My 2018 NaNoWriMo Experience – Why Was I Successful

December 6, 2018 Diane Uncategorized author, books, determination, distractions, energy, goals, home, iron, love, NaNoWriMo, planning, stories, success, true love, writing, writing goals

NaNoWriMo 2018 has been extremely successful for me. My record for words written in a month stood at 60,000. In November, I shattered that and wrote 143,770 words. That’s an entire fantasy novel. I’m thrilled, shocked and every other word that means unbelievably amazed. I never knew I could do it. There are two reasons for that:

I’ve never done it before.
Others said it couldn’t be done.

So, how did I do it? I’m not exactly sure, but here’s what I think I did right.

The Writing Stage

The stars aligned in 2018 and after completing several assignments and miscellaneous projects, I was left in the middle of October to complete the draft for Revelation Stones, the 3rd book in the Castle Keepers series. I had also started a small assignment from my writers’ group, one I thought would be a short story. However, it turned out to be a full-blown novel, one that ties in to the Castle Keepers series. I predict it will be 100,000 words. I called it Beyond the Myst.

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Two Vital Questions to Ask Yourself About Writing

September 24, 2018 Diane Challenges and Goals, Thought for the Day #amwriting, books, goals, planning, publishing, reading, stories, success, writing, writing business

We are all looking for our path to success, but our paths are drastically different. We all don’t get to success the same way, and we don’t all identify success in the same manner.

In my years of reading about marketing and writing, the same questions pop up, and by answering these two questions, it makes us better able to plan our writing careers. In fact, the answers to these two questions are vital in making important decisions in our publishing journeys.

Last week, I posed these two questions to members in my writers’ group. They have a month to think over the answers, but I’ve been thinking about my answers for much longer.

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6 Things to Improve Your Success in Life and in Writing

July 5, 2017July 26, 2018 Diane Challenges and Goals, My Indie Publishing Experience Amber MacArthur, bad habits, energy vampires, health, improve your life, improve your success, improve your writing, life advice, Marilyn Denise show, reduce clutter, success, the writing life, waiting in a doctor’s office, write for success

I arrived ten minutes early for my doctor’s appointment, hoping I’d get in and out quickly. The appearance of only one other vehicle in the parking lot supported my goal. When I walked into the waiting room, there was only one guy there. Sitting in the dark. Alone. The receptionist office window was closed with a sign that read: Gone for Lunch; Back at 1:15.

I knew it was around 12:30. My appointment was 12:45. I started to think I had made a mistake. I questioned the only person in sight. “Are they still taking patients even though everyone’s gone to lunch?”

“Yeah, they are,” he said. “But instead of the receptionist, I saw a doctor come out and take in two patients.”

“Good. I was worried.”

“Me too until I saw the doctor.”

I sat and looked up at the TV screen and saw a show I had never watched before. After fifteen minutes, nothing had changed. I was still in my seat, the man was still sitting a few seats away, the room was still dim and the doctor had not yet emerged.

More TV Watching

After another 15 minutes, other patients started to trickle in, and another show I had never seen came on the television: the Marilyn Denise Show. I only watch one show—Agents of Shield—now that Corner Gas no longer runs, so almost every show is one I’ve never seen or heard of before.

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Do Writers Need Protection from their Failures and Successes to Continue to Write?

March 21, 2016 Diane Lessons in Writing Ancient Greek, Ancient Rome, damon, Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, elusive creative genius, failure, genius, novel, protect writers from their work, Romans, success, TED Talk, writing, writing genius

I recently watched a TED Talk video by Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert. It was called Your Elusive Creative Genius.

Gilbert discussed the impossible expectations placed on artists, particularly authors. She admits, her greatest accomplishment—the Eat, Pray, Love novel—is probably behind her, so how is she to go forward and continue to write?

She takes us on a trip back in history, when the people of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome believed spirits who lived within their walls visited artistic people. These invisible spirits assisted the writer, so the writer could not take full credit or all the criticism for the completed work.

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