Road to Echoes: 8 Tips for Using NaNoWriMo to Write Your Novel

National Novel Writing Month, which happens in November every year, is a massive community of creatives using the time like one giant writing sprint. Millions of people start it, thousands of people finish. What sets those who complete it with those who don’t. No idea. This isn’t that kind of post. Instead, I wanted to examine how using NaNoWriMo 2020 helped me to kickstart In the Echo of this Ghost Town which publishes next month (October 12, 2021).

Look, full transparency, I’ve “won” NaNoWriMo four times (and by “won” I just mean met the 50,000 words written in November goal). So far, though, I haven’t published any of those works. In the Echo of this Ghost Town. with be the first. The other 3 projects need so much more work that I have them in the publishing plan queue for the next few years. This is the first time I met the word count goal and used the momentum to finish the book. Interested in learning more about NaNoWriMo books that have been published? Here’s a blog about it and here’s a reel I made.

So how did I do it?

1. Choose a project

   First, I had a project in mind before November even rolled around. I started playing around with Griffin’s story in July 2020. I had a general sense of his character, I had a sense of the conflict and the inciting incident (i.e., the fight with Tanner from The Stories Stars Tell), so when I looked ahead at my schedule, I saw the opportunity to commit to writing forward on the draft in November.

2. Set an overall goal

   The next thing I did was set an overall goal. NaNoWriMo already has a built in goal of 50,000 words for the month. It’s a great milestone to shoot for it you find that motivating. Word counts are cool and I love recording them and seeing the graph climb each day, but it wasn’t the 50K word count I was shooting for, it was a completed first draft of In the Echo of this Ghost Town. So while NaNoWriMo offers a common finish line for everyone, don’t hesitate to set your own goal based on your needs and the best practices within your own process.

3. Prepared

   Next, I started November prepared. How prepared? I had done some heavy lifting on my character work (completed a template I made and use for getting to know characters and explore their motivations as well as character interviews of each of the characters I knew). I had several scenes written, a rough understanding of what I thought the story structure would be, and the ability to identify mini goals to help me move forward. Finally, I did some research. For Griffin’s story this meant looking closer at abandonment and male culture. Was I finished with the research by the time I got started in November? No, but I’d gotten started.

4. Set a daily goal

   Next, to hold myself accountable to the daily grind of writing, I set daily goals. NaNoWriMo does this for us. 1,667 words each day over 30 days to make the 50K mark. So, here’s my truth, I don’t find word counts motivating. Sure, I love watching that graph climb when I enter my word count, but truthfully, when I’m writing to a number, I feel sort of paralyzed and boxed in. What motivates me even more, is making my own visual accountability chart to record and color in my progress filled in with my own personal goals.

   As part of my preparation, I set the first week with goals. These goals are related to story and scene work rather than word counts. So for example, the first day, I might identify “Griffin & Mom” as the goal. I know that means I need to work on developing a scene that explores the dynamic between these characters. So I sit down that day and write to complete that scene. As I write forward, I adjust and modify the daily goals as necessary to keep the forward momentum. And because characters always surprise me, I need to leave room for adaptation.

5. Sat my butt in the seat and wrote

   This takes commitment and self-discipline. Again. I love to color in my chart., so there’s that for the discipline. But I also know it can be too easy to be like, “Oh I’ll just I write more tomorrow.” I did that for a lot of years (which I think comes down to not having done the preparation). I DO schedule in a few days of non writing (I.e., my birthday [which falls in November], Thanksgiving and the day before are bonus writing days). Just sit down and write.

   Having a finished project as my goal (I.e., Griffin’s story) made it easier. I had an endgame in mind. I had a sense of how to get there. Sitting down everyday to write toward that end didn’t feel so painful.

6. I am kind to myself

   Sometimes there are horrible writing days. There was a day I only wrote 800 words. It felt like every word I typed were droplets of blood oozing through my fingertips. On those days, it is important to be kind to yourself. There are things I try to jumpstart the creativity. Sometimes I change location; sometimes I change medium (I.e., computer to a handwritten journal) , but there are days NOTHING works. Be kind, set a goal for the next day, and give yourself permission to walk away WITHOUT the negativity.

7. Wrote forward rather than looking backward

   It is always tempting to reread what I’ve already written. I try to avoid this unless I need to to get started or reacquaint myself with a specific plot point. But usually I avoid this during NaNoWriMo. Instead, I focus on the daily goal and if I’m not sure I write that into the draft and then keep moving forward. That is what revision is for.

