November 2020

 It's November 2020 and this year has been strange & hectic to say the least. It's also NaNoWriMo already. With many working from home and/or homeschooling writing time is sort of lost. Don't worry. 2020 doesn't have to be perfect, you don't have to do everything! SELF-CARE is most important. If you are doing NaNo don't stress about not making 50k. You tried and have words. That's all that matters.

I've updated times and dates on our schedule. Remember no scheduled ones during December. I will have some and announce them a day before. 

Happy writing!

As January 2020 Ends

January is over, what happens now? Not sure, except writing, editing, revising querying, publishing and/or staring at a blank page. We're here to help. Check out our schedule change. We are still doing Fridays but Tuesdays are gone. Don't worry I just switched them to Wednesdays. NaNo and CampNaNo extras have been updated for 2020 as well.

I know our blog posts are slacking, life just keeps getting in the way. My goal is to post at least once a month starting with this one.

Those who are new check out our schedules, tips, food and Pinterest (I'll be updating that too).

You can always contact us on Twitter through direct message.

Happy Writing!

April CampNaNoWriMo

April is almost upon us. Are you ready for CampNaNoWriMo? If you haven't signed up, there is still time. For those who don't know about Camp, it's a lot like NaNoWriMo, though you set your goal; finish a WIP, edit or start a new WIP. AND you are in a cabin with other writers, which is a great way to meet others. I have met new friends that have helped me through many issues over the years.

We will be running our regular wordie grabs every Tuesday, Friday and several unscheduled.
Saturday April 20th 2019 is all day long:
GMT: 3:00pm-5:00am
EDT: 10:00am-12:00am
CDT: 9:00am-11:00pm
PDT: 7:00am-9:00pm

On April Saturdays the 13th & 27th:
GMT: 8:00pm-4:00am
EDT: 1:00pm-9:00pm
CDT: 12:00pm-8:00pm
PDT: 10:00am-6:00pm
Those Saturday ones will be extras in hope that more shall join us and make progress.

Start of 2019

As we enter into 2019 we have all set writing goals for the year. Whether they are just adding more words a day to finishing and publishing, it's a great start. We are here to help with achieving those goals. Use our new word grab schedule to write, edit or even plot.

With the new schedule we hope more can join in and meet some awesome writers as well as get things done.

Over the last year we have gained an admin and a friend that helps out giving you more chances to join in and reach goals. Lynne is wonderful and has ran several spontaneous word grabs in 2018 and she will continue in 2019. We also have Sian who helps by adding a few more word grabs. Follow them and watch for the extra word grabs.

This year I plan on writing up more blog posts and finding out what helps you. If you wish to share your writing process, experience with software or even where you write, let us know in the comments. You may also ask what we use for writing software. We are here to help you reach your writing goals and maybe you'll find wonderful new friends along the way.

Happy New Year My Wordlings.

Writing About Mental Illness

Mental illness has become a serious issues in many countries. Many writers know nothing or very little about mental illness. Research is important when a character of yours has a mental illness. With so many illnesses out there you must be precise about the affects and the way mental health affects someone's life. It is important to be accurate. Though not all mental illnesses affect everyone the same.

Research is difficult with all the websites out there that say they are legit but aren't. Make sue you find ones that are. It is hard to find them. Try out mental health clinic sites, university sites, old school reference books (yes I know, that takes forever), see if you can speak to a mental health therapist, someone that has a mental illness (Twitter is a good source), or a mental health physician's assistant. These are all great sources.
When approaching someone with a mental illness please ask if they are willing to talk. Many try and hide it. Those I found on Twitter are usually open about it and are willing to help. Make sure they understand that you are only looking for information for your writing and not writing about them in particular. If they believe you will be writing about them it may scare them and not want to help.
Another thing to remember, that two people can be diagnosed with the same illness but very different symptoms, medications, therapy and daily life.
Here are the three I like and know are legit.
National Institute of Mental Health,  Mayo Clinic and Science Daily There are more just look and be careful about what information you use. If someone with mental health reads your book, misinformation could possible upset them.

