All Write Already: Year Of Your Book

by Gena Showalter

  Don’t forget to save inspiring photos for future reference or, if applicable, promo shareables!

  Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.

  Bonus assignment: Take a couple of minutes to look up places that your character might visit. Will they inhabit a gothic castle? Work in a sterile high-rise in the middle of the city? Look for photos that inspire you, or fill in any of the missing details for yourself. Now, write it out! Take at least 250 extra words to set a scene, and be sure to sprinkle in the five senses.

  Day 66

  Checking In!

  How’s it going?

  If you’re following the schedule, you’ve been writing for more than six weeks now.

  Do you have an idea for today’s scene?

  How are you progressing on SEARCH?

  How are your characters showing off their RANGE?

  Do any of your scenes need fleshing out?

  Consider keeping a checklist with everything you hope to accomplish in each individual chapter.

  Focus. Magnify. Accomplish. Triumph!

  Your assignment: Double your word count today! Write roughly 500 words for your novel.

  Day 67

  The Business of Formatting

  Will you be typing or writing longhand today? If you choose to type, you’re probably wondering about spacing and fonts. We use our own personal preferences for our rough drafts and format once we’re done. But, you might prefer to format for a publisher or publishing as you go, to see your work in its proper form right from the start.

  Here’s a handy informational tip sheet to help find the method that works best for you.

  Manuscripts sent to traditional publishing houses are double spaced, with fonts like Times New Roman and Courier New. Some authors like to use fun fonts as they write to reflect their creativity or the mood of the scene, then reformat when they finish.

  If you are self-publishing, your book will need to be formatted in book form, single spaced. (We use Vellum for this after we’ve completed the entire novel and finished all of our editing.)

  Your Assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.

  Day 68

  Crafting Your Monster

  Whatever genre you’re writing, your plot might call for some kind of beast. Movies like The Shape of Water, A Quiet Place and TV shows like V Wars based on the graphic novels by Jonathan Maberry are wonderful examples of different types of beasts.

  Things you need to know: How does your creature interact with your characters? How does the creature change over the course of the book?

  How does its body differ from a human’s? What is the texture of its skin? How do its physical needs differ from ours? What are its eating habits?

  Does it have special powers? Can it see auras or hear a pitch only dogs usually hear?

  How does it communicate? What language does it speak?

  How does its homeland—if it has one—differ from ours?

  Maybe your characters have only noticed the bigger picture items about your beast so far. Is it time to begin noticing smaller details? A glint in its eyes? A curl of steam from its nostrils? A scar on his claw? Just make sure there is a logical reason for every detail you provide!

  Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.

  Day 69

  Getting Busy!

  Whether you’re writing a romance, mystery or epic fantasy, there may be a point where you must write an intimate scene between your characters. Affection, touching and sex are just another tool a writer can use to move the plot forward and show character growth.

  A kiss or an accidental brushing of a hand can be as devastating emotionally as a full on sex scene, it just depends on your characters, story and how the act is performed. Whatever the sensuality level—slow burn, fast burn, steamy or sweet—the scene should flow from your characters and story organically. It should evolve naturally and make sense, just like every other element of your tale. We recommend sticking to whatever level makes you the most comfortable. Readers can sense awkwardness, and it can rip them right out of the story.

  You can build up to a love scene by establishing awareness between your characters. To establish awareness, you can use all five senses and sexual tension. Also, character firsts help: first sight, first touch, first kiss and the first time their gazes met.

  Consider what the characters noticed about each other during their first meeting. Play up those attributes.

  Have you utilized the five senses? In other words, have you taken time for a SSHTS?

  Sight: Consider letting the characters notice the big picture about each other to start, then begin to notice smaller details as the scene progresses.

  Touch: What textures and temperatures do they feel? How does their partner react to their touch?

  Scent and taste: Does their partner have a scent and/or taste?

  Sound: What do they hear? The quickness of their breaths?

  What is the tempo? Hard and fast, or slow and sweet?

  When their gazes meet, what physical and emotional reaction do they experience?

  Keep the scene in tune with the character’s current predicament. Are they afraid they will die the next day? Have they declared a temporary truce? Do they think this relationship will only be a temporary arrangement? Perhaps they think they’ll never see this person again, but what happens when they do?

  How the characters act and respond to intimacy will be tied to their past. Have they been in love before? Hurt before? Abused?

