Saying Goodbye to NaNoWriMo

Saying Goodbye to NaNoWriMo

by benmweilertNo Comments
15 years ago, I didn't consider myself a writer. That all changed after I heard about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This annual challenge to write 50,000 words of a first draft of a novel in the 30 days of November showed me that the impossible was indeed within my capabilities. Fast forward to today and I've now published 11 books, written 9 more on top of that, won multiple writing awards, and built an amazing group of fellow writers I consider my friends. I've introduced others to the NaNoWriMo concept, and they also found that they are writers as well. I still have a huge backlog of ideas I plan to write for many years to come. Unfortunately, after this year, I will no longer be doing so using any of the NaNoWriMo events. It is sad the organization has crumbled to this point, but it was probably only a matter of time before something would take it down. As...
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More in 2024

More in 2024

by benmweilertNo Comments
For the last few years, I've been more productive than I had to be. Since 2018, my singular goal has been to publish a single new book wholly written by myself each year. This means that being in an anthology doesn't count, as the entire project must be something I wrote. However, it also means that compilations of things I've written (like blog posts or short stories) can count as my annual release. There also isn't a length requirement, which is why I count children's picture books and cookbooks as meeting the intent of my goal. Having published not only a 10th Anniversary edition of The Fluxion Trilogy for the last few years (including audiobook versions of these books), but a new book as well, I decided it was time to refocus my efforts for the next few years before I have to put out a 10th Anniversary edition of Fourteener Father in 2028. The plan for 2024 still has some...
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Celebrating 2023

Celebrating 2023

by benmweilertNo Comments
I saw a lot of milestones in 2023. Not only did I publish my 10th book this year, but it also won a major award. This was my 10th year as a Municipal Liaison (ML) for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and my 14th year of participating. I also finished my first trilogy of 10th-anniversary editions, along with audiobook versions of these books. This was also the year I joined the Colorado Author's League which has helped me connect with other writers in my state. Not all the plans I made at the beginning of the year came to fruition, but the beauty of having multiple projects in various stages of planning is that I can pick what I want to work on next. So, while plans change, here is what I actually did this year... 2023 YEAR IN REVIEW The Third Degree (10th Anniversary and Audiobook versions) By now, putting together a new version with character sketches (by Robin Childs) and a...
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Getting Past Originality

by benmweilertNo Comments
There's usually a point in a writer's career when they have an amazing idea and flesh it out—only to find that it's been done before. Now, I'm not talking about a word-for-word "they stole my idea before I even wrote it" kind of plagiarism here. I'm talking about the raw concept being similar enough as to draw easy comparisons. These are the ideas that authors tell their friends about and receive the feedback, "Oh, it's like [FILL IN THE BLANK]." This devastates inexperienced writers. However, those who have been writing for a while welcome the comparison. Why? Contextual originality. If you gave two writers the same prompt (like for an anthology), they'd likely come up with two completely different ways of handling it. Similarly, even if someone already wrote your idea, that doesn't mean they wrote it how you'd write it. We all have different inspirations and worldviews that make what we write contextually original. It's been said that all stories have...
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Systems Simplify

by benmweilertNo Comments
How long does it take you to write 100 words? I'm sure most of us have never sat down and figured this out, even if we've done it many times. Still, if I asked you to write 100 words in 100 minutes, you'd likely say you can easily do that. 10 minutes? Probably more of a challenge, but not impossible. 1 minute? Unlikely—unless you really work at achieving it. As with most things in our lives, we develop an innate understanding of how long something takes the more we do it. We feel frustrated if it takes too long but accomplished if we can do it faster than normal. The routine becomes subconscious. A tenet of writerly advice is usually "develop a daily writing habit." Why is this? First, it's practicing something that then becomes easier with each iteration. Whether it's a set number of minutes or words each day, the more times you practice this routine, the better you'll get at...
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Write what you like

by benmweilertNo Comments
There are tons of pithy sayings writers usually hear when they're starting out. "Kill your darlings." "Show, don't tell." "Write what you know." Most who are starting out don't really know what these idiomatic pieces of advice actually mean. Even experienced writers have trouble cracking the code on some of these sayings. Ultimately, you can't really distill sound advice down to a 3-word phrase. Sometimes, it's better to rephrase this advice. For instance, when I tell people to write what they know, what I'm really saying is to "write what you like." Passion makes it easy. "If you could speak on something for an hour without prepared notes, what would it be?" is an icebreaker question that uncovers your interests and hobbies. It also answers my "write what you like" motto. Have you ever picked up an interest that suddenly sucked an entire weekend away as you dove down the rabbit holes that uncovered the depth of this hobby? Did you spend...
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The Psychology of Selling Books

by benmweilertNo Comments
Of the many hats that self-published authors wear, salesperson can sometimes be the most intimidating. Obviously, we try to craft titles and blurbs that pique a reader’s interest as well as pay for professional-looking covers that grab potential readers’ attention. We’d like to think that just having a great cover and story idea will automatically generate sales for us, but selling books is more complicated than that. There’s a psychology that goes into selling books, especially in person. What is your writing worth? As a self-published author, what do you think your writing is worth? In the noise of an over-saturated literary market, sometimes the price of a book can swing a potential buyer from hesitant to willing. If it’s priced too cheap, then the customer will think the quality is lacking and isn’t worth their time. If it’s too expensive, a customer will think it’s not worth their money. A lot of readers won’t give unknown authors a chance unless the...
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The “Black Box” Approach to Editing

by benmweilertNo Comments
A piece of editing advice often given to writers is "Kill your darlings." The feedback we receive from readers is important to identify these sections that don't work. Even if we think it's the greatest bit of prose we've ever written, these "darlings" have to go. If you're lucky, these portions of your story added nothing to the overarching plot and can be easy to write around. However, what happens when the darlings you just killed leave tremendous gaps in your story? Chances are, you've probably written the entire story before you gave it to someone to critique (at least, that's how you should do it). You've likely spent a bit of time figuring out the logic of the plot, ensuring that actions result in your intended consequences. But if a key event in your plot isn't landing correctly and you need to cut it, how do you stitch together what you have? How do you make it so you don't...
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Using real places in your writing

by benmweilertNo Comments
The setting is a key foundation of any story. Without it, your characters are engaging with a plot in an amorphous location. Sometimes, ignoring the setting can lead to dialogue-heavy writing (or “talking head” syndrome). A simple way to ground your story in reality is to use actual places in your writing. I’ve talked about how traveling to these locations helps add the needed realism to stories based on the real world. However, I also understand that not everyone has the time and money to go to a specific spot in a big city that they don’t live in. It’s certainly easy to use locations close to where you live, but not every story you write will likely be set in an easily accessible spot. Thoroughly researching these places you haven’t been to with Google Maps and travel guides is a simple way to overcome this limitation. Convey the sensation of “being there” Ideally, though, visiting the location you want to use in...
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The Basics of Making Your Own Cover

by benmweilertNo Comments
The biggest lie that has ever been told about books is that you cannot judge them by their cover. This is the first and sometimes only interaction people will have with your book, so you need to be sure that it looks professional. I have seen a lot of self-published covers over the years that leave much to be desired—my own books included. Online cover creators are an easy way to slap something on the book you’ve written, but the design limitations of these tools actually do more harm than spending the money to hire someone to make your cover. All this being said, there are some easy ways you can make your own cover as long as you avoid a few common mistakes. Fonts Matter. At a minimum, there should be two boxes of text on your cover: your name and the title of the book. You’d be surprised to see some covers that don’t match the font for these two...
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