Daniel Honey

Main Points • NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, when people all across the nation get together during November to each write a 50,000 word novel in one month. • NaNoWriMo is an actual organization with group write-ins, 24 hour write-a-thons, leaders, prizes, software-discounts, kick-offs. It can also entirely be done online. • NaNo is a great time to connect with other authors, let your writing become part of something greater, form writers’ groups, and motivate each other. • NaNo…

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Main Points • Take Off Your Pants is a wonderful book about the benefits/how-to of outlining over pantsing (discovery writing). It’s definitely worth the read. • Outlining has the potential to help write faster and better over pansting. • Start with a character who has a flaw. That flaw is at the heart of the story. • The plot is taking the character from emotional point A to emotional point B, facing the flaw along the way. • Every major…

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Main Points • “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” • Evolution isn’t about survival of the fittest. It’s about survival of the good-enough. • Good-enough means finding the right bar to leap over depending on your goals: it’ll vary for hobby writing, making a living writing, self-publishing, traditional publishing, etc. • Most artists’ first work isn’t as good as their later work. Being good-enough means making progress over time. Introduction When is a book done? When is it finished? When…

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Main Points • The shotgun approach is querying many agents/publishers at the same time, trying to get out as many queries at once. It’s impersonal, and less likely to get hits. • The guided missile approach is querying specific agents/publishers, using customized/personalized queries that show you’ve researched them. It requires much more time, but should get more hits and may be the best approach overall. Introduction Querying can be a huge pain. It’s annoying, difficult, and there’s so much to…

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