  A love scene is more than just sex and body parts. Attraction involves the mind, and in real life, people are drawn to voice, kindness, intensity, power and humor. Among other things. Don’t be afraid to show the funnier side of human interaction, either. Touching another can be fumbling and awkward at times.

  Reading your dialogue aloud can be an important step for this type of scene. If spoken words are awkward, too sweet or would make you laugh in real life, consider reworking it until the conversation sounds natural.

  The beauty of a love scene is that they often serve more than one purpose. Think about the scene’s objective—beyond sexual gratification, or whatever your characters are into. Does it draw the characters closer? Maybe it pushes them further apart. Will they regret this experience afterward? Do you hope to show a character’s vulnerable side or create more problems?

  While there are no hard and fast rules to writing a love scene, there are several aspects to consider.

  Using metaphors to describe body parts and sounds can be awkward or cringe-worthy

  Flowery dialogue can seem disingenuous

  In today’s society, a discussion about consent and safe sex practices can be vital. Some fear having two characters (or more!) discuss consent and safe sex takes away from the romanticism. That is absolutely not true. In the hands of a skilled writer, nothing is sexier!

  Always research genre expectations

  JILL: I write both sweet books and very steamy ones under my name. Thanks to the brilliant suggestion of Mandy M. Roth, readers who visit my website are now met with two choices: Sweet or Spicy. That way, the ones who like sweet romances don’t have to sort through my spicier titles (and vice versa) to find what they want.

  Something of note: If you are self publishing, make sure to thoroughly read the Terms of Service (ToS) for every store where you upload your book. Authors can and will lose access to markets by violating these terms.

  For a deeper understanding of intimacy, consider reading Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy by Desmond Morris.

  Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.

  Day 70

  Reflect and Catch Up

  Don’t let someone else’s success make you feel less. They’re on their journey – you’re on yours.

  –Bestselling author Beverly Jenkins

  Day 71

  Internal Editor

  Now that you’ve made a habit of writing, we’re going to talk
about your internal editor again. Remember the voice in the back of your head telling you a sentence isn’t quite right or that you should go back and fix something? Yeah, that’s your internal editor or “IE”. This IE can be an amazing friend, a bitter enemy, or even both at the same time.

  If your IE is criticizing every word you write, ensuring you cannot move on from a chapter, a scene, or a sentence, your story isn’t progressing. That means your internal editor is doing more harm than good, wanting perfection at a time it isn’t needed.

  Consider turning off your IE and writing through the problems. This could help you figure out a solution. And, if you keep writing and realize later you must start from scratch, at least you learned something. No writing is wasted.

  Sometimes it’s important to write even when you have no idea how to end the book. The answer could come to you as you motor on. If not, you’ll at least know what route not to take with your story, and you’ll develop a better understanding of characters and plot. And don’t worry that what you’re writing sucks. As Gena likes to say, “You can fix suck.”

  Sometimes, just seeing the words on a piece of paper or screen is the magic answer, opening your eyes to a new solution.

  During the first frenzy of getting ideas out of your head and onto paper, we recommend locking your internal editor away. Here are some tips that might help you ignore your biggest critic...at least for a little while.

  Turn off spell check when you’re writing your first draft or warming up. Those red squiggles can be distracting.

  Word vomit! Let loose and get the words out, then clean them up during the editing process.

  Remember that you have a built-in time to fix everything: editing! There’s no way to edit a page with no words on them, so don’t jump the gun and complete step two before you’re done with step one.

  Accept that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Any mistakes you write, you can correct later.

  Remind your Internal Editor you’ll be setting him/her/it free when it’s time to edit. Just not to the detriment of your self-confidence.

  The IE can challenge us to take risks and think outside the box, but we selective about when we pay attention to it.

  JILL: I used to get up at 5:3o in the morning to write. Although it was tough (I am not a morning person), I did find a bonus in that my IE wasn’t fully awake yet.

  Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.

  Bonus assignment: Set a timer and write on your project for 20 minutes. Whatever it takes – ignore the internal editor!

  Day 72

  The Spice: Variety

  You are an author. You must try to write more varied sentences. You will learn that readers notice if you don’t.

  Read the above paragraph again. Do you notice how each of the three sentences has the same construction? All together, they’re dry, right? So let’s try it again, only this time, we’ll vary the sentence structure.

  You are an author. Try writing more varied sentences. Right? At some point, readers will notice if you don’t.

  The second one has more punch, yes?