   There is one caveat to this: I will reread what I have written each day in order to allow myself the opportunity to flesh out and develop what I started. I tend to underwrite for NaNoWriMo. So I might write an 800 word scene. When I go back through it and add details and find opportunities to add flesh to the page, it becomes clearer (and adds to the word count, obviously).

8. Celebrated the milestones

   Finally, it’s easy to be negative with ourselves. It’s easy to think, “I wasn’t good enough today,” or “I’m not good enough to do this.” I know these thoughts will happen. They happen to all of us, but when you achieve a goal—whether its one you set for a day, or one you set for the week, or one you’ve asked your CP to hold you accountable to meet—celebrate it! A glass of wine, a night out with your friends, whatever it is, celebrate your writing wins!

An example of handwriting to change my perspective and jumpstart the flow when I’m stuck.

Ultimately, NaNoWriMo is a personal endeavor. It isn’t a competition with anyone else but rather a chance to face yourself, which is why I say use your strengths and what you find motivating to get to that finish line! If you’re planning on participating, good luck, and come find me so we can be Nano friends (CL Walters). I’ll be working on the second book of my fantasy and will need all the moral support I can get.

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The Road to Echoes: Writing Difficult Characters

I had a conversation with my friend Misty early in the drafting stage for In the Echo of this Ghost Town during one of our writing sessions. Note: she’s been a huge advocate for The Stories Stars Tell from the beginning and even featured me in a lovely conversation for her podcast Rainy Day Collective where we discussed purity culture (here’s a link if you’d like to listen to it). 

During that writing session she asked what I was working on, and when I revealed I was writing a book about Griffin, she said “What the hell for?!?!” I laughed at the time because I understood her incredulity. Seriously. Griffin was horrible in The Stories Stars Tell. Toxic as toxic can be. Now, I feel warmth in my bones because she’s read In the Echo of this Ghost Town and asked me “I don’t know how you can get me to go from hating a character to loving him. How do you do that?”

I’m not sure. I remember telling her during that same writing session that I was really struggling to develop Griffin because he was so freaking unlikeable. Look, I know this isn’t selling you on his story, but please stick with me. I think you’ll fall in love with Griffin as much as I have. And ultimately, this is a post about how sometimes we have to look closer at those difficult characters. 

While I don’t have a magic bullet, here are five things I did to excavate Griffin as a difficult character.

1. First, I had to let go of my bias. I hated him. In The Stories Stars Tell he was such a jerk and so disrespectful to… well, everyone. There’s a scene in that book that solidified my dislike of Griffin. Tanner wrote a poem about Emma in his notebook, and Griffin makes fun of him for it. Not only did it break my heart for Tanner, but it sealed my dislike and informed every other scene moving forward with Griffin.

2. I had to use what already existed in The Stories Stars Tell to begin to understand Griffin’s perspective. While these clues were superficial at best, they offered some perspective about Griffin’s world view. For example, Tanner mentions Griffin’s dad being in prison. He also indicates that his older brother has left. There’s a scene when Tanner arrives at Griffin’s house at noon, and Griffin is just getting out of bed. Then there are all of the moments Griffin opens his mouth and tears things apart.

3. I started with a pivotal moment for both Tanner and Griffin—the fight. It was already drafted from Tanner's perspective, so I changed it to Griffin’s to see what would happen. My understanding of him began to shift. It made me wonder about hitting rock bottom and what would happen to someone who’s lost everything?

4. Next I had to dig a little deeper. I started with asking questions about his family. Who were his mom and dad and brother? What was their family dynamic, and if the father was in prison, why was he there? How did that impact the family? Griffin? And what about his brother? What would it feel like to think he felt like he’d been abandoned by both his dad and his brother? How might that inform his behavior? His motives? His wants? And if his mom was never around because she was trying to hold the family together financially, how might that impact his teenage perspective? What did Tanner mean to Griffin, and how might the fight have impacted him? This exploration made me begin to see Griffin in a new light, one that made me empathize with—though not excuse—his choices.

5. Next, because I saw a theme emerging in the character development, I began doing research about male culture, toxic masculinity, and abandonment. I’ll write more about my research in a future post, but for now, I knew I needed to ground myself in being respectful about these topics.

Developing characters is already challenging, but I find it always comes down to the question: why?  The more you’re willing to ask that question of your characters, the deeper they will take you into their motives, the roots of their own why. For the author, this only helps writing their stories. Difficult characters are no different, as long as we’re willing to ask those questions. If you’re familiar with The Cantos Chronicles, you know that I’m not a stranger to writing the difficult, morally gray character. Seth from The Ugly Truth was a villain in Swimming Sideways and The Bones of Who We Are.  So, I guess I find difficult characters interesting and challenging.

