NOVEMBER - NaNoing or not, we've got your writing needs covered
Oct 28, 2022 2:08 pm
“Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” ~George Woodberry
Hello ,
If you say "November" to most writers, one of the first things they’ll think of is National Novel Writing Month.
We like to call it NaNoWriMo, because it sounds cool to have insider slang and it’s a lot shorter to type out. There are those authors who love NaNo, those who have never done it, those who do it, but go rogue and set their own personal goals, and still others who think the whole thing is weird.
Regardless of if you try and do a set number of words in a month or spread them out over a year, the call to a creative life can be a challenge.
And it can also be a whole lot of fun.
We invite you to remember that sense of joy. Take your characters out to play. Laugh a little. Get in touch with that part of you that tells stories because it makes you feel alive. The words will come when you enjoy them.
Reminder, we have a NaNo community inside the Creative Academy for Writers. If you haven’t joined, you’ll find it in the Communities section, at the very bottom of the list.
We’ve got several things going this month to help you keep up that sense of play and get the words going.
You can find all of our upcoming live events cleverly filed in the Events space.
Highlights from October
Catch the replays!
Scrivener demo with Randy Lyman & Steph
Multi-book plot arcs workshop with Crystal
Changing your mind, conversation about the book Think Again by Adam Grant with Crystal
How to write action scenes with Eileen
Writing internal conflict with Eileen
Coming up in November
NaNoWriMo Madness!
If you're planning to participate in NaNo in any capacity and want to connect to other Creative Academy members, this is the community space to do so.
Folks are already posting their official names to find each other in the official NaNoWriMo site and to set intentions.
And join Eileen for a special NaNoWriMo kick-off event on Saturday, Oct 29! She'll be sharing advice about what makes for a successful month and the support we have for you in the Creative Academy.
Guest author! Kris Waldherr
The Historical Fiction Community invites you to join us for a visit with Kris Waldherr.
Author Kris Waldherr, author, teacher, and tarotist will be joining us to talk about writing and research, book marketing, and using Tarot cards to help creatively brainstorm characters and plot points.
Kris's new book, Unnatural Creatures: A Novel of the Frankenstein Women was released October 4.
Reading as a writer book club (with Elissa McColl)
On November 24th, we'll discuss The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen.
For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sally Rooney, and Rebecca Serle, The Arc is a smart, high concept love story that asks: is it possible to optimize our most intimate relationships?
We will meet on zoom to discuss the book from a writer's perspective. What worked in this book? What didn't work? What did we learn about the craft from reading this book? What could have been improved?
Everyone is welcome to join in the discussion, even if you haven't read the book, but it's more fun if you have.
Crafty Critique Club
Here’s your chance to get feedback on a focused area of your story. Members submit a couple of pages for feedback and give feedback to others in the Crafty Critique Club.
November's topic is RELATIONSHIP scenes.
Attend Eileen's Happy Hour discussion on the topic on November 2nd (or catch the replay!). For more information, DM Jenny Graham Lang or Bonnie Jacoby.
Your drop-in Q&A (with Steph Candiago)
Tue 1—Drop-in Q&A publishing tools & tech
Mon 7—Drop-in Q&A for indie publishing
Tue 15 —Drop-in Q&A publishing tools & tech
Mon 21 —Drop-in Q&A for indie publishing
Tue 29 —Drop-in Q&A publishing tools & tech
Your author biz (with Crystal Hunt)
Wed 2—Effective book sales pages workshop
Wed 9—Crafty masterclass: Tracking story timelines
Wed 16—Pinterest for authors
Wed 23—Just one thing: Cognitive reframing
Wed 30—Building a second brain
Your story craft (with Eileen Cook)
Wed 2—Happy Hour: Relationship scenes (Crafty Critique Club focus)
Wed 16—Happy Hour: Importance of showing character change
Wed 23—Happy Hour: Character change in action (with Tracy Thillmann)
Wed 30—Blue pencil / Story storm
Your hot seat (with Donna Barker & members)
Tue 1—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Lynette)
Thu 3—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind
Tue 8—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Janee)
Thu 10—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind
Tue 15—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Lynette)
Thu 17—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Bonnie J)
Tue 22—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Janee)
Thu 24—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind
Tue 29—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Lynette)
Genre meet-ups & open mics
If you're new around these parts and haven't found all your genre peers yet, find your people by joining the communities that match your interests!
See all the communities you can join right here:
And then meet up with them at these events.
Wed 2—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Wed 9—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Wed 16—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Wed 23—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Wed 30—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Sun 13—Memoir Community Meet Up & Open Mic (with Vig)
Sun 27—Memoir Community Meet Up & Open Mic (with Vig)
Tue 8—Historical Fiction Meet Up (with Jenny)
Tue 22—Historical Fiction Meet Up with guest author Kris Waldherr
Thu 17—Young Adult fiction Writers Meeting (with Bonnie J)
Sat 19—Romance Writers Rendezvous (with Crystal)
Sat 26—Mystery Thriller Meet Up (with Eileen)
Writing sprints
The writing room is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are several times every day when you can be pretty sure to find at least one other person in the room to keep you company. No matter where you are in the world, we’ve got you covered! Check out all the times here:
We'd love to see you in one of our events this coming month.
Please support your community
Every month—for the last five years!—Eileen, Crystal, Donna and Steph have hosted writer's craft happy hours, business-focused office hours, drop-in support for your author tech and tools needs, and motivation and accountability masterminds.
Your community peers have also led genre meet-ups, author conversations, book clubs and a variety of other events to keep you connected to your genre peers.
Much of this time is volunteered, but one thing we can't volunteer are the hard costs of keeping this community running. And autumn is the season that stresses our bank account, with tech renewals, insurance and other expenses.
Other communities for authors, similar to ours, charge as much as $199/month for far fewer events and much less engagement.
If you're getting value from participating in the Creative Academy, we could use your vote of confidence in what we're providing in the form of a monthly contribution.
We want to keep the community accessible to all writers, so if you have the means to help us sustain the community, we'd be ever-so-grateful if you'd click this button and support us, your peers, and your own writing.
Happy writing,
Stephanie, Eileen, Crystal and Donna
