Representation matters. We know this. And as nerds, we know that the speculative fiction genre is full of great, and not so great, representations of the LGBTQ+ community. So today, I wanted to put a spotlight on my top six favorite examples. These are characters that are not caricatures, not stereotypes. They’re real, honest people who happen to also be LGBTQ+. I’m only talking about speculative fiction characters, so we won’t be talking about characters from Brooklyn 99 or The Loud House. Though both have several great examples.
Bess Till, Snowpiercer
If you want a full review on Snowpiercer, I’ll be doing that over on Haunted MTL later this month. But for now, let’s just talk about Bess.
Bess is a great character for a lot of reasons. She starts out being pretty much a pain in the ass. She, like everyone else, looks down on the people in the ‘tail’. Eventually, she becomes one of the main character’s strongest allies.
Bess has a relationship with a woman in the second class of the train. They’re hiding their relationship because Bess is from third class, and such relations are frowned upon.
But her character isn’t defined by this relationship. She’s defined by who she is, a badass fighter for equality.
Jadzia Dax, Deep Space 9
Alright, this is a bit of a stretch but hear me out. Jadzia Dax might be one of the earliest transgender characters ever. They are essentially two (or more) souls in the same body. Many people see Jadzia and interact with them as a female. Some, who know Dax, see them as a man. But Jadzia Dax responds just the same to both.
Taru, Savage Legion
I talked about Taru during my Why it Works post about Savage Legion, but I’d be remiss not to mention them again. They’re one of the first non-binary characters I’ve ever seen in fiction. And they’re amazing. They’re loyal, funny, smart, and scary strong.
Yes, being non-binary is part of their story. But it’s only a part. The larger story is one of loyalty and struggles to protect the poor districts they were raised in.
April May, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
April’s a wonderfully flawed character. She’s quick to get caught up in all the craziness of THE CARLS. But she’s just as fast to sacrifice her whole life to save the world.
With her girlfriend, their potato plant, and CARL, they manage to save the world from something so much bigger than they could ever imagine.
Kisha, Alice Isn’t Dead
Well, and also Alice, I guess. But Kisha’s the main character.
I talked at length about this podcast on Haunted MTL. But basically, it’s the story of a woman driving across America to find her wife. Well, as Kisha says, this isn’t a story. It’s a road trip.
Kisha is in love with Alice, but soon enough her mission isn’t just about finding her. It’s about all the dark strange corners of the country that are hard to explain. It’s about fighting an enemy that is so unfairly equipped to beat us that we can’t help but battle against injustice. It’s about the magic of a rest stop at three in the morning, the shadows in the booths of roadside diners. It’s about America.
So what do you think? What’s your favorite LGBTQ+ character? What’s one that you think needs a little extra love? Let us know in the comments.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you’re not as old as you think you are and people older than you want you to shut the hell up.
This has been said with love, as someone who complains too often about being in her mid-thirties.
(It’s my fault I feel old, by the way. I watch all these creators on YouTube who are in their twenties. They’re all great, inspiring women who make me feel like a crone.)
But I’m not old. And even if I was, I’m still not too old to learn new things.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that I’m learning a new way to write.
This year I launched a true-crime podcast called Off The Bone with the amazing Boxhuman. I’m getting ready to launch a fiction podcast sometime this year. In creating these new podcasts, I’ve learned to write a different way. I’ve learned to write content that’s meant to be heard instead of read.
It kind of astounds me how different it is to write this way. I don’t know why this should be so shocking. It’s a totally different medium. But I think if I’d realized how different it was going to be, how alien it would feel, I might have chickened out.
If you’re considering starting a podcast, let me share with you what I’ve learned. Here are four things to consider when writing to be heard.
Are you talking over people’s heads?
I’m not a big fan of talking down to people or thinking I’m smarter than others. I’m not. That being said, sometimes my word choice is, well, unusual.
If I’m writing a blog post or book that doesn’t matter so much. If a reader doesn’t know the word I used, they can look it up. But if someone’s listening to a podcast, they don’t have as much time to stop and look up some archaic weird word I used. The same can be said for concepts or references unless I’m going to take the time to stop and explain them.