 The main mental health issues I find in novels are: anxiety, bipolar disorder and narcissism. Antagonists are usually the narcissists, which is good.

Now that you have some information get to researching!

@jesdeh2o on Twitter is open about her anxiety, mild OCD, rage and bipolar disorder. Feel free to contact her (aka ME)

Book Bibles... Yay or Nay?

Over the years I have found that many authors use book bibles. At first I thought it was just for novel series, I know better now. So, this post is going to explore BOOK BIBLES.

What are Book Bibles?

A book bible (also known as a story bible, show bible, series bible, or pitch bible) is a reference document used by novelists, screenwriters for information on a television series' characters, settings, and other elements. Basically it's a handbook of information that allows the writer to create a consistent universe over a number of events or even years/centuries of events.

Why a Book Bible?

The primary goal is to make finding what was said or described in other books in the series, in order to achieve consistency among the books in the series and to save time researching past work.  To that end, it is useful to separate the written words of the books produced (content) from the supporting material.

So if Jane was wearing a purple dress in chapter 1, the description will be the same in chapter 2, 5, 8, etc. if it comes up again.

Things That Might be Included in a Book Bible

I, myself use mine for character, place and item descriptions. I use Aeon Timeline to track dates of events that happen from day to day and century to century. Lately I have been trying out Scapple to see if it'll work for me in my book bibles.

To learn more check out Hallow Land's, A Writer's Blog by Karen Myers It's a blog I follow and learned how to use Scrivener & Aeon Timeline together.

Here are things that are sometimes included in a book bible...

• The overall concept
• Ongoing characters - main, supporting, villains
• The setting
• The rules of the world you're creating
• Gadgets and gizmos [if any] and how they work
• What CAN'T happen in future storylines
• Format
• Series tone
• Series theme
• An opening story
• Story suggestions

Here are some timeline programs I found besides Aeon. 

Timelines

Plotlist

Capzules

Preceden

Tiki-Toki

TimeGlider

Timeline 3D

Time Toast

Word Processing Programs

Microsoft Word

Scrivener

Google Docs

WordPerdect

Pages

All writers have their preference when writing and they will have a preference for timelines and mapping programs as well. Only the writer herself/himself will know what works for them.

In short, a book bible is a great thing to keep track of everything. Whether it's for a single novel, screenplay or a novel series, it'll help (in my opinion). 

I am not paid for my opinions or referrals to programs and/or websites. All my suggestions are my opinions alone.

Time For Prepping for NaNoWriMo

One month from today we start a 30 day writing frenzy. Are you ready? Have you tried any new apps or programs for your writing? Well I'll start off with ones I know about. If you know more post links in the comments section.

Scrivener by Literature and Latte

Literature & Latte ©

Scrivener is an all in one program for writers. Available for iOS, Mac & Windows. Keep notes organized, outline, write & edit.  Export your finished document to a wide variety of file formats, including Microsoft Word, RTF, PDF and HTML—making it easy to share your work with others. Or self-publish by exporting to ePub or Kindle* formats to share your work via iBooks or Amazon, or for reading on any e-reader.
Another feature I love is the word count option/tracking.

Photo from Literature & Latte ©

I auto-save to Dropbox which means I can open my file from any computer that has Scrivener installed and it'll save the new version. I know others sync with cloud services.
Tutorials:
Windows
Mac
iOS
Check them out and see if you might like to use Scrivener. BTW- Scrivener usually offers an extended trial version for NaNoWriMo, normal trial period is 30 days of use...NOT 30 days on your computer. NaNoWriMo version usually ends Dec. 7th of so.

Scapple © by Literature and Latte 

Many think of it as mind-mapping. It isn’t exactly mind-mapping software—it’s more like a free-form text editor that allows you to make notes anywhere on the page and to connect them using straight dotted lines or arrows. You can nest them, so if you move one you move all that are connected. I haven't used Scapple much but I am not a planner.
Since it was created by the same people that created Scrivener you can drag your Scapple notes right into Scrivener. Here is a short tutorial on Scapple. 30 day trial... 30 days of use not 30 days on your computer.