Next time: Writing Secondary Characters

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April Challenge: Update No. 4

It’s the final update for the April Challenge. There’s good news and bad news.

I’ll start with the bad: I didn’t write everyday.

I have learned this month that an important part of my writing process is the necessity to step away and allow the story to rest while the flavors meld. It reminds me a bit of that space between a finished draft and a revision. When I attempt to force it, I mess things up—like globbing on too much makeup— and then have to do a lot of rewriting. When I’m patient, however, I’m able to approach the writing with clear understanding and perspective. So this month, those goose egg days were time spent away, but time thinking things through.

So, the good news is that this first draft is complete even if it’s only bones. Better yet, I have a sense of how to revise! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

I must share some credit for this breakthrough. My wonderful writer friends, Brandann R. Hill-Mann, author of The Hole in the World series, and Stephanie Keesey-Phelan were gracious enough to read the first act for me. Brandann offered me this golden nugget: “What would happen if this story occurred in a white room, removing the setting?” The obvious outcome is that if you can remove the story to a white room and the story essentially remains the same, the setting either doesn’t matter OR the setting isn’t working hard enough to help tell the story.

Lightbulb moment!

I realized while I could remove this story to a new setting and still have a story, that wasn’t my problem. I’ve written strong characters, and one of my strengths as a writer is being able to write character driven narrative, but plot driven narrative, which is important to fantasy as a category, is sorely lacking. My problem was that I hadn’t weaved the setting enough into the conflict to support the plot driven element.

So dear friends, I’m smiling as I finish out this April Challenge, because I have a draft, and I have a sense of which way is forward. THAT is exactly what I’d hoped to achieve. Time to set this book aside for several weeks, work on that setting and conflict, then it’s time to revise.

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April Challenge: Update No. 3

I’m cranky.

Maybe that isn’t the best way to start off a blog about the Work in Progress, but this story is so hard to grab ahold of and hang onto. It feels like trying to hold onto water. Just when I think: Oh! That’s it! the idea slips away. This hasn’t kept me from writing forward, however. I’m still just getting story—the good, the bad and the ugly—on the page.

So the stats:

1. I wrote 5 of the 7 days.

2. I wrote approximately 7,000 words this week for a total word count for April of 26,000 words give or take a few.

3. I don’t think I’ll make a 50,000 words added, but I do think I’ll have a rough idea of the book beginning to end, and that was what I’d hoped for.

4. One more week to go…

So, as promised, here’s some story info about this book tentatively titled Deconstructing Cale Elysian:

The original blurb:

For nearly nineteen years, Cale Elysian has lived a sheltered life. Whether it’s in the country manor where he resides with his family or the dormitory school life that he’s shared with his friends, he knows little beyond the confines of this existence. And lately, that awareness has begun to fester into wishing there was more, wishing he was more. He feels like a blank slate and no prospects to change it. Unable to go with his friends on the traditional, celebratory Grande Tour around the continent of Anola following their Year 7 exams, Cale resigns himself to the fact he’ll have to live vicariously through their stories when they return. He can't change the characteristic overprotectiveness of his father or the fact his step-mother is dying, after all. 

But when two strangers show up at the manor house with a magical item and dangerous intent, Cale realizes that not only has his father’s overprotectiveness been warranted but that magic, he thought was only in stories, exists. More outlandish, Cale learns that he and his father have powerful magical abilities that have had them in hiding. Worst of all, Cale comprehends his father has been lying to him his entire life. 

Separated from his family and on the run from a danger he can’t identify, Cale is ill-equipped to navigate the complexities of the world. Though he has a treasure map of memories his father gave him as a path to his true self, his strongest assets are his best friends, Yoneo, Jem and Domis who await the adventure of the Grande Tour of Anola. While Cale hides in plain sight among them, his odyssey will challenge everything he’s ever believed about himself and his family. It will test and define his relationships with his friends in new and complicated ways. By the time he collects the last of the hidden memories, Cale will have to decide once and for all who he really wants to be.

The Cast of Characters

Cale: The main character. It’s his journey of self-discovery. He learns he has a magical ability and everything he understood about who he is has been a lie. The most complacent of the group, Cale usually has gone with the flow, but now, his old ways of being have been stripped away as he begins to redefine who he is.

Yoneo: Cale’s best friend. They met when they were ten, and have gone through all of their school years together as dorm mates. Yoneo is wise. Of the group, he’s the one most likely to diffuse a fight.

