The Bra Street Rambler

Over the past ten weeks, half of my weekly segments have been dedicated to getting writer's ready to write their own book. If you, like many people around the globe, have decided to take the plunge into signing up for this years National Novel Writers Month, NaNoWriMo for short, I offer your a few tips and tricks for staying on top of it. So, without delay, here's a recap on a few tricks for conquering NaNoWriMo and staying in the zone! See my original NaNoWriMo Prep post  here. Distracting Grumbles! When you find yourself in the zone, and all the words are flowing perfectly from mind to paper or keyboard, the smallest distraction can cause your train of thought to derail. Your stomach can be the greatest distraction of all. Prepare for the month to come by doing some meal prep and freezing as many meals as you can. That way, when you're stomach demands attention, you can pop a meal into the microwave and get back to writing, instead of taking a half hour to ...

Not a writer? Scroll down for your challenge! Ten Weeks of Writers Prep Week ten: It's Time! You can’t edit what isn’t written, and it is far better to have something you can change than nothing to work with at all. Time to get writing and see what happens! Find out what writing schedule works best for you, some people write better when they wake up early in the morning, some work better at night, and some work better with a sporadic schedule. Just as some people prefer to write in a public place with a cup of coffee or hot cocoa, and others require silence and solitude. Everyone has a different method and to each their own, as long as you are making the time to sit down and get writing. Don’t worry about editing for now, just get the story down on paper and worry about fixing it later. Still don't feel ready? Pssshhh. None of us are  truly are when we allow ourselves to slow down and think about it, but hey, if you still need a bit of time and a foll...

Not a writer? Scroll down for your challenge! Ten Weeks of Writers Prep Week Nine: Research! We're coming up on the final stretch, and if you've been following the writing challenges every week, you're more ready than you know This week's challenge? Give yourself one week to do some extra research. Any related research. Allow the few extra details you discover to inspire you to take your creation further. Gather information you hadn't considered before, or information that will give your story more depth, give it more reality. After all, the devil is in the details. Keep a notepad nearby and write down any questions that may come to mind regarding your story, or any facts you may want to look up and include to make your story more authentic or accurate. Then, follow through using reliable sources and cross-reference your findings. Don’t get caught in a cycle though, too often we keep going with research and never actually allow ourselves to f...

Not a writer? Scroll down for your challenge! Ten Weeks of Writers Prep Week Eight: Minions! No, we're not talking about the little yellow ones in overalls, though they do count. Once again, to each coin face there is another side. Just like your protagonist, your antagonist needs certain characteristics covered that they may not themselves possess. In this case, it may mean strength in brute muscle or strength in numbers, it may mean having someone who shares their vision, or perhaps someone who puts them in their place now and again, or it can be someone who can be their eyes and ears, their spy on the other side. Sometimes, they just need someone to lighten the dark and gloom of their character with a little comedic relief. Voldemort (Harry Potter) needed his death-hunters to offer up more show of force and to continue things when he was not around, Mr. Burns (Simpsons) needed Smithers to humanize him to viewers, and Sauron (Lord of the Rings) needed hi...