Aeon Timeline

You can model not only the events of your story & the backstory of each of your characters. Keep track of relationships between events and your characters, locations, and story arcs. Visually group events by character, location, or arc (some events may appear in multiple groups), and change this selection at any time. Automatically calculate character ages for every event, allowing you to see how key moments would have affected and shaped your character (this is the one thing I love the most).
Find plot-holes or inconsistencies in your story. Create a custom fantasy calendar if your story takes place off-world, have more than 12 months, 7 days a week, etc. Nested events are there so you can zoom in for a detailed view of individual scenes, or zoom out for a contextual overview of your entire story — or further still for a contextual view of your entire world history. Add your images, external links, notes and research to your events. Filter events by almost anything. Add bookmarks within your story and backstory so that you can easily jump between key moments in time.

Another great feature is...  You can drag documents from your Scrivener project into your timeline, or events from your timeline into Scrivener, and keep the two in sync so that your timeline is always up-to-date with your writing.

Check out the videos to see if you might like this. Click HERE for videos.

Evernote

This is one I'm not familiar with. Evernote is a cross-platform app designed for note taking, organizing, and archiving. Though here is a link to learn more about it. Evernote.

Prepping Food for NaNoWriMo

Here are a few things I do to make meals quit and easy during November... Well I do it almost every month but November is a must. Plan meals ahead of time. I do it for a month but most people I know usually plan for a week at a time. Do it when it works for you.

On the 28th or 29th of October

• Cook up meat for spaghetti & goulash & freeze it
• Make up a meatloaf or 2 & freeze it
• Cook up taco meat for 2 or 3 meals & freeze it
• Make up freezer meals for my crock pot (slow cooker) Usually I do Sweet-n-Sour Chicken, Beef stew, chicken fajitas, beef fajitas, BBQ chicken, Mongolian beef, Applesauce BBQ chicken, flank steak, and Pre-packaged roast & veggies. Freeze all meals in gallon size freezer bags. Most of your favorite crock pot (slow cooker) meals can be made into freezer meals. If you have questions Tweet me @GetWordies 
• Make cookie dough balls and freeze them for fast cookies

Cleaning-October

•  Make sure all rooms are at least picked up to vacuum
• Clean out refrigerator
•  Vacuum
• Dust everything so you won't look at it and get distracted
• Clean the bathroom thoroughly
• Wash bedding, curtains and anything you normally don't. 

A clean place leaves you feeling good and you can write more, usually. I do a total Spring/Fall cleaning every year so October is my Fall month.

On Fridays in November

• Make up snacks: brownies, cookies, dips, cut veggies, spinach/artichoke dip
• Make sure kitchen is clean so it won't distract me
• Get kids organized and plans for the weekend
• Plan you writing times for the week
• If you have kids, make up snack cups/lunch box style snacks and lunch ahead of time (each day)

You can get a sink full of dishes done in 10 minutes, I use 10 minute writing breaks for that. I also fold laundry, skim social media and check in with kiddo-2. You'll find you can get tons of household things done in 10 minutes. It gives you that break from writing and you get stuff done.

Evernote, Literature & Latte, and Aeon Timeline are all .

CampNaNoWriMo July

It's that time again where we start prepping for a month's long writing and/or editing session. Whether you are cleaning and/or organizing your work space, meal prepping so the family can be fed while you loose yourself in your work; it is stressful. Take a five minute break and breathe.

Prepping:

• Take time to look up recipes that will make your life easier while you are being creative. Check out our "Writer's Food" page and our Pinterest boards. 
• Prep all foods once a week or even for the month. Freezer slow cooker meals are the best way I have found to do this. 
• Organize snacks for your family & yourself.
• Plan activities for your kiddos that you don't need to supervise totally. For little ones use activities in highchairs. 
• Clean your house as if spring cleaning. Well, maybe not that thorough.
• Clean your writing space and organize your notes and apps.
• Set up or look over your timelines and character bios to remember it if it's been awhile or you're just starting a new project.

