Scribbled Fiction

 Here we go again with putting everyone in categories! There are probably a million that I've missed, but here are some of the most common or most prominent kinds of people who participate in NaNoWriMo. Here we go! 1. Doesn't have an outline and freezes halfway through Honestly, I sometimes feel this way even with an outline 2. Jumps in at the last minute Me watching from a distance to see if you can make it 3. Is ready with a18-point plan months ahead of time Mad respect, my friend 4. Writes 80k in week 1 Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we all hate you. Seriously, why are you here? 5. Falls behind and has to write 249986893498 words in the final week Only the spirits of good fortune can save you now 6. Steady steady wins the race I'm proud of you, too. You're the normal one XD 7. The 5 am writer Whether you get up at 5 am to write or if you write until 5 am, this is what you look like to the rest of us 8. The 'I wanna drop out and take my time, this novel i...

 So ummmmmm I fell majorly behind on NaNoWriMo prep? And I'm going on a 4-day vacation the day this post goes up? Fun times, fun times. So here's the rundown: You know how I've been editing Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas(aka RCOBI), for like 9 months now? Yeah. That's partially because editing is a thing and a time-consuming thing at that, and partly because I, yes I, the total perfectionist and screwer up of things, majorly screwed up the plot structure. It's probably due for even more edits after NaNoWriMo is over, but I'm trying not to think about that. Because all the plot structure stuff has been so tricky and such a pain in the rear end, I'm super determined to do the plot structure right this time around. I want to get it right , so that the editing on this one will require less work. And it still might require a ton of work. I dunno. But I want to minimize my pain later on if I can. Thus my huge amounts of plot work I've been doing. But her...

NaNoWriMo prep is a real task. For some of us(the ones who really want to get the plot right this time to minimize plot rewriting later on, aka me), it may even be a chore. But whether or not we like it, we can all agree on one thing: It's a big workload. The character prep. The world building. The plotting. The outlining. The rearranging of the schedule to make extra hours for writing time. It's a lot, and you have to get EVERYTHING ready before November first. It's a lot. And it's easy to overlook some things, some fine details, maybe even some spreadsheets or plans that might be helpful during the month of November. So I'm going to help you out if I can. Here are a few things you might be forgetting: a game plan It's so important to have a plan for NaNoWriMo. I don't care if you're not a planning person. You need to be ready  if you want to finish the marathon. Figure out what parts of your day can be shortened, what things can be put on hold for a mo...

You're a writer, they said. Get a cat, they said. Does this really look like the face of intelligence to you? I'm here to tell you that cats are the most unhelpful creatures to have around while you're trying to write. I've had this cat for years, and I have a solid list of reasons why they don't help you write. My very authentic and real reasons why cats are useless(not kidding at all here, no sarcasm in this vicinity): They sit on your chair when you're trying to write. Seriously, what is this perfect toe touch? Even if you get to the chair first, the second you get up to pee, they'll. Be. Waiting. And they will rob your chair from you once again. Or your bed. They don't care where you're sitting, they just know they want it. And if you manage to somehow keep ahold of the chair, they'll just sit there next to you and look all adorable and distract you from your writing. I mean look at this. How can I be expected to write when this is sitting ri...

Time to talk about another one of my favorite tropes! This time it's the Rabble King, another trope that may already have a name but I named anyway. For the record, I'm pretty sure I had a better name for this trope, but I forgot what it was, so we're going with the Rabble King. So who is the Rabble King? The Rabble King is a trope I've been noticing more in some of my favorite stories. In essence, he's a subgenre of the anti-villain trope. He's normally one from the underbelly of society, and he runs his own kind of kingdom. Some rabble kings own casinos, some run pubs, some just have a bunch of lackeys that do things for them, but they normally tend to be in charge of somebody. (Let me quickly clarify that while I'm using the word 'he' for this post, the Rabble King can also be a she.) Another strong trait of the Rabble King is his morality. The Rabble King doesn't care about sides. He'll just assist whoever can afford to pay him more. He a...

 So I'm back to announce another youtube video. This one might be a little less relatable, but it's something that happens to me and you'll probably find it funny anyway. Anyway I'm tired so I'm just going to cut to the chase and put the video here. If the video isn't showing up for any reason, here's the link so you can watch it on YouTube:  Link Thoughts? Wanna tell me it's unrelatable? XD Tell me in the comments!

  I wrote a post in July of 2019 on how to write scary stuff . And in the name of October and all things scary, here's another one. I thought of some new stuff recently and went 'hmm, why not do a part 2 to something everyone's already forgotten?' So here it is! How To Write Scary Pay attention to the pacing of the scene and the way you're pacing your prose.  Pacing is always important, but in something like horror, it's crucial. Think of how it feels when a scary part comes along in a movie. Sometimes the characters pause briefly to catch their breath, and then all of a sudden there's something in front of them! The pace goes from a trickle to a roar very fast. I feel like I'm describing what I mean badly here, but hopefully you get the point. Sensory details are your friend What's the temperature in the room? What's the texture of the furniture your character is sitting on? Is there a ringing in their ears? Butterflies in their stomach? It'...

   I feel like 2020 is fastforwarding super hard as we get close to the end of the year. Like, wasn't it just May? I feel like we just had the 4th of July. And I'm definitely not ready to start October. But it is what it is, and we keep moving forward. September wasn't bad. For me it was mostly just a steady stream of work and editing, editing, editing. I've been working a lot of evening shifts lately, which basically means it's a mad scramble to get stuff done in the morning before I have to go to work, but I'm grateful to have that time at all.  I almost completely forgot about this until I was referencing my August wrapup for this, but I took a writing break for a week at the beginning of September. I just felt so burnt out writing-wise, and every time I sat down to write, it felt like such an exhausting chore. And the good news is, it worked! When I came back from a week of break, I felt ready to take it all on again, and like I said, writing has been going ...