Now, I’m not saying you should assume people won’t know what you’re talking about. I’m also not suggesting that challenging people with new concepts is a bad idea. But we all have topics and theories that we know a stupid amount about. Like, more than most people do and anyone needs to. Maybe that’s why you’re doing a podcast to start with. Maybe the whole point is to explain more about the life cycle of kiwi birds. But if you’re just quickly referencing some obscure thing like everyone knows what you mean, that’s going to throw some people off. You’re going to lose listeners. So don’t go over people’s heads. If you’re talking about something complex or not commonly understood, take a few seconds to make sure everyone’s on the same page. Or at least in the same book.
How do your sentences sound?
Sentence structure is one of the real nut and bolts parts of grammar that I don’t always pay as much attention to as I should. Usually when I’m writing it’s to tell a story or entertainingly convey information. The smaller the piece, the more I pay attention to sentence structure, though. I also pay more attention to word usage and flow to convey an emotion.
When you’re writing a script to read out loud, though, you want to keep in mind that you are going to have to actually read it out loud. And it needs to sound a certain way.
Do yourself a favor, and read your entire script out loud as part of your editing process. Some sentences look and feel just fine on the page, but sound clunky and soulless when spoken.
Are you droning on?
Remember earlier when we talked about not talking over people’s heads? Please, for the love of Benji don’t use this as an excuse to drone on.
Yes, the point of most podcasts is to talk at length about a certain topic. But that doesn’t mean you need to over-explain.
Let’s say I’m writing a podcast about HH Holmes. (Which I did). Do I want to talk about how he put people down a body chute to his basement to ‘play’ with the corpses? (Not like that, you pervert.) Oh yeah, that’s the kind of content a listener is there for. Do I need to go into a lengthy explanation of how the chute was built? Probably not. Maybe I want to toss in a little bit of info, but a ton is not needed.
How’s your pacing?
Honestly, a lot of this advice comes down to this one factor. Is your pacing entertaining? Are you giving information in an informative way without bludgeoning someone with facts they can’t absorb?
This goes for fiction, too. Info dumping isn’t a great idea in a book. It’s even worse in a podcast. If you go into an info dump on the page, at least the reader can go back over it a couple of times if they need to soak it all in. But people listen to podcasts most often when they’re doing other things. I listen to them while I edit, wash dishes, schedule social media, or any of the other less glamorous parts of writing. (It’s not all prancing through a mental playground, folks. Writing is work. Work worth doing, the best work there is, but still work.)
The point is, if someone’s listening to your podcast while driving to the grocery store and you info dump on them, they’re not going to retain half of what you just said. And if they didn’t retain it, you might as well have not wasted anyone’s time by saying it.
So what do you think? What should writers keep in mind while writing a script to be read? And, as a bonus, what’s your favorite podcast? Let us know in the comments below.
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This month I began my seventeenth bullet journal. Her name is Sage.
In all this time, I’ve never really taken the time to share my bullet journal strategies or collections with you. I’d like to say I don’t know why, but I do.
My bullet journal isn’t as pretty as most of the ones you see online.
I love watching those videos on Youtube of people making these gorgeous spreads. It’s one of my favorite things about getting ready for a new month. And I’m not a terrible artist. I try, I do.
But here’s the thing. The pages I’m going to share with you today don’t need to be aesthetically pleasing to help you out. The important thing is the information you’re tracking, not the decorative doodling. I’m going to suck it up and share some pages with you today. If you don’t bullet journal, I hope this inspires you to start, artistic abilities or not.
These are not my daily, weekly or monthly spreads. These are extra spreads that save my ass and help keep my life in order. At least, as much order as it can have. If you’re interested in a post about what goes into my daily, weekly and monthly spreads, let me know in the comments.
Future log
Everyone’s got a future log. I just think mine’s the best.
It’s very simple. I’ve just written the days of the month, followed by space to add in things as they come up. I set this page up every time I start a new bullet journal, keeping notes for the next twelve months.
What you track here will be up to you. But I keep track of holidays, holy days, birthdays, upcoming book releases, upcoming show releases, or anything else I might need to know about when that month comes around. I also make sure to build in at least three blank spaces for things I’ll find out about as I work through this bullet journal.
I like to keep the decorations on this page minimal and clean. I’ll be referring to this page a lot, and a clean page is less likely to get tiresome. It also gives me space to add things in as I need to.
Yearly goal page
Again, this is a pretty common spread, but one that does wonders for my mental health. I keep a list of my life goals at the top of the page. Not really because I think I’ll forget. But because I want to keep my focus.
