Hi all and welcome back. Nano's been going on for a full week now and let me tell it has been productive! I think I've finally figured out this pacing thing, and roughly 2000 words a day seems to be the comfort-zone. Currently my word totally is 17,773, which is ahead of where I should be, so I'm still good to be done before Thanksgiving. I hope everyone else is having just as much fun and productivity!
Today I wanted to elaborate more on what I mentioned on Monday regarding outlines. As I said before, these are extremely helpful, especially if you're working on something from the ground up. They can assist with world/universe creation and can also help to make sure you are leaving out some kind of glaring plot hole. There are many ways to make one, the type I find most helpful is one that is similar to a timeline, that way I know the order of events, and also possible days/months/years to go along with it to make sure certain things get referenced at the right time.
For the most part, my outlines are in my head, which I'm guessing is commonplace, though there are many people that work a bit more visually and need to have it in front of them. There is an image of Tolkien's wall that is just covered with notes, images, and the like for his outline to make sure nothing got mixed up and everything was consistent. That's the other reason I like them, outlines keep everything consistent and help make sure you keep the continuity strong, which when it comes to writing, are probably two of my favorite things! If there are gaps in your plot, it is going to throw the reader off, and either make them confusion, angry, or both.
So my suggestion would be to try it out, especially if you're new to the game, it will save you a lot of heartache, especially if you get stuck. If you use an outline to remind you of what's supposed to happen next, it will make those bouts of writer's block few and far between (hopefully) so that you can get your project completed.
I appreciate everyone stopping by again, I will try my best to get something up for Friday, but I have been finding I have a distinct lack of time due to Nano. I hope to see you all then, and as always, any questions, discussion, and so forth, feel free to post below, I'd love to hear from you!
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