During Camp:

• Set times to write and stick to it.
• Use Twitter for encouragement and sprints.
• Talk to your cabin mates every day.
• Remember to breathe
• Get up and stretch every hour.

Now that those ideas are out there I hoe we all have a great Camp and enjoy our cabin mates!

March is Here

As March starts we prepare for Spring and everyone's writing times may change, nice weather. We also look forward to CampNaNoWriMo starting April 1st (You can sign up now!). It's also time for Spring Cleaning...
Go through all WIPs and check out if you want to pull them from the 'vault' for CampNaNoWriMo.

Organize:

All notes
Scraps of paper
All note cards
Desk & other writing areas

Stock up on:

notebooks
pens
note cards
printer ink
printer paper

This is also a great time to check out some new writing tools & software. Scrivener, Scapple, Aeon Timeline, Dragon, Ulysses, Focus Writer, Evernote, LibreOffice, and Hemingway.

I personally use Aeon Timeline 2, Scapple & Scrivener. Need help ask and I might be able to help you.

Another great place I like is myWriteClub and of course Twitter!

NEWS!

@FriNightWrites has returned. Fridays at 7pm CT they hold word sprints for several hours. It's called #WriteClub. Check them out on Twitter.

As 2016 Comes to an End

2016 is near its end. As we look back over the year we think about what we have done in aspects to our writing. Good & bad goals and achievements. 

• Finished a WIP
• Procrastinated too much
• Gave up
• Reached our weekly, monthly goals
• Missed self scheduled writing times
• Met new writers
• Shared your stories
• Tossed a WIP away
• Started a new WIP

Those are just some of the things that might be going through your mind. Remember this year we have learned about our failures and achievements, what works better for you, and many other personal things.

Things to help with 2017 goals

• Set small simple goals
• Celebrate each goal accomplished
• Reach out to others that will support you
• Try CampNaNo & NaNoWriMo
• Remember even 1 wordie counts to achievement

I challenge each of My Wordlings to engage with at least 2 new writers and smile or laugh when you think you are failing.

This is a short post because it just is. Have a great Holiday season and hope to see you on Fridays.

NaNoWriMo START!

Many have already started NaNoWriMo and some are waiting impatiently. There is a lot going on the 1st few days of writing. So, here is a reminder....
We have Writathons this month and every Friday nights. On Twitter there are many doing wordsprints (wordie grabs)... @NaNoWordSprints is going to be running them all month. Most 24/7 unless there is a small break.
If you want more wordie grabs check out MyWriteClub  You can grab wordies there and t can be lots of fun. My ID is Jessi_Pearson if you want to find me.

If you are still looking for snackies ideas check out our Pinterest boards. There are tons of snackies, character inspiration, meals and 'keep the kids busy' ideas. My favorite is Helpful Hints board. It has tons of things writers need.

Have a great start to NaNoWriMo my Wordlings. See you soon for wordie grabs.

A Month To Go!

NaNoWriMo is Almost Here

With just a month the get prepared and everything set up it seems taxing. It's not really. There are several step you can take to be ready and relaxed (not that you will fully relax during this) when November 1st comes along. Here are just a few of the main steps to take to prepare for NaNoWriMo.

Sign up for NaNoWriMo!

You can't participate if you don't sign up. If you aren't signed up do it here before October 20th.

Be sure to add a title (if you have one) & short synopsis of you project and if you can a cover (doesn't have to be anything special).

Now check out the Scrivener sponsor on the site. You can download a trial period NaNo version that is longer than 30 active day trial. (Not sure when this option is available.)  A bonus is you will be able to purchase Scrivener with a big discount if you win NaNo, if you like it, that is.

During the next month there are hundreds of things you think you need to do. There may be but, take it one task at a time & keep that handy notebook & pen close.