Then I write down all the things I want to accomplish in a year. I like this list to be simple, but specific. Get a new computer, beat my 2020 income, produce Off The Bone season one. Later on, I’ll have a page dedicated to a step by step process for a goal if it needs it. Here is the space for just a bullet point list. This is what I want my big-time goals to be for this calendar year.
It is the best feeling to cross off a yearly goal. I made a couple of goals I knew wouldn’t take all year to accomplish just so I could get to that feeling sooner.
In case of emergency page
No, this isn’t a list of emergency numbers or anything like that. That information is at the front of the book.
No, this is a list of things I need to remember for an emotional emergency.
Maybe I’m feeling down. Maybe I’m having an anxiety attack. Maybe I’m so tired I don’t think I can go on.
When I get like that, I tend to forget my coping mechanisms. I don’t think I’m the only one who does this. Even something as simple as making a cup of tea, I can’t think of that when I’m in that sort of mood.
Fortunately, I can go to my emergency page and see the little notes I’ve left myself.
I feel stressed. Okay, Make a cup of tea, light a candle, and journal about it. I feel sad. Read my gratitude list, light a candle, find a small win and draw. It’s the spread that has saved me mentally more times than I can count.
Goodreads goal
This is another one that a lot of people have, but I love it. It’s pretty simple. I drew little rectangles to represent books I want to read. Then I write the title in the book. I keep track of when I started it and when I finished it. And as I make progress on the book, I slowly color it in.
You might notice on the page that there are also three smaller rectangles at the bottom of the page. Those are the books I finished for my goal this year before I started this bullet journal.
I also keep a list of books I want to read at the bottom of the page. Honestly, I wish I’d done a two-page spread for this. I’ll probably do that next time.
Rolling shopping list
You know what, there are a lot of apps to keep shopping lists on. Do you know what I never have with me? My tablet.
But I’ve always got my bullet journal. So if I suddenly notice that we’re low on Tums, I can write that down right away. Then, when I go to the store, I know what I need.
When was the last time I…
Here’s another page that has saved me a ton of hassle. On it, I keep track of things that I need to do, and when the last time I did them was.
When was the last time I washed the bedding?
When was the last time I took a day off?
When was the last time I ran a virus scan?
You get the idea. I check this page every week when I’m making my to-do list. And I know if it’s been too long since I’ve backed up my files. Instead of just being pretty sure it’s been too long.
Plant care log
If any plants in my house are alive, it’s because of this spread. I keep a neat list of all the plants I have when the last time I watered them and fed them.
This again saves my brain from having to remember when the last time I remembered to water anything. And it saves the lives of my little green darlings.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of every page in my journal. But it is a list of pages that help me out. If they help you out, give the post a like or share it.
Thanks a lot, guys. See you next week.
You can support Paper Beats World on Ko-fi and Patreon.
After a long month of cleaning and organizing our whole lives, let’s take things down a notch today. Let’s talk about one of my favorite things and something you probably like too.
Let’s talk about stationary.
Specifically, this is a list of the products I use to write rough drafts and keep my bullet journal. This isn’t a sponsored post, I don’t get kickbacks for any of these products. They’re just what I’ve found works best for me over the years.
LePen
I’ve talked about these pens pretty frequently. It’s because I’ve been writing with them for six years now. They’re beautiful, come in a ton of colors, and they write on almost anything. I don’t know what it is about a felt tip pen that makes me so happy. But it does.
These are great because I can use them for literally anything. I write rough drafts, write in my bullet journal and planner with them. They’re just one of those things I have to keep on hand at all times.
Good old composition notebooks
If you’ve read any fiction from me, chances are it started life as a rough draft written longhand in a composition notebook.
I mean like the old black and white marble covered ones we used to use in school.
They’re cheap, let’s start with that. So I feel comfortable writing absolute shit in them. I also love that they’re hard covered, so I can more easily take them places to work on novels outside of my home. Easily the best notebooks to write rough drafts in.
George Stanley notebooks
I do enjoy something a little more long-lasting for my writer’s notebook, though. I stumbled upon one of these notebooks at Staples years ago. After using it for quite some time, I was impressed by the quality. The coil doesn’t come apart, the paper is thick, the cover is solid. I drag my notebook all over the place, as any good writer should. So I need a notebook that’s going to stand up to that sort of abuse. Yes, these notebooks are a bit pricey. But it’s the sort of thing I need to invest in.
Index cards
Another staple in my office is index cards. I use these mostly for outlining. So almost any novel starts with me buying a fresh new pack.
What a feeling that is.
