NaNoWriPod - Nanowrimo / writing / creativity / process - Black Rectangle

Ben is off pace and is starting to feel down. Jim is there with some awesome advice and perspective. Dig it!

We pull a lot of inspiration for this episode and spend time in the second half really deconstructing a character to give us some better ideas and direction when writing.

The middle of Nanowrimo is perhaps the hardest. One is far from the thrill of the beginning of the month, and nowhere close to the real crunch time. What do you do? Well, you could listen to this episode and find out.

In this episode we talk about writing in public spaces and staying motivated when things don't seem to be hitting on all cylinders.

This episode is all about taking care of yourself and trying to feel as good as possible while you're working through nanowrimo.

Jim and Ben are both rebelling this year and defying the conventions of Nanowrimo. But how are they faring in the first 48 hours? Learn from their mistakes!

(Check our website for loads of links!) Rising like corpse from the graaaaave is the last pre-Nano episode! Okay, so maybe that Halloween intro is a little dated by the time you listen, but bear with us as we give you those perhaps last minutes jolts of info and inspiration for your characters and setting. Inspiration comes from all sorts of unexpected places. For Ben it, occurred at a car dealership. In addition, Jim points out some places online that you can use to keep those wheels spinning with characters, setting, tone and more. Also, thanks to the help of listeners we have a few more audio and suggestions as well. If you're reading this on or after November 1st, we hope you've had a productive day of writing.

We're getting a jump on things early and loading you up with recommendations and possible inspirations. Be sure to check out our full show notes on the website or Facebook for all the links.

We're back for a bit of catchup in the long summer days between Camp Nanowrimo and the official Nanowrimo event in November. Jim and Ben have been plunking away in their respective writing dens, using whatever tools at hand to try and keep their thoughts in order. Then we talk about an article that purports to show how to "game" the Amazon Kindle store with low effort books that make lots of money. Is it true? Is it ethical? You'll have to listen to find out.

Where you start when you've left your work in a heap? It's been a while and now Jim and Ben are feeling the need to pick up where they left off months ago on their respective work. It's daunting stuff but we walk through some tips on it. Then we talk about what else we've been doing to stay sharp. Lots of good stuff is recommended and discussed so be sure to check out the links for all kinds of resources, inspiration, and just plain good reading.

What do you do now that Nanowrimo is over for 2014? First, celebrate. Then you prepare for more writing. We've also got lots of links and cool things to check out while you've got some downtime.

This episode is a continuation of Jim's interview with writer and Nano participant, Carolyn Rahaman. She's back with Jim to talk about something that many Nanowrimo participants think and dream about: getting published. Carolyn shares her knowledge and experience in that process.

First we look at Pixar's 22 rules for better stories, then delve into ways for all writers to build the worlds in their novels

At the halfway mark of Nanowrimo 2014, we get the lay of the land. We also talk about ways to increase tension and suspense in your writing.

"What's your word count?" Well, for Ben, it's not great. This is the week that sees the first faltering. And after such a great weekend of writing and meeting fellow participants! O alas! But we press on. In this case we unearth some questions from forums and talk about possible solutions to stuck writers, directions for lost writers and Superman (why not?).