Worldbuilding...

Because I just started my worldbuilding of this new awesome novel I'll be writing, so yeah... I want to share what I do.

So for me to do any kind of worldbuilding I need to have a plot. A basic idea of what is going to happen, like the one-line-pitch you give when someone ask you to describe the plot of your novel.

Once I have this pitch I will make a word-document in which I make four headlines

1. World
2. Magic
3. Characters
4. POV

World

Backstory - It doesn't need to be this 2000 year old backstory of the world, but more a backstory that explains why the world is in its current state. That can be anything from a natural event to maybe a war. The possibilities are endless on this matter.

After this we have the basic information. Things like gender roles, traditions, religion... all of these are relevant here. Now if you have other races than humans, you might want to describe them and write down why they are different. My story only has humans.

Magic

Who has it? Who doesn't? What are the rules for the magic? These are all questions that you need to ask yourself when creating a magic system. I have found that magic systems are really fun to make up. And seeing how it interacts with the world is a journey in itself. 

Characters

In this section I write down all the characters who are going to play a special role in the story, and I write down a few lines about what kind of journey they come out during the story. You can also put down descriptions like what they look like, but I would rather discovery write this than have it outlined. That way they just feel a bit more real to me. 

POV

In this story I have a 3. person limited POV between four characters. This might expand to more, I haven't really decided yet, but so far this is how it is going to work. Some might argue that POV isn't really a worldbuilding thing, but to me it is. All the POVs are eyes which interpret the world differently, and their view needs to be shared.

As you can probably tell my worldbuilding is not as deep as someone like J.R.R, but this is my style, and it helps me get the details down without making me tired of the story, which is important in my book.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

My writing process...

Everyone have their own way of structure. This is mine.

Pre-writing phase

In this step what I do is gather information. If my story is going to be somewhat realistic (like the one I am currently editing) I need to get my facts down. You can't have a nurse do surgery. Some people may not know the difference between a nurse and a surgeon, but the ones who does will get annoyed and will probably put the book down. In my current novel I had a lot of astronomy themed research to do. It was very important for me to get it just right, and I actually spend an entire summer doing this.

I guess outlining would also go under this step, since you aren't writing the actual story yet. So I do that. I make a very brief description of the world and characters, and then I do my chapter-by-chapter outline. What I do is I write everything that is going to happen within the given scenes in a chapter.

First drafting phase

This is where I write the actual novel. For NaNoWriMo this year it took me 20 days to finish this step, but last year it took me 44 days. I am not sure how I feel about the first drafting phase yet. I love to write and get the story down, but then again it feels so much better to have written than to write. Doing this phase I tend to follow my outline pretty strict. However, things do change. In my current novel I intended to kill off a pair of brothers, but when writing that part I decided to have one of them live. Because of this I had to change my entire outline so it would fit with this new stream of events. 

Revising phase

When the first draft is done and you've put down the lovely words "the end" it is time to revise, revise, revise! What I like to do is first make a one-sentence summary of every scene within a chapter so I can get a better understanding of what my book is about. After this I print out my chapters and go through them with a yellow marker. I mark every sentence or paragraph that needs to be changed and write the changes down on a notepad. I cross out everything that needs to be taken out of the book, which sometimes is a lot. 

Second drafting phase

Now I am still currently at the revising phase with my current novel, but this is how I plan on structuring the rest of my editing.

In the second draft I will start on a blank page and write the story from beginning to end while implying the changes I made in the revising phase.  Having already written the story and all the changes this step should not take more than half a month. Hopefully. 

Beta-reading phase

Once my second draft is done I should be comfortable enough with my book to give it to a beta-reader. So far all I have is my writing teacher and my best friend, but I will probably ask others. I plan to ask them to write down the emotional impact the book had on them; where they were bored, happy, sad, confused, etc. Things that I can take into account when doing my third (and hopefully) final draft.

Third drafting phase

Same process as the second drafting phase, however, this time I imply the feedback I got from my beta-readers, assuming the feedback was valid and usuable. If they said something like "You should have" I won't listen. This is not their book and therefore I will only listen to feedback build on the emotions felt throughout the reading of my book. In this phase I also make sure to correct all grammatical errors that may have sneaked into my book so it is ready to be sent off to a publisher.

Publication phase

Now this one is not guarenteed, but I this phase also includes the "sending the manuscript off into the sunset- phase". While I am waiting for a response from the publisher, I will start something new. That way if I get a rejection letter I will have something new to send in. At some point they will get so annoyed with me that they'll have to publish me. Simple as that.

If you write, do you have a specific process? Or do you just write for fun and see where it goes?

In any case:

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

My writing survival-kit...

Of course I have one.

Must-haves

Tea. Green tea to be exact. It calms you down, it's good for your health AND it tastes delicious?! I think I've made myself very clear.

Snacks. Sometimes your brain craves sugar, and when it does that obey it. Give it what it needs. You know you want to! It doesn't have to be candy, fruits are really good as they keep you energized for longer. 

Hula-Hoop. This is not a must for everyone, but for me it is. Whenevery I get stuck on writing I get up and hula-hoop for a couple of minutes. It keeps my bloodflow going and slowly but surely I'm achieving that golden waist-line!