I love this because I can write out plot points on the cards and then spread them all out over the floor while I’m figuring the story out. It looks a little mad, to be honest.
Post its, multiple sized
No writer should be without post its. They play a part in most of my editing. I use them to mark out chapters, keep notes in rough drafts, leave messages and reminders in books. Essentially anytime I need a layer of paper on top of paper, this is what I reach for.
If I can get them, I also like the little tab markers for keeping drafts in order.
Moleskine
I think these have fallen out of style for bullet journals, but I honestly don’t care. I love these things.
I always get the lined hard covered ones, but I’ll switch up the color. I love everything about them. I love their hardcover. I love the little ribbon to mark my place. I love the envelope in the back to store things. I love the creamy paper that rarely bleeds. I love how soft the paper feels. I love the elastic holder.
Sometimes you can grab these on sale if $20 is too much to drop on a notebook. And keep in mind, I don’t go through these. I might fill two a year. If I went through any more, I don’t think I’d buy the super expensive ones.
Tombow Brush pens
These are a recent find, but I love them. These brush pens are used in my bullet journal and for any drawing I do. Their colors are bright and vivid. They last forever. And they just feel so artsy.
They also cost a decent amount, usually $3.50 per pen. So it’s a good damn thing they last awhile.
Sakura Gelly Roll
Because I like to do a lot of layering in my drawing, gelly roll pens are a must. I use them to draw over ink I’ve already put down. This is especially useful with a white one. It helps me give dimension to drawings or make them look like they’re shining.
Pilot Precise V5 in red
In red and red only. I use these pens for just one thing, editing.
The pen tip is super sharp, and it makes me feel like I’m literally cutting the fat out of my drafts. The ink stands out well and doesn’t dull when I’m shuffling through pages for months.
So that’s it. Those are the tools of my trade and where most of my money goes. But now I want to hear what you think. What are your favorite stationery supplies? Let us know in the comments.
You can support Paper Beats World on Patreon and Ko-fi.
2020 sucked and I’m so glad to kick it to the curb. It was a dumpster fire of a year. And the worst thing about it, the absolute worst, is that I fell into some coping mechanisms that need to stop right the hell now. I stopped doing a lot of good things that I need to be doing again.
In general, my life is a bit of a mess. I needed a life audit in the worst way. So, in early December I wrote a list of things that needed an update in my life. These were things in my personal care routine, my writing life, my family life and my spiritual life.
Since I’ve made that list, I’ve done one thing every day to make my life better. To make things run smoother. And I’ve been pretty happy with the results. So I thought it would be a great thing to share with all of you. Because I bet (no judging) that you’ve fallen out of some good habits and into some bad ones too. Let’s get better together.
I’ve separated each prompt into categories, starting with self-improvement, then home care, money, and ending with business. Each Friday I’ll give you the prompts for the next seven days. I’ll also tell you a little bit about it went for me.
I’m including a whole week in one post for two reasons. One is that I’m working on two major projects right now and I just don’t have time to post every day. But I also understand that everyone has different levels of work on any given day. Some people will have time on a Tuesday afternoon to clear out all their craft supplies. For others that will need to be a Saturday activity. I don’t suggest trying to do more than one activity a day, whatever you do. This is a thoughtful process, you need to give yourself time and space.
That being said, let’s go into week one.
Day one-Your nightly routine
What you do right before bed has more impact on your life than you can imagine. I will die on this hill! It sets you up for a good night’s sleep and a smoother morning.
Start with writing down what you do before bed now. Do so without judgment. We aren’t doing this to beat ourselves up. We are doing this to make small changes to make our lives better.
Next, write down all the things you’d like to do before bed. You want to be realistic here. I think we’d all like to end each day with a rose-scented bath, full-body lotion, a cup of lavender tea and thirty minutes of journaling. But that’s not happening every night. We just don’t have the hours in the day for it.
So think about instead what’s going to help you the most. What would you like to wake up to?
When I did this, I came up with the following list.
1. Set out clothes for tomorrow.
2. Make my to-do list for tomorrow.
3. Put on face cream and under-eye cream after shower.
4. Take my medication.
Boom, that’s it. I’ll have clothes in the morning, I’ve put everything out of my mind and onto the page, and I’ve delayed the ravages of time on my face. I can now sleep easy. Your list may look different than mine, and that’s perfect. It’s a personal thing.
Day two- Your morning routine
Now that your evening routine is in place, it’s time to build on that. What do you want to do in the morning?
