories that embody the everyday struggles people share in common. Because no matter who you are or where you come from, you have had to struggle with something. The hard part is to be right in the middle of it and not be able to see how it will all pan out.

Suggestions for productive reading

Tips from several different writer's magazines about reading your work or the work of others:
1-Observe scenes
2-Study dialogue
3-Locate passages that establish the setting
4-Note the conflict
5-Chart the novel's resolution.

Some of this is self-explanitory but, it is good to see it written down. If you haven't already noticed, I like lists.

Find the right publisher

Guide to finding the perfect publisher for your manuscript. (information gathered from a link from SCBWI website)

1. Determine the audience's age

2. Select the topic or genre of the book

3. Jot down names of all the categories your manuscript will fit into

4. Write a descriptive statement for your book (mention the genre & 2 adjectives that capture the personality of the book

5. Write the cover letter

6. Hunt for publishers that want your book

7. Mark the SCBWI publishers that answer yes to the following questions:

-Do they accept submissions or queries from writers like me?

-Do they accept submissions for the age range my manuscript targets?

-Do they accept submissions of this type?

8.Make a list of these publishers

9. Go to their websites to see what they are currently publishing.

10. Do those books look like yours?

11. If they aren't similiar, cross them off your list

12. Go to the library and check out the titles you listed and READ them

13. Everytime you read a book, write the publisher down and add the title with the adjectives to your list

14. Highlight the publishers with the same adjectives as yours

15. Locate submission policies for each publisher.

16. Follow the guidelines

17. Submit and wait.

Storyboards

"Storyboards are one of several tools recommended when working with students for whom the visual and the concrete are helpful elements in absorbing abstract ideas. Our authors have found that this technique is especially helpful in reading and writing instruction."-Scholastic.com

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3750806

Storyboards can be useful for authors of stories as well. It allows the writer to visually follow the outline of their story.