Young Writers Society

looseleaf wrote:

The winners of the 2023 RevMo Banner Contest have been announced! Stop by the thread and congratulate them!

RandomTalks wrote:NaNo is finally here! This month is all about breathing life into those ideas in your head and finally getting them onto page. But the best part is about writing together as a community and here's a fun hashtag to commemorate that!

In honour of NaNo, we are now celebrating every Thursday as #ShareAnExcerpt Day! To participate, just share an excerpt of your writing on every Thursday of this month! It can be a couple of paragraphs or a few lines of dialogue or just some wacky quote you are especially proud of. You can provide context for your excerpt or choose not to - its totally up to you! Just mention TW's for anything potentially triggering and don't forget to use the hashtag #ShareAnExcerpt!

Have fun writing! And Happy NaNo!

spottedpebble wrote:*surprised scream* Aaaaah, NaNo!

BluesClues wrote:Back in here for the day!

BluesClues wrote:In here tonight!

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Carlito wrote:7. GIVE YOURSELF GRACE

Here’s the thing. NaNo is about writing 50,000 words in one month, but it’s also about being part of the writing community and it’s supposed to be fun.

Do not neglect your life, your responsibilities, your health, or anything else just for the sake of hitting 50,000 words. It literally does not matter if you hit 50k or not. It’s about showing up for yourself and doing your best. So give yourself some grace.

*it’s okay if you fall behind
*it’s okay if you change your word count goal
*it’s okay if you stop because life gets in the way
*it’s okay if you change projects
*it’s okay if you don’t hit 50,000 words

Happy NaNo Eve & happy writing! You got this <3


This has been #NaNoTips with Carlito

Carlito wrote:6. PLAN FOR TOMORROW & DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

You did it! You managed to hit 1667 words today, but now you have to rinse and repeat and do the same thing tomorrow. Yikes. Before you stop for the day, take a second and write down a few key points about where you want to go tomorrow to help yourself out. This works if you stop in the middle of a scene, or if you're going to start something new tomorrow. Starting tomorrow will feel a little less daunting if past you gives future you a little guidance.

Bonus points if you stop for the day on some kind of cliff hanger so you're eager and excited to start working again tomorrow!

And let this draft be messy!! NaNo is about speed and getting words on the page. You don't have to create The Next Great Novel in one month. It's easy to get bogged down with naming things, researching things, describing things, etc. These are all details that can be added in later. When it doubt [put it in brackets] and come back when you have more time. My drafts are LITTERED with [Name], [describe this], [more here], [something], [fact about x]. If I'm in a flow and I don't want to slow down and think about something too hard [it goes in brackets for later].


This has been #NaNoTips with Carlito

Carlito wrote:2. WRITING SPRINTS

Look, it can be really overwhelming and intimidating to sit down in front of your computer, face that blinking cursor, and say okay i'm just going to .... write 1667 words. ready set go!

To get myself going, I often start with writing sprints! The goal of a sprint is to set a timer for whatever amount of time feels good to you, and ALL you can do during that timer is write. Lacking motivation? Set the timer for 10 minutes, or even 5. Need to get into the flow? Set the timer for 25 minutes, 40 minutes, whatever!

Sometimes the hardest part of NaNo is just gathering the motivation to get started every day. Usually if I can get myself started with a sprint, then I'm invested in my scene and I'm ready to keep going. (But you can also 10 minute sprint your way to 50,000 words!)

Sprints also work well when you have a busy schedule! Maybe you don't have a couple hours you can block off each day to write. But you probably have 10-15 minutes here and there, and those little sprints add up!


This has been #NaNoTips with Carlito

creaturefeature wrote:

A new Featured Member? Already?