Do you want to make time to move your body or read a devotional book? Maybe your day would be so much better if you could just watch the birds out your kitchen window while you drink coffee in peace.
Whatever goes onto your list, you want to make sure it follows two rules. It should improve your day and be something you have time for.
Here’s my list.
1. Wake, feed pets, make coffee
2. Do ten minutes of yoga
3. Dress, brush my hair and teeth, do my makeup.
4. Meditate and pull an oracle card.
5. Check in with my planners.
6. Track my spending from the day before.
Day three- Your afternoon routine
This is what I call my after-work routine, but it could also be an after school routine or a before dinner routine. It’s a list of things that are meant to keep my house orderly. The goal of this list is that it should take no more than 30 minutes.
Think about the biggest problem areas in your home. The things that bother your the most if they build up. The things that smell. That’s my biggest issue. I can handle clutter, but I can’t stand it when things smell.
Here’s my list.
1. Scoop the cat box.
2. Do the dishes.
3. Do the FlyLady task of the day.
4. Water the plants.
5. 10-minute pickup.
And boom, we’re done. Just like that, the house is in good enough shape for me to make dinner and relax for the evening.
Day four- Daily task list
Think of this as sort of a chore chart. Certain things need to be done, but they don’t need to be done every day. Things like running the vacuum, taking the garbage out to the curb on trash night. Because I’m a blogger, I also have tasks like writing my weekly blog posts.
Start by writing down everything that needs to be done in a week. Then, decide what day it’s best to do it on. Try to not have more than one task on a day, or it’s going to get overwhelming. So maybe you clean out your car on Sunday afternoon, vacuum your house on Saturday and clear out your fridge on Wednesday. You get the point.
Day five- Plan spiritual activities
No matter your faith there are certain activities that you probably like to practice to observe. Maybe you attend service or perform good works. I like to give donations, help people, read devotional materials. All of these things are more likely to happen if I, you know, schedule them. I’d say they’re probably not going to happen if I don’t schedule them.
If you aren’t someone who considers themselves spiritual, then certainly you have things you wish you did more of. Gardening, reading, things like that. There is something that feeds your soul. Find it, and find time to make it happen.
Day six- Plan what you want to learn
This is where things get fun. What do you want to learn this year? Is there a class you can take for a better job? Do you want to learn a new language, or take an art class? Seriously, there’s no better time to get some education in. I’m taking an ASL class, and I subscribed to Skillshare. I’ve been working through all the writing courses available. But I think I’ll also be taking some hand lettering classes. I love some hand lettering. My bullet journal is going to be freaking awesome this year.
So what do you want to learn? Remember, we’re not in school anymore. There are no required classes here. You can learn whatever you want. How cool is that?
Day seven-Audit your notebooks and apps
This one isn’t as fun, but man did I need to do it. I had a ton of planners and notebooks, not to mention a bunch of apps I used to organize my life. The problem is, I’ve got way too many. Some of them I only used for one thing. I mean, there was one app I used only for a list of twitter ideas. I used another app to remind me when to water my plants. Which is, you know, great if I remember to open it. But if I was the sort of person who remembered to open an app to see what plants needed to be watered, I’d probably be the sort of person who didn’t need an app for that in the first place.
Most of my app info got moved to bullet journal spreads. I still have a budget book and a yearly planner. Everything else got downgraded.
That’s it for the first week. Stay tuned next week for week two of our life audit. And if you share any pictures on Twitter, be sure to tag me so I can see them.
I always look forward to writing this post every year. It’s a look back at what’s been on our collective minds for the last twelve months. And in a year as twisted as 2020, I was especially interested to see what posts resonated with you all the most.
This year I’ve limited the list to only posts that were written in 2020. I don’t know why I haven’t done that in the past but there it is. Here are the top ten most popular Paper Beats World posts for 2020, the year that shouldn’t.
I love that this post got so much attention because it means this book got a lot of attention. And it deserves it. No, you deserve to read this book. Because it’s life-changing.
I don’t think I was the only blogger talking about this. But it helped me to get my feelings out to the world. I hope that it helped you to see the good in the holidays even if they weren’t what we wanted them to be.
I’m going to keep repeating the message for this post. We can’t stop fighting in America. We’re too great a country to settle for what we’ve got right now. There are still babies in cages at our border. There are still people going hungry in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet. Don’t forget, and don’t stop fighting to make our country better.
