I'm a 2010 NaNoWriMo "winner" in more ways than one. Yes, I'm a winner because I wrote at least 50,000 words in the month of November, but also because the novel just sold to Ellora's Cave! So NaNoWriMo definitely has its uses. However, NaNo (as it's commonly shortened) isn't for everyone. There are several things you have to do and be to "win" NaNo.

First, you must have the time to devote to NaNo. In order to make 50k words in 30 days, you have to write 1,666 words a day. If you can't do that every day or more than that some days, NaNo might not be the best writing exercise for you. Obviously you can do NaNoWriMo knowing you won't "win", but instead using it as a way to spur yourself into writing more or writing consistently, but if you want to stay in the true spirit of NaNo, you'll try to write at least 50k words.

Using video on your blog can instantly help you build trust, credibility and expert standing in your community. Video can also give your current and potential readers a keen sense of what you write and how you do it. For instance, if you’re blogging about “How I Write,” wouldn’t your message be more powerful if you could add video to that post along with your image, voice and passion?

These days it’s even easier, less expensive and very handy to take video with your smartphones and digital cameras. And once you’ve created your video it’s a snap to upload it to Facebook, YouTube or Vimeo–once your video is shared, your video may even go viral if your friends share its compelling content. I also found a new site called Animoto which allows you to create a video/slideshow post accompanied by music using your photos. Now that’s easy!

Assumptions:

You read widely and deeply.
You understand the elements of storytelling.
You write commercial fiction.
You recognize hundreds of tips exist to raise stories to the level of well-crafted.
You accept that new brain surgeons don’t operate on the President of the U.S. and new novelists don’t get first drafts published by a top-raked publisher.

When you write your characters’ gut reactions, your readers will feel it in their guts, too.

When your readers deeply share your characters’ feelings, they are no longer like spectators watching a circus—those visceral emotional reactions transport the reader right into the ring, into the bodies of the clowns and acrobats and bareback riding girls.


If you add visceral emotion—gut feelings—to your scenes, your readers will keep reading late into the night.

I have an unholy fascination with looking inside people’s homes. I meet someone, and I’m itching to check out their kitchen or walk through their bedroom. I picture their wall art and couch cushions. I wonder what kind of tschotskes line their mantle. I do this, because I believe the home is a showcase of our soul.

Think about it – where else do you display intimate details of your deepest emotions? I see a window into your heart from the pictures you hang on your wall, the children’s art and travel mementos you display. I get a look at your personality from the furniture you select (the big squishy couch, or the austere modern one?) the colors on your walls (a dark red dining room? really?) and the capacity of your junk drawer (ooh, you’ve got two. I like that in a person!).

I admit it. I’m a writing dinosaur. No, it’s true. At my first job at a daily newspaper they were still using slugs and hot type. Not sure what those are? Not to worry. Like Tara, they’re gone with the wind. The paper quickly switched to a computerized version -- read here a computer the size of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey swallowing up the entire production room -- and eventually to a half-breed version, a neat little machine that replaced our IBM Selectrics.

My point in sharing all this is the exponential speed in which publishing has evolved. In fact, it was fodder for discussion at the recent Killer Nashville writing conference I attended. To wit, back-and-forth discussion concerning Kindles, Nooks, et al, replacing the traditional book. Consensus? Content will always remain the same but the delivery system will continue to change. I mean who would want to curl up with a clay tablet or scroll today? Really.

Where is the current technology going to lead us in the future? Better yet, what does the future hold for writers? Many people tend to have the opinion that e-books will replace print books while others believe the popularity of e-books is short-lived. As a writer as well as a reader I tend to believe they will eventually be able to exist side by side. The format is fairly new when you consider the age of print books which were preceded by stone writings and scrolls. Books first entered the industrial market in the 13^th century and have evolved from that point into modern technology up to and including POD (Publish on Demand) and e-Books.

What do Dante's Inferno, Homer's Odysseus, and Jim Butcher's Dresden series have in common? Each is based on a consistent and vividly imagined mythology that connects compellingly to the real world.

Consistent and compelling sounds great, but how do you start building a world? The obvious connection between mythology and the real world are the archetypes, legends, or myths we draw from. Vampires and werewolves, gods and demons--those are strong and well-known archetypes. But the point of connection . . . ah, that's easy, too. That’s your protagonist. She is where readers connect to your story. She's also where magic connects with mundane. So--as with everything else about story--when we talk about world-building, we're also talking about characters.