Motivational qoutes. I have them hanging on a notice board on the wall which I am facing when writing. Things like "A professional writer is an amatour who didn't quit" and "I believe more in the scissors than I do in the paper" are what keeps me motivated to write. And writing is very hard to do, so at certain points we need that motivation.

Hardware

I write on a 17.3" HP pavillion g7 laptop. It is about 3 years old and it is reaching the end of its short life. I once dropped it, and since then it has slowly started falling apart piece by piece. Other than that the internal fans are pretty much dead. Dust gather up in there so fast that cleaning it helps for five minutes and then it sounds like a vacuumcleaner is going off in my room. Also it is pretty big and heavy, which is another reason why I am saving up for a new computer. But as for right now, it does the job. One thing I love about it is the keyboard. It is amazing to write on, and I don't think I could ever get used to a new one.

Software

We all have certain programs that we dedicate to our writing. I use a few different functions on my laptop.

Dropbox. I save pretty much everything on my computer to it. This way even if I were to drop my laptop (again) I would still have everything. 

Scrivener. It is great because it autosaves your work every second, so even if my laptop was caught on fire, I would still have everything. That and I link my scrivener projects to my dropbox.

Word. Just... yeah. Word. Can't live without it. 

Sticky notes! It sounds nasty, but I love this program. If you are using windows (or at least windows 7) you should have it on your computer. It is a program that sticks notes on your desktop screen. On these notes I write all my future story ideas and have them stare me in the face until I sit down and write them.

WriteOrDie.com. Now, I really only use this when I am in severe need of writing or show symptoms of writer's block. It is a program that pretty much forces you to write. There is a free online version, or you can get a desktop version for a small amount of money. I just use the online one. I'm cheap like that.

NaNoWriMo, or other writing communities. Writing is not something you have to do alone. It is actually really motivating to talk to people who is in the same boat as you. 

Editing tools

Printed manuscript. Someday (hopefully) my book is going to be in a book store, and that means it is going to be in print. At some point or another you need to print that book out and look at it. It is a whole different experience editing in hand and on the computer. So just do it.

Markers. I buy way too many of these, but highlighting what needs to be fixed is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself. 

Notepad. What I like to do is craft my sentences in hand and then write them into the next draft on the computer once I am done crafting the entire book. This takes a while, but it is what works for me. 

Last but not least

Sunlight. When I have been working on my novel for hours on end, I need to see that bright light and feel the fresh air. Writing can consume my entire life, but that shouldn't be the case. For me to function right I need to go out and spend time with my friends and family. They are the ones who is going to support me once I send my manuscrpt to that publisher. And they are going to be there if I get a rejection letter. Therefore it is important to cherish and nurse those relationships.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

The end? Of course not...

Week one of NaNoWriMo is officially over. If you have survived; Congratulaiton! You are one of the lucky few with your sanity intact...or not. 

NaNoWriMo day #7 - wordgoal: 11667 -

So this was actually one of my lowest wordcounts so far doing NaNo. I only wrote a little over 3k words, but for some reason I just did not care that much. My totalt wordcount for November 7th was 48.800 words. This meant that I knew, I would be able to finish on November 8th! I was so excited that I put the words into a Word-document to see, how many pages I had written. 107 pages. It really got me pumped to write even more on the 8th. But The main reason why I think I did not care about my wordcount for the day was; I really love my story. Everything I just love. I love to write it, and if I have to be honest, it is the kind of story I would love to read.

NaNoWriMo day #8 - wordgoal: 13333 - 

So I had 1½ hours of free time doing school, so I decided to write. And you guessed it. I hit 50k! On November 8th I won NaNoWriMo 2013! I wrote 50k in one week, which at the beginning of the month was my unrealistic goal. I ended up writing about 3k more words that day which left me with a wordcount of 53.846 words. However, even though I have won NaNoWriMo, I am not even half way done with my novel. Last year I only aimed to write 50k, but this year I want to actually finish a novel. I want the first draft to be 100 % complete by November 30th. Now I am positive it is going to happen, but I am not going to be writing another 50k this coming week. With NaNo and school, it just got so stressful. So I am from now on just going to write as much as I can manage every day. I will no longer let it interfere with my school work. And maybe I will be able to get some sleep.

NaNoWriMo day #9 - wordgoal: 15000 -

So now we have come to today; I wrote from when I woke till now, and I managed to cross the 60k mark. Now I did have 20 minutes breaks between each of my 1k words, and I could have easily written 10k today, but I am happy with my 8.275 words. This brought my total to 62.118 words, which in a Word-document is the same as 136 pages.

Here is my graf:

Please notice all the green bars. They make me feel good about myself. Never in a million years did I imagine myself writing 50k in one week. Next year; 50k weekend, and the year after that 50k on day one. Yeah...right. I would be dead.

No matter how far above or behind of the wordgoal you are, I believe that you can make it to that 50k finish line! Hell, if I can, ANYone can. Trust me. Writing takes dedication, and if you are willing to put enough of it into your work, you will have a novel by the 30th.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.