My answer to this was yes. And I think I wrote an awesome book I can’t wait to share it with all of you in 2022. Did you write a book in November? Tell us about it in the comments.
I loved this book, as I’ve already mentioned. I guess a lot of you loved it too. I hope you learned something from this installment of Why it Works. I enjoy writing those and will keep doing so in 2021.
Madolyn Locke is a writing buddy of mine and a great author. I’m so happy this interview got so many reads. If you like my work, you’ll love hers. Tell a friend.
Best laid plans and such. I thought a million words in a year would be no big deal with all the different projects I have going on. Turns out when you’re a professional writer you spend a lot more time editing than writing. Oh well, live and learn.
This was the most popular post of the year by far, and I’m so glad. I love writing detailed posts about little writing tools, and I’m going to write more of them in the future.
So that was it for 2020. I have some really exciting things planned for 2021 that I cannot wait to share with you. Let’s raise some champaign glasses and kick 2020 the hell out of here.
The American election is pretty much over now. There are still some things to wrap up, but for the most part, we’ve done our bit. And man, did we ever do our bit. More people voted in this election than literally any election before it. That’s astounding. This whole election has been astounding. Also, terrifying, heartwarming, stressful, heartbreaking. I’ve been voting since I turned eighteen, never missed an election, and I’ve never seen anything like this. People way older than me are saying the same thing.
For some of us, this feels like a big win. It feels like the light at the end of a fucking long tunnel. It feels like after four years we can finally take a break. Sorry, I have some bad news.
We can’t.
We cannot stop paying attention to what our politicians are doing. We still need to pay attention to the news, pay attention to what’s going on in the world around us.
The problems in our country didn’t start with Trump. And they won’t end with him being booted out of office. Though I’ll personally rejoice to think that he’ll never again set a diet coke on the Resolute Desk without a coaster.
We the people found our voices this year after far too many of sitting complacently at the sidelines. We cannot go back to that.
I will not go back to that.
There are still marches to walk in. Laws to fight for or against. There are still kids in cages at our border. Millions of Americans still don’t have health care. We still need a Green New Deal. We still have to defend a woman’s right to chose. Flint Michigan still doesn’t have clean water. There is work, so much work, to be done. And it doesn’t start at the top. It starts with us.
I get that this is overwhelming. But it’s where we are. And if we’ve learned anything in the last four years, it’s that we cannot expect our elected officials to fix things for us.
If you, like me, want to make sure you’re doing your part in the coming years, here are some things you can do.
Know your local politicians.
I’m sort of bad about this myself. I didn’t even know our Lt. governor here in PA was a damned king who I need to pay more attention to. But this is where real changes that will impact you start. Who’s your mayor, state representative, governor? You should know their names, where they stand on issues that impact you, and what their email addresses are. Maybe even where their office is.
Yass, King
Vote in local elections.
When you know who your local politicians are, you can vote with more understanding. And you should vote. There are elections at least every two years. Know when yours are, and make a plan to vote in them. These people are going to make decisions that impact your life whether you vote for them or not. You should have a say in who they are.
Pay attention to the news.
Yes, I’m fully aware that this is hard. The world can be dark and scary. But we have to know what’s happening to make it brighter. I subscribe to The Skimm, which I read every morning. I also follow independent journalists and look into the information they provide. Just don’t shut down. Knowing what’s happening is the first step to doing something about it.
Call or write letters about things you care about.
This may seem like a waste of time, but I promise it’s not. We have to have our voices heard if we’re going to get anything done. Don’t ever forget that your politicians work for you. And you should tell them what you think of the job they’re doing.
I know that life is hard. There’s so much to do. Adding anything to our already bloated to-do lists seems like an impossibility.
But not paying attention is what got us here. It’s like in Phantom Tollbooth when Milo ends up in the Doldrums. Tock, the Watchdog, asks him how he ended up there. “I guess I wasn’t thinking,” Milo tells him.
“Then what do you think you need to do to get out again?” Tock asked.
We got here by not thinking and not paying attention. So, what do we need to do to get out?
It’s October 16th. If you’re participating in Nanowrimo, we have half a month left to get ready.
If you’ve been procrastinating, now is the time to get started on your Preptober list.
If you have no idea what the hell you’re supposed to be doing for your Preptober list, I’m here for you. Each of these things can be done over the next two weeks and will help you succeed in Nanowrimo this year.
