Nanowrimo is a month and a half away, and while technically the rules state that you can only start planning a week in advance, I say fuck the rules. If you want to end November with a novel you can actually do something with, you need a plan. Nanowrimo calls them planners and pantsers (asContinue reading “Nanowrimo prep: Outlining your novel”
Author Archives: Bennett North
The time I figured out food was trying to kill me
Back when I was a kid, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to drink milk. The taste was nothing special, and since it made my lips and tongue itchy and made it hard to swallow, what was the point? Ice cream and cheese were fine because the taste made up for the discomfort, butContinue reading “The time I figured out food was trying to kill me”
The best laid schemes
I’d had every intention of starting Camp Nanowrimo by now, but events have conspired to keep me from even starting to think about my next project. Last Wednesday, my mother broke—nay, shattered—her ankle while walking on the beach. She is currently recovering from her first surgery and waiting for the second. The first surgery screwedContinue reading “The best laid schemes”
Book Rec: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
I feel like I don’t actually need to recommend Ancillary Justice, since everyone’s been gushing about it all year. It won the Arthur C. Clarke award for best novel, the Nebula for best novel, the BSFA award for best novel, and currently it’s up for a Hugo for best novel. Plus a boatload of otherContinue reading “Book Rec: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie”
Book rec: Gulp by Mary Roach
Mary Roach is the kind of nonfiction writer who can make any topic fascinating. No, really, anything. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal is a book about the digestive system, covering topics from the nutritional value of dog food to the optimal decibel level of crunchy snack foods to the stain-fighting properties of saliva. AtContinue reading “Book rec: Gulp by Mary Roach”
Endings suck
I’ve been in the process of writing the end of my novel for… well, months now. My wordcount goal for the book is 90,000-100,000 words, and at the moment I’m just around 91k. I’m so close to the end here, but writing it is like that paradox where each step you take halves the distanceContinue reading “Endings suck”
Nanowrimo post mortem
Happy December, everyone! I finished Nanowrimo a couple days early. I was on track to finish on the 30th, but around the 25th I decided to do a push and finish the last 10k in two days to get it done before Thanksgiving. This was mostly so my eternal rival Rob wouldn’t finish ahead ofContinue reading “Nanowrimo post mortem”
Nanowrimo metrics
We’re more than halfway through Nanowrimo by now. This is my 11th Nanowrimo, and I’m sticking with the usual goal of 50k. In the past I’ve done 100k or even, one excruciating year, 150k, but that’s not something I can manage this time. This time of year is always filled with debate over whether NanowrimoContinue reading “Nanowrimo metrics”
NaNoWriDay post mortem
So the results are in, and NaNoWriDay was a bit of a disappointment. I think in my case it was kind of like trying to run a marathon without any sort of preparation. I could probably have done it, but I should have built up to it. I ended up with 10,048 words after 18Continue reading “NaNoWriDay post mortem”