Jem: The most rambunctious of the group, Jem is willing to do anything for a good time and a laugh. He’s got the privilege and the money to back up his escapades, but he’s also a hot-head, so watch out when he’s angry. He’s the activity director of the group, he has all the best ideas for getting into trouble, and out of it.

Domis: The logistician of the group, Domis is who everyone goes to when they need to think a problem through. Jem’s roommate for all their years at school, he’s also the best one to pull Jem from one of his moody funks.

Siha: The newest addition to the group, Siha has the most street smarts of the bunch. She’s wily and wise when it comes to keeping them safe from whatever is on their trail.

Writing Inspiration: Music

When I was little, family gatherings were defined by music. From my grandfather and his brothers who sang Barbershop quartet, to my mother and her sisters who’s harmonies drew us all together, and my father - a gorgeous lower register tenor - would croon to us. Then the rest of us cousins (vocalists, guitarists, pianists, drummers) would offer our musical sacrifices. Music was our definition.

So, as a writer, music isn’t just a step in my process; It is the origin of my process. Music transports me, swirls like a sound cosmos, effervesces inside my brain and inspires my creativity. And then I tell the story.

When I was little and a classical piece was playing, my mom would say: What’s the story?  We would close our eyes and listen to the undulation of the melody, the kinship of the instruments, the rise and fall of the music from beginning to climax to conclusion, and when it was over, we’d tell the story.

Try it. Find a piece you like, close your eyes, and watch the story in your mind. Then write it down.

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Snappy Dialogue in 3 Minutes

Instead of Swimming Sideways, I choose some dialogue from The Ugly Truth:

In this scene, a contrite Seth tries to apologize to an angry and bitter Gabe:

“What is this?” Gabe asks.  He looks around me as though looking for something specific.  “I kind of thought maybe it was a trap. Thought you might bring a mob here to take me out.”

I stop several feet from him.  “Yeah. That sounds my style.”   

“Especially with a girl involved.” His words feel like acid burning holes through my confidence. I have no witty rejoinder, no quick comeback to deflect his anger.  His mention of what caused the Freak Challenge and now Abby sets me on edge.

I hold my hands up. “Just me.”

“That must have been a pretty nasty reconstruction of your face,” he says.

“Soccer,” I lie.

“Still hitting you then?” Gabe says. He stuff his hands into his pockets.  “And you’re still lying about it.”

“Look. I told you that in confidence,” I say.

“Yeah. Like I told you my history in confidence.”

I look down at my feet and then away from him. He’s right. I used his history against him to start the Freak Challenge. I ignore the jab. “So why did you go to Mr. Robinson?”

“Wasn’t my idea,” he says confirming my suspicion. “For some reason, you had the concern of a rather nice girl who was sincerely worried about you. I don’t know what the hell for.” His tone is bored. He pushes some loose asphalt near his foot with the toe of his shoe. I notice differences from the last time we’d spoken. He’s taller, more muscular.  His hair is darker and longer. It’s curly now that it’s grown out. He stares at me with those icy eyes that are always so disconcerting.

He said had the concern not have. This is a knife in my chest.

“She shouldn’t have done that,” I say.

“She seemed to think that the beatings were getting worse.”

I look out at the fence that runs the perimeter of the school. I don’t feel like talking to him. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“Don’t,” I say and clench my jaw. Anger is a sprite igniting fires inside me. I don’t want his concern even if it isn’t direct. I don’t deserve it.

“Don’t what? Ask? Give me a break. I think I’m being pretty polite given the circumstances.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. No love lost. I get it.”

He pushes away from the car. I’ve pushed his button. “Do you, Seth?”

I’m not prepared to fight him, wouldn’t be able to with all of the injuries I’ve sustained. I change the subject.“I just came to ask you not to go sharing my information with anyone,” I finally say. “I don’t need my dad catching wind of it. I got a little over a year left and then I’m out. I need out.”  

He mocks me with a laugh and a smirk.

I take a deep breath. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I’m sorry. Sorry for what I did.”

Click here to see on Amazon

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Pacing the Narrative: A New Tool

Look up “pacing your novel” on the internet, and you’ll hit a list of links page after page. It’s a topic about which writers are curious and hopeful of answers. The conundrum is, however, there isn’t a quick and true “fix” to pace. A range of techniques from developing conflict and tension to literary devices like dialogue, imagery, and syntax (personal usage of language) are presented as means to achieve the elixir for pace. There’s a plethora of information out there.

Every writer has a toolbox built over the years of developing craft. Again, Stephen King talks about this extensively.