List five ideas every day
Notice that I didn’t say good ideas. You should feel free to write the worst ideas you can think of. Just get yourself thinking about your story. What might happen?
Remember, you’re not required to use any of this in your novel. It’s just there to start you thinking. You might even use this to list things that for sure will not happen in your novel.
Gather your supplies
What do you write with? I’m writing my Nano novel this year on paper because my eyes have been messing with me and I don’t want to stare at a screen any more than I need to. So, I’ve stocked up on notebooks and the specific felt tip pens I like. I’ve got a big stack of index cards for outlining. I’m ready to go.
Make a list of things you need to write your novel, and get them now.
Let the people in your life know your plans
This is especially important if you’ve never done Nanowrimo before. I do this all the time, so my darling husband just rolls his eyes.
We can’t expect our family to respect our goals if they don’t know what the goals are. So let your family know what to expect over November. You’re going to need time away, daily, to write. Figure out if things need to be taken off your plate and whose plate they can be comfortably set on.
Plan your time
When do you have time to write? Are you a morning person or do you work best late at night? Can you write right after work or during a lunch break? Would you be better off getting your writing done in one long session, or breaking it up over the day? Are there going to be days this month you can’t write at all?
Take a look at your calendar and block out time now. If you have this time in your calendar already, you’ll have fewer excuses when the time comes.
Brainstorm for a full week
You need time to think about your story. Mull it over. Write about your characters, their background. Just play around on paper for a full week. Set nothing in stone yet. Right now, your ideas are play dough.
Outline for a full week
If you’re a pantser, go ahead and skip this one. You’re wrong, but you can do it.
Outlining is time-consuming. But if you do it right, it makes the rough draft a lot easier. You’re not lost, wondering what to do with the story next. I mean, that might happen when you’re outlining, but that’s sort of the point.
Keep in mind that the outline is not written in stone. In the course of your rough drafting, you might find the story going in a different direction. That’s okay, let it. The outline is just the start.
We have half a month left to go before Nanowrimo. Are you ready?
2020 has been a dumpster fire of a year. Literally, the worst one I’ve ever lived through. I’m not going to try to make light of this.
So what if we don’t do Nanowrimo this year? What if we throw our hands up and say it’s too much. With everything else we’re dealing with, who could add writing a novel in there? Shouldn’t we all spend November trying to just survive and figure out how to have Thanksgiving on Zoom?
Hell no.
Mind you, I’m not shaming anyone who doesn’t participate. But I’ll be doing it. And if you were thinking of writing a novel this year, you should do it too. Here’s why.
Publishers are still buying books
Agents and publishers are still accepting queries. Books are still coming out. People are still reading. So why not write a book?
Fiction can reach hearts and change minds.
If you’re feeling helpless, write about it. Write about your story of 2020. Write out your anger, your pain. Write about losing your job, your freedom. Whatever this year has been for you, write it out.
Or you could write a fictionalized story about a country that let a deadly pandemic run wild even though they had the means to fix it and save thousands of lives. Just a thought.
Fiction can reach hearts and minds that straight facts can’t. Think of how many times fiction has hit you right between the eyes and made you see the world differently. You have the opportunity to do that now. Writing is the voice we have in addition to voting.
Vote!
So let’s use every tool we have. Get your story into the world.
It’s a needed creative outlet
Okay, so not everyone wants to change the world with their words. Some people just want to create something.
It’s in our nature to need a creative outlet. To make something. To paint, sing, write, draw, knit, whatever. If you just want to write a little something for fun or to say you did it, go for it! Write something and don’t worry about what you’re going to do with it later. Just love the process.
We can get something good out of this year
We know how hard this year has been. There hasn’t been a lot to be happy about. Everything went wrong. People will be spending holidays without loved ones they had last year.
We have to get some good out of this year, damn it. Any good we can. And if we can end the year on a high note, be able to say we did this one big thing, that’s a win.
You might remember a month ago I decided to go for a Milwordy. I did a whole post about it. For anyone who doesn’t know, a Milwordy is when you try to write a million words in a year.
I do this sort of thing sometimes. I hear about some fancy new challenge online and it just sounds fun. I can make a little chart and track my progress. I can watch my numbers go up like on a video game. It’s a good time.
It’s also, like, instant gratification for me. If I have one complaint about writing, it’s that gratification is at a minimum. Writing books takes time. Writing short stories take time. Writing a damned poem can take time. And getting any of that work published? Don’t get me started. Years, you guys. Years. For someone like me, gratification is so important. (Not that kind, you pervert.) I need to feel like I’m accomplishing something. Word counts are a great way to feel that way. Watching them pile up is great for me.
