NaNoWriMo

  • Tips and Tricks of Nailing NaNo

    What is NaNo?It’s short for National Novel Writing Month, a global event that takes place during the month of November and has been building a following since its inception in 1999. Writers from around the world commit to writing 50,000 words of new fiction. That breaks down to approximately 1667 words a day and hopefully

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  • Writer Math

    Writer Math

    I just returned from a weekend Writer’s Retreat. Nowhere exciting (Roscoe, IL), but the house made for a very comfortable writing atmosphere.We checked in at 4 p.m. Thursday and left at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.That’s about 86 hours of retreat.Assuming breaks, meals, sleep, discussion and laughter, that leaves approximately 60 hours to WRITE. (Please note: I

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  • TILT

    TILT

    I was introduced to Things I Love Thursday (TILT) by a friend through Facebook but when I looked it up online, I found many sources for the quick little lists of things folks are grateful for. In honor of Thanksgiving this Thursday, I thought I’d share a couple of things that I am  thankful for.

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  • Literary Mary Chats with Kristin Oakley

    Welcome to the November edition of Literary Mary Chats. Today’s guest is a longtime friend and fellow writer, Kristin Oakley. Kristin Oakley’s debut novel, Carpe Diem, Illinois, won the 2014 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award for non-traditionally published fiction, was a finalist in the Independent Author Network 2015 Book of the Year, and a

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  • October Chat–All about NaNoWriMo

    On this, the last Monday of October, I’m pleased to be Chatting with writers Bob Francis and Karen Kerr about National Novel Writing Month, which kicks off Thursday, November 1st. I met Bob many years ago through In Print. He and I have worked together in a variety of writing ways including The Prompt Club, Word

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  • What I’m Working on Now

    What I’m Working on Now

    I am so excited to be in the middle of a new/old project. As you may or may not know, November is National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge where you try to hit a word count goal of 50,000 words in 30 days. Originally, I thought I would focus on the follow

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  • NaNoWriteMore

    It’s almost November! Can you feel the excitement carried on the brisk winds? The anticipation filling the air like so many golden leaves? The thrill of shorter days and longer hours tackling a wordy adventure while power-caffeinating? November brings National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. I first joined in 2011. I have “won”

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  • It’s November and with November comes National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo for short. NaNo for shorter. This is the sixth year I’ve participated. I LOVE NANO. I like having an external deadline, November 30, and an expected outcome, 50,000 words. I like being forced to make time to accommodate those goals. I like the camaraderie of other

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  • We celebrated our In Print five year anniversary this past Saturday at Cliffbreakers. As a founding member, I was asked (cough*required*cough) to speak. I struggled with my words, not because I don’t have a million awesome things to say about In Print, but because I worried that the five original founders might be sharing the

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  • Not now, it’s NaNo!

    Well, not yet… but soon! After a crazy busy hectic social creative weekend (week, month, year), I’m practicing my mantra for November. For those of you who don’t know, NaNo is short for NaNoWriMo which is short for National Novel Writing Month. Fifty thousand words in thirty days. That’s nearly 1700 words a day*– sounds

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