Guest Post: “A Typical Pep Talk” by Kaleia Hills

First, I would like to thank Sonora for asking me to write a guest NaNo pep talk on her blog. “Thank you.”

Now it’s time for me to say a bunch of encouraging stuff while talking about how amazing I am and give you tips from Me, A Real Author. I have an agent and you don’t. Is this encouraging or does it just make you feel like you suck? You feel like you suck? Well, I guess I just wrote the best pep talk ever! Bye.
P.S. You can do it but you’ll never be a real author.
P.P.S. I’m not actually even doing Nanowrimo.

This pep talk was written by Real Author # 7 of 10

I always hated these pep talks. Maybe they never say that exactly, but I always feel like it’s between the lines. First of all, I am 16 1/2 and definitely don’t have an agent. Second, I don’t really consider myself a real author. I consider myself trying really hard. Third, I am actually doing NaNoWriMo this year (I’m a little bit behind).

NaNoWriMo is hard. Different people find it easier than others. But that is because we are all different. Some people win in the first week. Others write several thousand words on the last day and just barely reach the 50,000 word goal. Then, there are the people who win every year (like Sonora) and the people who win some years and not other years (like me). Whichever one of these you are, it’s fine. Honestly. Continue reading

NaNoWriMo Week 1: Let’s get this party started!

We’re four days in! Whether you’re thousands of words ahead or haven’t even started yet (that’s right–it’s not too late), here’s my first weekly NaNo post with prompts, tips, fun ideas and hopefully some encouragement!

I’ll be doing this every Monday for the rest of November, so please tell me in the comments what you found useful, what you’d like to see more of, or if you have any ideas or tips of your own to share!

For now, welcome to week one! The land is green and comforting, the birds are singing, and the waters of the unknown plot are warm and inviting–it’s a great time to dive right in and try to figure out what the hell your novel is about. Mine has vampires and a cute grey/blue kitten. Besides that, I still have no idea where it’s going. Continue reading