Reviews & Tools

Because writing is hard.

 

NaNoWriMo – Day 20 – How to skip, and how to come back

We’ve talked before about how much of time-suck research can be and why you should skip over it. However we didn’t really touch on HOW to skip over parts of your story. If no-one else is ever going to read your manuscript then you can just leave a note for yourself to...

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NaNoWriMo – Day 19 – The Joy of Dictation

Your brain moves a lot faster than your fingers. It’s something we all know, but it’s particularly clear during NaNoWriMo. You’ve got the perfect sentence in your head,  you type it out and then sit back to read it back. Suddenly you realize that you’ve skipped a few...

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NaNoWriMo – Day 18 – Avoiding Cliches

Part of NaNoWriMo is writing quickly. You’re pushing towards a word count every day and you simply don’t have time to agonise over every word. You have an image in your head that you’re trying to describe and you just want to get your readers to see that same image....

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NaNoWriMo Day 17 – Ride the Wave!

Say you’ve already reached your word count for the day, and you’re only halfway through your writing session. Brilliant! That means you can take the rest of the evening off, right? It’d feel relaxing to have some time off after two weeks of NaNoWriMo pressure. Don’t...

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NaNoWriMo – Day 16 – Don’t research!

Has this ever happened to you: you’re in the zone, the NaNoWriMo words are flowing, then your character does something and you have to pause and think, ‘Is that right?’. Maybe your American protagonist is in Paris and he’s stopped to buy a snack. You write that he...

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NaNoWriMo – Day 15 – Avoiding Burnout

Everyone focuses on the problems of writer’s block. What is it, how you should avoid it, etc. What they don’t talk about is that writer’s block is not the only reason that a writer can stall. There are times when you can have all the ideas in the world you just don’t...

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NaNoWriMo – Day 14 – Halfway Home!

Wow, Congratulations!! You’re basically halfway through NaNoWriMo! Seems like only yesterday we were talking about finishing week 1. No matter what your word count is, you should be proud of yourself! Take a minute to bask in the feeling. It can be difficult for...

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NaNoWriMo – Day 13 – Squeeze Out Every Drop!

If you’ve been following our daily NaNoWriMo tips, you know that we love the idea of a writing schedule (we talked about it specifically on Day 10). The idea of setting aside a dedicated hour, or so, each day is great for really getting into a creative headspace....

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NaNoWriMo – Day 12 – How to Keep the Creativity Flowing

You’re almost halfway through NaNoWriMo and you’re feeling pretty good. Over the last few days writing has been going well and you’ve written down lots of great ideas. But then something terrible happens. You open up your laptop, your hands hovering over the keyboard...

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NaNoWriMo Day 10 – Make Time to Write

So we’re halfway through the second week of NaNoWriMo. The first week passed in a flurry of ideas and creativity and planning outlines. That initial excitement is starting to fade and there’s still a long way to go. How do you keep up the momentum to continue writing...

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NaNoWriMo – Day 9 – Scene Order (or disorder?)

So, we are well into week 2 (yikes!!). That means you’ve probably got some sort of outline for your NaNoWriMo story. You know what your plot is going to be. Maybe some minor details are still hazy but, for the most part, you know where this story is headed. You’ve...

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NaNoWriMo Day 8 – Delete or Strikethrough?

We all know that the main goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words. The organisers of NaNoWriMo encourage you to write everyday and that every word that you write counts towards your 50,000 total. So that means that if you suddenly realize that the last paragraph...

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NaNoWriMo – Week 1 (Celebration!)

We’ve made it the end of the first week of NaNoWriMo! Good job! Give yourself a pat on the back! The hardest part is over (seriously)! It might not feel like the hardest part is done, after all there’s still another three weeks to go, but I’m here to tell you that you...

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How to Choose the Right Kindle for You

  You want to buy a new Kindle...but how do choose the right one for you? What do you need to know when choosing a Kindle in the first place? If you read like we do, then deciding which e-reader is best for you is no small task. This is something you’re going to...

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