To prepare for NaNoWriMo I've been reading Writing The Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. I read the last chapter this morning and already started reading his Writing The Breakout Novel Workbook, which I'm applying to a middle grade novel I'm in the middle of revising: River Girl, a historical novel set in Happy Camp around 1920.
I've been working on an outline for my NaNoWriMo novel. I used a spreadsheet to plan it. This is new for me but I'm finding the spreadsheet method to be flexible and handy. I love knowing where my novel is going. There's 51 scenes so far, and 10 characters.
The main character is Alyson Roth. At the start of the novel she's 28 and recovering from a bad marriage. She recently returned to a tiny mountain town from a large city. Alyson is an artist who enjoys isolating herself in the wilderness.
As I plan the book I'm finding new, more exciting aspects to the story. Because of this I'm abandoning the former title (Happy Camp Nature Lover's Association) and looking for a new one.
I've been working on an outline for my NaNoWriMo novel. I used a spreadsheet to plan it. This is new for me but I'm finding the spreadsheet method to be flexible and handy. I love knowing where my novel is going. There's 51 scenes so far, and 10 characters.
The main character is Alyson Roth. At the start of the novel she's 28 and recovering from a bad marriage. She recently returned to a tiny mountain town from a large city. Alyson is an artist who enjoys isolating herself in the wilderness. The book will be about relationships, organizations, and a woman's journey of self-discovery.
I had to have something else to edit now that Ciara and the Faeries is done - and so I picked out River Girl because it is slightly longer but not terribly long. I want to get it all edited before NaNoWriMo begins.
Today I edited chapter one in River Girl. I wish I had a different name for this novel. Something slightly more clever... but it hasn't come to me. If need be I'll send it to a publisher with this name but it isn't what I really want. Maybe as I'm revising something will come forth and demand to be the title.
The first chapter needed a better beginning so the first few paragraphs are entirely new. I like the feeling of the chapter much better now and hope I can maintain it through the rest of the novel. The chapter ended on a heart-rending, emotional note. It worked for me.
I finished editing Ciara and the Faeries today - for the second time. I wrote this small children's novel a few years back - it's only about 10,000 words. It is a small manuscript, for small children.
Seventeen short chapters.
Now I'm getting critiques - looking for opinions from several sources. This should be fun. I may do one more edit after this.
The next step is to find markets to send it to and then let it go.
by Donald Maass. I read the last chapter this morning and already started reading his Writing The Breakout Novel Workbook
