Now Closed to Submissions

Hello all you lovely folks of the Internet. Since opening my cyber doors I have been inundated with submissions. I've tried hard to keep on top of things but alas, I am being buried beneath the slush pile. So, to rectify this situation, catch up on my backlog, and allow myself a few days of Christmas holiday, I am now closed to submissions until the New Year.

I will attempt to post my pearls of wordy wisdom on a semi-regular basis but will not be accepting any new editing projects for the time being.

NaNoWriMo 1: Characterisation

This is the first in a series I'll be writing during NaNoWriMo. To survive the most horrible month in the publishing world, there are certain rules that one can follow to make that 50k go a little easier. The first one is the importance of solid characterisation so I'm going to outline some methods for creating well-rounded, realistic, and memorable characters.

The 5-Way Plan

This is when you take a sheet of paper and write down absolutely everything about the character. Writing classes often do a stripped down version of this as a writing exercise. Write down 5 aspects of the character's physical appearance, the more detailed the better, i.e. 5ft 1 instead of 'short'. Then 5 things about their background (where they work, where they were born etc.). Then 5 members of their family/friends/contacts. Then 5 personality traits. 5 habits or quirks. This is the most time consuming method but will give you a solid idea of how your characters will act and react to situations.

The Mimic Plan

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this but if it is done well, it can be very effective for the reader. If you're a more visual writer who uses cues from films or other works to generate ideas, then this may be for you. So, you're writing a fantasy book, you have a hardened woodsman/warrior/ranger who you see as an Aragorn type. That's fine but don't stop there. Use the fundamentals of Aragorn but not the specifics. Write down how your character is different from Aragorn, physically and emotionally. Then show it to a friend and if that friend says 'Oh that's Aragorn without the beard' then you may have to have a rethink. The advantage of this is that it can be a very quick way to form a rounded character and NaNoWriMo is all about speed.

The Improvisation Plan

This is the way I tend to work on a project and depending on the type of writer you are, this is even quicker than the previous. I tend to think of a name first and build from there as I write then go back and alter if needed. If you end up with a clear idea in your mind then it can extremely easy to write a believable character but if you don't, then you can end up with inconsistencies. When I write I let my characters lead me, it's more organic and I let them evolve as any real person would given the experiences so I don't like having a detailed blueprint of a person written down, as in the 5-Way Plan. When I write I feel like an explorer so I like to discover things about my characters as a reader would. If I have a long planning document then it feels like the discoveries have already been made and I lose interest. So this method can be the most fun to write but is the most risky.

For a task like NaNoWriMo the biggest thing you need to do that will save you the most time is to be decisive. I know writers who second guess their decisions or don't make them so the writing itself is stalled. NaNoWriMo is a crazy undertaking for anyone and do bear in mind that 50k is very very very short to be called a novel, it's more of a novella, if you really want to write a novel in one month, aim for 80k.