Of course, I wanted to do a Milwordy. Especially right now, when I’m working on a bunch of projects that all need a little progress every day. Yes, a little progress adds up, but not near fast enough for me. A daily word count that includes all my little projects and any freewriting I do?
Hell yes, sign me up.
After trying for a whole month, I’ve decided that a Milwordy doesn’t serve me at all and I’m done trying.
Now, a quick disclaimer. Just because something doesn’t serve me doesn’t mean it won’t serve you. There are many people for who a Milwordy goal is fantastic. And it’s great! Good for you, in the most honest way possible.
I’m also not advocating for quitting things too soon or because you don’t like a challenge. Sometimes challenges are good. Sometimes a thing will serve you very well if you give it some time to exist in your life. Even if at first it serves you like a cannon in the gut.
But if we all stuck with everything, some of us would have screwed our lives up. Some of us would be in abusive marriages, shitty jobs, poorly chosen college majors.
That being said, I wanted to go through some reasons I’ve decided not to do a Milwordy for a few reasons. One, because I’d hate for you to think I’m just a big quitter. Two, because I hope that if you’re struggling with whether or not you should keep at something, this will help you make the best decision for you.
To start with, a million words is sort of an arbitrary number. I mean, it’s a beautiful number. It’s a nice big, round number and I love it. But when we’re talking about a million words as a word count for a year it doesn’t work. It’s not the same as, for instance, Nanowrimo. That’s 50,000 words in a month, the minimum required word count to be considered a novel. That being said, let’s do some math together. Let’s say an author writes a novel in a year at 50,000 words. Let’s say she also writes a short story every month at about 2,000 words and maybe two or three blog posts or articles a week at 1,000 words each. To be fair, let’s assume that same author does three pages of free writing a day, maybe a page of journaling. Now, a rough estimate of that word count is 300 words a page. That’s roughly 440,000 words in a year. Not even half of the Milwordy goal and that’s a shit ton of writing. Want to know how I know? That’s roughly how much I write in a year. And if you want to know how I figured out those rough estimates, keep reading. We’re going to get into that.
Yes, achieving a Milwordy is a massive goal, and it should require you to stretch and work hard. But there’s achievable goals and stupid goals. More than doubling what’s honestly already sort of a lot of writing comes down to personal abuse.
I could probably do it, though. I’m not bragging, I probably could write a million words in a year. I wouldn’t be taking any days off, and I’d probably get even fatter than I am now. But I could write a million words.
L.Ron Hubbard wrote a lot. A stupid scary amount. Most of it’s hot garbage. Like, bad. Sit down and read some of his stuff, it’s hideous. Hubbard was able to do that because he focused on quantity, not quality. If I wrote a million words in a year, it would take me another three years to edit, polish and publish all of it. And by that time I’d probably be sick of the whole thing. Or, let’s face it, I’d have lost my notebooks.
Let’s talk about notes now. I, like many writers, take a lot of notes. I take notes while I’m watching movies to review, when I do research for an upcoming project, or just sorting my thoughts out on the page. But notes don’t necessarily take a lot of words. I generally keep my notes pretty short, as they’re just there to jog my memory later. So, when I dreamed of pages and pages of notes filling up my word count every week, I was not considering reality. This Milwordy goal was encouraging me to expand notes unnecessarily, wasting time. I don’t have a lot of time to waste.
Now, I’d like to go back to something we talked about earlier. I have some weirdly specific numbers regarding my writing. For much of my work, my trusty computer does all the counting for me. But I do a lot of writing on paper. And that meant I had to count that by hand.
Okay, so I didn’t count every word. I counted the words on 100 lines and figured out the average. Which works well if I’m writing out a full line.
Do you have any idea how much time it takes to count all that? Again, time I don’t have to waste. It’s one thing when I’m doing Nanowrimo, counting out words in a rough draft for a month. Doing that for a whole year? No way, Man. I’m still having PTSD from it. Try writing out several pages of nightmare details at three in the morning. Then, count it the next day. See how happy you are about it.
Now, I can’t emphasize enough that some people benefit from doing a Milwordy. If you’re one of those people I want to hear about it. Please let us know in the comments below. But now it’s time for me to set this goal aside and focus on what’s important.
Paper Beats World 
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