Reasons to participate:

1. It's fun
2. You meet others that love what you do
3. Helps you keep goals (IMPORTANT!)
4. Kicks your butt in gear
5. You can have fun

Preparing to write your NaNoWriMo project can get harry. To make it less harry here a few steps I & others take to prepare.

Your Project Preparation

• Hop on Twitter... find other writers using #amwriting & #nanoprep to start with. 
• Start character bios, ideas & backgrounds
• Jot down ideas for the settings
• Outline (if that's you)
• Set a daily goal (NaNo is 1667 words daily)
• Make a playlist of songs just for this project
• Check out word sprints & writathons (is you haven't) on Twitter hashtags- #wordgrab #wordsprint #1k1hr #writathon
• Most of all prepare a clean, organized writing space.
• Create a Pinterest board of inspiration

Now that we have the project preparations going it's time to start on daily life. Family life ALWAYS get in the way of writing, that's fine. No problem. Planning ahead will make NaNoWriMo easier. I make out tons of family plans for November. Here is my list...

Feeding The Household

• Look up recipes for freezer meals (crock pot ones are the best)
• Make a menu/snack(you & kiddos if you have them) calendar
• Make a shopping list for all meals & snacks (crock pot liners)
• Dig out your crock pot and clean it
• Set aside times to prepare for the Holiday (Turkey Day-US)
• Make a list of how much of each produce you need chopped, diced, sliced

On October 30th or 31st get all your shopping for the month done (I do this every 2nd of the month, every month)... Freezer meals & snack makings. Once home put everything but the produce away. This is when you'll want to get to chopping, dicing & cutting all produce. I do this every month so it only takes me 30 minutes. If you're not use to planning like this then it will take longer... that's fine just get to it. Below is my basic prep. Sometimes I add veggies for veggie roast or a special/new recipe. 

My Veggie Prep (sweet-n-sour chicken, fajitas & omeltes)

Now that you have the veggies done, take a break, eat and organize the freezer meals you want to make. Once rested get to making up the meals. I start out with all beef, hop to pork & finally chicken meals (washing cutting boards in between).  You can do it in whatever order you wish. Starting with beef is best for me since we do tons of beef crock pot freezer meals.  You can pre-cook taco meats, burger with onions & garlic for sketti & others things you make with it.... Then freeze it. Once everything is in the freezer BREATHE!

Snacks should be prepared once a week... this includes ones for any kiddos you have. Spend time one day/night baking, cutting up fruits & veggies and making dips, pasta salads, etc. This helps when a kiddo comes in and says, "I'm hungry.". All you have to do is say it's in the frig. I use to put daily snacks in a leftover container like you see above. Many were celery with peanut butter, veggies for dip, etc. You can also use the containers to prep with a juice box, fruit snacks & other bought snackies. Oh and buy a bag of frozen fruit for those late night snackie cravings.

Here is my monthly list of freezer meals...

2- Mongolian beef

4lb-Taco meat (2 meals)

5lb- hamburger, garlic, onion (4-5 meals)

2-Sweet-n-sour chicken

2-Applesauce BBQ chicken

2-Teriyaki pork chops

1- Beef fajita 

1-Chicken fajita

8 Quarts of chicken stock(2 chicken-n-dumplings & 2 chicken-n-noodles)

My NaNo Snackies...

Chocolate Cheese Cake

Brownies

Lemon Dream Cake

Spinach Artichoke dip & totistos

Pasta salads

Cookies (all kinds)

M&Ms

Skittles

Veggies & Dip

Now For the Writing

Now it's time for goal setting. Make out a calendar & write each days goal on it. Remember you don't have to write every day, some days (Saturdays) you can write twice the goal. NaNoWriMo's daily goal is 1667 words.  Check out if there are any Writathons... like ours on Nov. 26th. Do sprints with  @NaNoWordSprints or with us. They will most likely get you way past you daily goal. Plus it's fun. 

*Announcements For November*

I will be scheduling several #1k1hr (1000 words in an hour) word grabs during November. All will be announced on Sundays. We will have our normal word grabs on Fridays but may start a bit earlier. Our Writathon is scheduled for November 26th. 

