Category: Keeping it real

8 Strategies for Tackling — and Completing — a Camp NaNoWriMo Project

These simple strategies can put you on your way to a successful month of writing.

NaNoWriMo is famous among aspiring writers as an opportunity to struggle along with hundreds of thousands of other writers around the world to write a 50,000+ word novel in a single month — November.  Camp NaNoWriMo is a more freewheeling project where you choose your own goal for the month.  It doesn’t have to be a novel.  It doesn’t even have to be fiction.  Have a screenplay idea?  Want to put together a collection of poetry?  Want to publish a blog article every day for a month?  Whatever your goal, Camp NaNoWriMo can accommodate it, and provide you with a group of like-minded souls to commiserate with and cheer on.  You pick your goal.  It doesn’t have to come with a word count goal, though you may find that having one makes it easier to measure your progress through the month. Continue reading “8 Strategies for Tackling — and Completing — a Camp NaNoWriMo Project”

In the Midst of Chaos, the NaNoWriMo Beacon Shines.

I’ve been motivationally paralyzed about my writing for weeks that slipped into months and now threaten to become a year or more.  It’s frightening to stay away from my works in progress for so long, but I’ve been overwhelmed by the chaos that my country’s government has become.

My motivation hasn’t been sapped across the board, though.   Continue reading “In the Midst of Chaos, the NaNoWriMo Beacon Shines.”

Making Plans Happen

First off, I remember that there is joy in writing.  But, it’s easy for other concerns to overshadow the enjoyment of creating with words, of telling a story that engages me as a writer and and demands to be told. I try not to allow schedules and plans to take precedence over the joy of creativity.

Great plans require great execution.  So do good plans.  I’m happy with my goals and objectives for next year, but I’m apprehensive about whether I will complete them all.  During this final week of 2016 I’m taking the opportunity to think about some how-tos that will put my goals in reach.

Continue reading “Making Plans Happen”

2016 Wrap-up

This year, I self-identified as a writer.  Writing is what I do.  “Writer” is how I introduce myself.  It started small.

The devil is in the details.

Reflections

This year, I self-identified as a writer.  Writing is what I do.  “Writer” is how I introduce myself.  It started small. I chose the variant of my name that I will put on book covers and business cards, bought a domain name, rented some server space and started this blog.  Within a few months, I had duplicated most of my personal social media presence with professional versions using the name M. C. Frye.  A few months later I had ventured into social media avenues where I’d never ventured under my personal name.

But there is more to it than the statistics about where I am active as a writer on social media.   The activity has spawned and nurtured meaningful acquaintanceships and friendships with other writers, both published and unpublished.  I’m learning both practical and philosophical lessons about the craft and the business from people I would never have met without taking those first steps of calling myself a writer.

And the effort has been successful in terms of building a nascent author platform and support network, but it was and is missing one critical ingredient:  a published work.  In a nutshell, that’s how the year went.

The devil is in the details.
Continue reading “2016 Wrap-up”

Adventures at the Oakland Book Fest – Keeping it Real

I looked forward to attending my first book festival as an “out” writer.  I thought the Oakland Book Fest would be the perfect coming out venue for me.

Fred Soderberg. Oakland, California, 1900. San Francisco: 1900. Color lithograph. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.
Fred Soderberg. Oakland, California, 1900. San Francisco: 1900. Color lithograph. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.

It’s a one-day festival.  It’s small-ish, it’s local, and the East Bay NaNoWriMo group was in attendance.  The panel discussion I was most interested in attending was chaired by Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo.

 

Grant Faulkner, Executive Director, NaNoWriMo
Grant Faulkner, Executive Director, NaNoWriMo Photo credit NaNoWriMo.org

Continue reading “Adventures at the Oakland Book Fest – Keeping it Real”