So, instead of write about pacing from the same lens of what’s already been offered, I thought I’d draw from my writer’s toolbox and cover a technique I learned and have used directly related to pacing.

First and foremost, as Stephen King has impressed upon us in his On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft, read, read and read some more. There is no better way to become a better writer (other than to write). Studying authors you like, different genres, “listening” to the beats of writing with a writer’s ear is the first and best way to develop your own style which includes pacing. This is not an easy fix, just a necessary truth.

That said, here’s a tool from my own TOOLBOX: Compression and Expansion

Several years ago, I attended a workshop called Write Your Life by Mark W. Travis (Hollywood Director; see his books about directing, writing, and writing structure). The purpose of the workshop was to explore autobiographical storytelling, and while it was geared toward oral storytelling it supported the art of writing the story. Two terms Mr. Travis taught were the ideas of Compression and Expansion both of which I have found useful in the art of pacing.

Compression does exactly what it sounds like: compress or press together in the case of story time.  Consider in a movie the idea of a montage (i.e., a training montage in an action film, or the makeover trope in a romance film) and the way the visuals are pieced together to showcase the passage of time. Compression does this in a written form, highlighting key moments to compress the passage of time into something small and powerful.

Expansion is the opposite. It takes a key moment and expands it, highlighting its importance for the character, conflict, and theme. Visually, in a film, this might be a slow motion moment or a flashback. Expansion as a technique of writing follows a similar pattern as compression, highlighting key words and ideas to expand the idea into something meaningful.

The ideas in practice using work I’ve written would look like the following excerpts from my novels Swimming Sideways and The Ugly Truth. First determine a scene which you feel would benefit from either technique and determine if you want to highlight the passage of time - compress it - or the importance of a moment - expand it.

Compression (from The Ugly Truth):

In the following scene, Seth, the protagonist, has become aware of himself and the fact his consciousness is outside of his physical body. The compression used in this scene was meant to compress an unknown amount of time for him because time has stopped making logical sense:

 The wail of the siren.  

Words: “Stay with us, Seth.”

The wail of a woman (I think she is my mother).

Bright lights.

Beeps and blips of equipment speaking.

Drip.

“Swelling.”

“Induced coma.”

Doctors.

Whir.

Now.

I don’t think it has been very long. If I use the emotion of the woman I think is my mother’s gusts of grief as a measure, this seems recent.

Expansion (from Swimming Sideways):

The following scene is the moment the audience learns what happens to Abby in her past as she attends a party with her friend, Seth. Though the moment explores a party she attended in her past and the subsequent trauma of it, instead of glossing over the idea in a few sentences or a paragraph to tell what happened, I expanded it to heighten the drama of the whole scene.

 I close my eyes and slip backwards in time:

Have another drink.

Feeling loose.

Kanoa is staring at me.

Giddy with his attention.

Another drink. He brings it to me.

Laughter.

Kanoa is all-encompassing. I’ve seen him at school. He’s older.

He asks me to dance.

Pressed up against me, the dance is slow. I feel his body. The ache of want.

A kiss and my heart dances too.

Here, have another drink.

Drown the pain and grief of losing Poppa.

I return to the dance with Seth and shudder. He leans back, lifts my face to look at him. He’s smiling, until he realizes I’m crying. “What’s wrong?” he says.

I shake my head, unable to speak and bury my head against his chest as I return to the past:

Another dance. Another drink. I feel loose.

I feel dizzy. Where are my friends?

Here’s another drink. Kanoa. He’s there.

Have another. Drink up.

Where are my friends?

Inhibition dissipates like steam from a boiling pot.

Fast song.

Kanoa dancing with me.

“Dance for me,” he says.

People encircle us.

The crowd chants my name but they slip away as I move; a show for Kanoa.

Kanoa pulls at my shirt. I help him take it off.

His hands all over my now bare skin.

His undivided attention. His smile.

I dance. He helps me, his hands guiding my hips.

The crowd cheers.

I didn't know there were cameras.

A show for everyone.

It was too late.

Where are my friends?

In a viral moment, I became the resident slut of my high school.

Writing is about making choices to propel our goal as writers of telling the best story we can. My goals for using these techniques were to:

1. pace the content,

2. highlight the importance of the moment in the narrative,

3. add to and build tension, and

4. finally to continue developing characters.

Is it directly related to pacing? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Practice Point:  Choose a moment in your current WIP to expand or compress. Reread the section with the addition. What does it do for pacing and flow?

NEXT UP: Dialogue

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