In Full Swing

CampNaNo is in full swing. Wordies are flying and progress is being made for most of us. We had an extra day of wordie grabs Saturday July 9th and I saw a few newbies. It's great seeing new writings joining in. Please make them welcome with encouragement and help when they need it.

For the BIG news!

Our Writathon is only a couple of weeks away.
July 23rd
9am-9pm CDT

50 minute wordie grabs with 10 minutes between. Always starting at the :00.  You do NOT need to write with us the entire time. Jump in whenever you have time.

Working on Planning more Wordie Grabs

With newbies maybe we can add a few more wordie grabs a week. Comment below or Tweet times you'd like to grab tons of wordies. I'm open to regularly scheduled ones or a certain days (non-repeating). All you have to do is ask and I'll see what I can do.


Remember you can contact us in the comment section here, email us at GetWordies@gmail.com or Tweet us @GetWordies.

July CampNaNoWriMo!!!

July is almost here...
That means CampNaNo is almost here. Are you ready my Wordlings? Have you signed up? You still have a few days to get that done.  We are having another Writathon for CampNaNo. July 23rd 9am-9pm CDT. Look for the hashtag #wordgrab to follow our news. This Writathon might be a themed one if I can find a good summer theme.

For other news:
I have dropped all wordie grabs except Fridays. They are 6pm-10pm CDT for now. I'll add more if we have more participants joining in.

For Writing Food & Snackies check out our Pinterest.
Snackies
Cookies
Easy Lunch
You can also look at the crock-pot meals. These all make my writing life easier.

It's Been Awhile...

It's been awhile since I was able to sit down and actually write a post. Using my phone is not this best. I can't update my pages.

Updates!

I have updated word grab times, hashtag list and writathon schedule. These should not change this year.

All word grabs are done with scheduled tweets with either Tweet Deck or Hootsuite. There may be a minute delay in the tweets so please forgive me. I am unable to sit and do the word grabs with you most of the time.

Other News!

There will be speratic word grabs. You never know when but I will give you at least an hour notice before we start.

Wordie Grabs on Fridays

It is official!  Our Friday wordie grabs will be:
9am-noon CST
6pm-10pmCST
Until March 13th. Then we begin daylight savings time. Well be an hour earlier.

Hope to see many Wordlings, new and familiar!

I will use the #wordgrab hashtag 100% of the time. #writeclub hashtag will only be use once in awhile.

Friday Wordie Grabs

Voting is up on Twitter (1st tweet) for times to do some awesome grabbing. You all chose Fridays so that's going to be the day.

Voting ends in 6 days. I'll announce set times Thursday February 25th, 2016.

Remember to vote!

I'm hoping after we have a good Friday group I can add another scheduled day. So spread the word!

On another note... Check out our Pinterest boards and our Writer's Food section on here.

October & November Grabbing Schedule

I have nailed down a schedule for at least October and November. Remember there may be extras tossed in so you need to watch.

Mondays- 10:50am - 2:00pm CDT

Fridays- (2nd-4th  of the month)
               9:00am - 11:30am CDT
               2:00pm - 4:30pm CDT
               6:00pm - 8:30pm CDT

Saturdays-  1:00pm - 3:00pm CDT
                    6:00pm - 9:00pm CDT

Remember daylight savings ends November 1st for the US.

Check out our snackie ideas and meal ideas. They make NaNoWroMo easier.

Rollercoaster

It's been quite a rollercoaster here. Moving, unable to get internet any time soon and kids back to school stuff.

I'm hoping to start running a few word grabs a week. Probably Monday and Friday Early afternoon (CDT). Won't be more than 3 or 4 grabs but I miss you guys so much.

NO WORD GRABS!

Due to unforeseen circumstances we will not be running any sprints the month of July. I am so sorry my Wordlings. I feel so bad about it. I cried last night when I found out about this.

Please keep writing and feel free to use #wordgrab hashtag to run your own sprints.

I'm going to miss all of you.