  Your assignment: Double your daily word count! Write roughly 500 words for your novel.

  Day 73

  Best Advice

  What was the best writing advice you ever received?

  JILL: Without a doubt, it was “Butt in Chair–Hands on Keyboard” (BIC-HOK). I’m not sure who came up with that phrase, but like how some use the Godfather as the answer to all of life’s questions, BIC-HOK is usually the ticket to all writing quandaries.

  How did you finish your book?

  Butt in chair, hands on keyboard.

  What was the secret to making the bestseller list?

  Butt in chair, hands on keyboard.

  Of course, writing is an art, wrapped up in myths and legends about inspirations and muses, and I respect the creative process. But there are also realities to consider, especially if your goal is to have writing be your main source of income. Mortgages, other bills and your kid’s looming tuition come around like clockwork, so time management is the name of the game.

  I’ve heard and yes, even used, phrases like, “I’m waiting for my muse” or “I’m just not feeling inspired to write”. But I’ve found I use those as excuses to give myself permission to forgo my work. Because although “butt in chair, hands on keyboard” is simple advice, it’s not easy to do. It requires incredible discipline.

  No more waiting around for your muse today. Be your own muse and build up that writing stamina!

  Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.

  Day 74

  Accountability Partner

  While you can be your own muse, you might find it’s much harder to be your own drill sergeant. That’s when a buddy comes in handy.

  GENA: When I first began writing, I had a burning desire to get the jumble of ideas out of my head and onto paper. After an initial rush of excitement, however, I realized that writing a book can be hard. I was sixteen at the time, and I gave up.

  Why did my excitement dwindle? Just the thought of doing hard work, or did the reason go deeper? Fear of failure? Fear of success? Maybe I didn’t know how to fix issues with my plot and characters, or how to write myself out of a metaphorical corner? Yes! All of those things and more. But, once I graduated high school and dropped out of college three times, I had to face facts. Writing was the only thing I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. So, I had to buckle down and do it. The more I forced myself to write despite those fears and struggles, the more I learned about the process of crafting a book. I think the same will be true for you!

  Know that declining enthusiasm is perfectly natural. Published authors have an advantage in this regard, because they have official deadlines and the contractual obligation to return their advance money if those deadlines are missed. When no one is waiting on you and the threat of your professional reputation or cold hard cash isn’t on the line, it’s much easier to stop when the passion fades.

  So, how can you pre-plan for those times when you need to write, but don’t want to? Find an accountability partner! Someone to encourage you when you’re down.

  This person doesn't have to be a fellow writer, just someone who cares about you and isn’t afraid to approach you with a raised eyebrow or fierce emoji when necessary. Share with them your goal of writing a book in a year. Ask them to hold you accountable. Put reminders in your phone. Do whatever you have to do to push through to the end!

  JILL: I’ve had a dream of beginning a podcast for a couple of years now. In 2019, I decided to make that happen and set a goal of a year. In November, I joined a 28 Day Challenge that put everything in place, so I could officially launch my podcast in 2020. Part of that challenge was to find an accountability partner, and I chose my daughter. Like any child who finally gets to turn the tables on a parent, my daughter took her duties seriously! She texted and called for my updates. Let me tell you, there was NO WAY I would tell her I hadn’t met my deadline. By the end of those 28 days, I had a podcast title, domain name, social media handles, artwork necessary to make a trailer and a preview episode ready to go. That’s what an accountability partner does for you.

  Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.

  Bonus assignment: Start your search for an accountability partner. It could be a friend, a family member, a forum, or anyone else in your life that can give you that personal nudge in the right direction. You don’t have to show them your work if you don’t want to yet.

  In the meantime, we’re in stamina build-up mode! Can you set a lofty goal for yourself? Maybe things are starting to click into place with your narrative. Try to double or triple your usual word count.

  Day 75

  Soundtrack Inspiration

  If you watch a TV show or movie that evokes strong emotions, consider listening to the soundtrack as you write.

  Next level: Keep a list handy, detailing what emotion each soundtrack e
vokes. Then, when you need to write a scene filled with a specific emotion, you can have the right music playing in the background, helping you delve into the right mental state.

  When thinking about characters and music, consider the:

  Instrumentals

  Lyrics

  Mood of the song

  Emotion of the singer

  Reason for the song

  Readers often love to know what songs inspired you as you created your book or what might be playing on your character’s car stereo. Share those in a “Note From The Author” section or on your social media pages.

  Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.