Welcome new subscribers from the Influencer for Good project! And welcome longtime newsletter readers. I so appreciate all of you.
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In today's current economy, I sometimes feel like a thing, you know, a commodity, to be pushed around, quantified, as if I have no heart.
But I am not a commodity. Neither are you. I’m an invaluable multi-layered complex human being, like you are.
And like you, I create a product for public consumption (genre novels), that I price and market and promote, and edit to be appealing to my readers.
Our books have several purposes: to create an experience that attracts the reader, keeps them in the story, and takes them away from their every day life. So pleasure and escape.
Even though I create a product, I am not a product, or a machine.
It can feel as if we're expected to be a machine though, in this process to write a novel.
Yet there is no straight line to a finished book.
It’s complicated, creating a book that readers will love and consume.
And extremely creative.
What’s my point?
My point is ... that it’s complicated.
But all is not lost. We can find a way through the mess.
Even though there isn’t a direct line from start to finish — there’s always lots of bumps in the road, detours, getting lost (there’s more to this metaphor!) — you can break down writing a book into its smallest steps and get writing (or editing or marketing) done.
I know this because I have done it 16 times. (I've written 16 stories, get it?)
This is one of the reasons I like Nanowrimo so much. They encourage you to think in a daily word counts, one day at a time.
Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month, where people aim to write 50,000 words in the month of November. A free non-profit guides you every step of the way.
That's 1,666.67 words a day, or about 6.5 manuscript pages, measured at 250 words per page.
That’s still a lot of words, AND, you don’t have to write that much.
Because you can be a Nano rebel!
I know I will be this year, and have always been a Nano rebel. (I gotta be me!)
Even with my experience, I can comfortably usually write 40,000 words in a month. Any more than that and I need to be not doing anything else to make it happen. But that’s me. Your experience may be different! But you won't know until you try, I mean, do it.
My husband, Ezra Barany, also a novelist and co-teacher at Barany School of Fiction, has met and exceeded the 50,000-word count in the five-plus past years, and that's worked for him.
As I mentioned above, I’m a Nano rebel again this year and won’t even be writing a novel.
Instead I’ll be editing one of the novels I wrote earlier this year. (Last year I wrote four novels from November 2016 through June 2017.)
Other Nano rebels include Ezra who will be writing four 12,000-word stories in a series. I have group members who will editing and students who will be planning. Nano rebels rock!
If you’re looking for a reason to dive into your book, or you just want to use this global focused program to work on your book in some manner, I encourage you to take advantage of Nanowrimo's energy this coming month.
If you’re looking for local events in your community where people get together and do a “write-in,” check out the Nanowrimo site: https://nanowrimo.org/.
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Coming Next!
Over here at Barany School of Fiction, we’ll be holding our annual Write Your Novel Support Group, November 1-30, 2017: 4 weekly calls in November to commiserate, offer support and perspective with experienced teachers, Ezra and I.
The group also comes with some extras, including a short consultation with Beth Barany, last year's support calls, and the ebook, Overcome Writer's Block.
I’ll have the sales page up Tuesday. It will be $197 for new students and $99 for alumni, and free for group members.
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Also Coming Soon!
I’ll be offering some sign up bonuses to the Group Coaching Program if you sign up for this program before the end of October.
One of the bonuses is that you can join the Write Your Novel Support Group for free.
The Group Coaching Program is a 12-month program for dedicated novelists who have already written a manuscript or equivalent who want ongoing group support (2 group calls monthly that come with spot coaching and analysis of your manuscript, plus a “secret” Facebook group) and additional opportunities for in-depth 1-1 support with me, including developmental editing. More news about that next week.
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Something New for Writing Teachers and Coaches:
I know I have fellow writing teachers and coaches on this list. Hi! :)
I'm looking for like-minded colleagues who would like to be successful together.
I’ll be doing a list builder giveaway campaign for writing teachers and coaches, launching during the Christmas/Chanukah/New Years season. This is a beta project. If it goes well, I’ll may do several more next year.
How it works: Writing teachers/coaches pay a small fee and offer up a digital or physical product on the theme to help writers to give away as a prize.
The goal of this project: to build our list with the right audience, potential students and clients who like what we offer and want our help.
Theme for the beta launch: Tools to Develop Characters and Character Arcs.
If you’re interested in participating and want more information, hit reply and let me know. Thanks! May be we all prosper together!
Yes, please do forward this to other people you think would be a good fit, or just let me know who they are, and I'll reach out.
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SURVEY! (Last but not least!)
We’re growing here at Barany School of Fiction, and I’d like to get to know you better. To that end, I’d love it if you could fill out a short survey for me here.
A little gift awaits you on the thank you page. :)
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