NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and I’ve got my mind on finishing some of my works in progress as I prepare for it. Lately I’ve been seeking out some writing advice on various blogs: to prepare for NaNo, to develop well-rounded characters and to create a good writing habit. Here are some of my favourite pieces of advice from writing websites…
Favourite writing tip: As I’ve mentioned before, NaNoWriMo is coming up in November and notices about NaNo prep are already starting now. These tips in this blog post are great, especially the one about taking a personality test to find out more about yourself or your characters. I tried it out, answering the questions from my characters’ points of view and the personality test results matched very closely to my character descriptions. Like eerily close. Psychology is so interesting and I think having an understanding of it really adds depth to your writing. I also enjoy theories like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and what it has to say about people– I find it very fascinating and it’s very fun to take these tests!
Favourite blog post on writing: I regularly read and use the advice on The Write Practice, which is an awesome writing website. Not only does it offer practical writing advice but the bloggers encourage you to practice your writing in the comments section. The posts on The Write Practice give me a much-needed reminder that I should re-commit to my writing and outline my writing goals, just like I would for any other activity.
Favourite lesson learned on writing: Something I’ve always neglected in my writing process is realizing that my characters have to have specific motivations and goals they want to achieve in order to satisfy their particular needs. They have to have something at stake and be fighting for it. I don’t think I’ve ever really stopped and thought about it. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is another helpful psychological concept and one I learned about from my communications background. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this could be applied to character development, not just communications study. This is great for really knowing your characters better and what they’re trying to achieve. Interestingly enough, sometimes your characters will be working toward many goals, which only serves to make your character and your story more interesting.
Hope you’ve enjoyed these links and found something beneficial for your writing along the way. Happy Friday everyone!
By the way, is anyone else doing NaNoWriMo this year? If so, are you excited and ready for it yet?
Creative Writing For Me 