When Writing: Use What You Know but Imagine More #ChaBooCha

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

We are one week into the writing challenge now. I hope everyone is making progress on their stories. I've been thinking about a popular piece of advice that is given out to authors and thought I'd let you in on a little bit of my ruminations on the subject.

As writers, we've all heard the advice to "write what you know." But if you only write what you know about, you'd never have fantasy stories, and mysteries would only be written by detectives. Adding elements of experiences you've lived through or making a character have the same career as yourself, because you know all about how to write about that particular career, seems to make sense. But if you only write about the things you know about, unless you've lived an unusually exciting life, your stories may become bland.

Using your experiences, which includes events you've lived through and emotions you've felt, can make writing about those things easier for you. But not having gone through a certain event or felt a certain emotion does not mean you can't write about it. If you've been through a heartbreak, you may find writing about it easier than someone who has never experienced heartbreak. But just because you've never experienced heartbreak doesn't mean you can't imagine and empathise with what it would feel like and accurately portray it.

Although you shouldn't limit yourself to only writing what you know, it can be helpful in your writing. For example, in writing fantasy, you use your imagination to invent entire worlds, so everything is new. But having lived in the real world for some amount of time, you should already know a little about human nature, about interactions between people, about human emotions and about how people can sometimes treat those who are different. Those are all bits of knowledge that can help you as you create your fantasy world.

What happens if you are writing about something you have no experience with and are not sure how to portray? That's when research comes into play. The Internet is great source for researching about all sorts of things. For example, when my characters are in a city that I've personally never been to, I can use the Internet to search up different things about the city, and I can use Google maps to virtually "roam" about the city and get a grasp on the layout and feel for the place.

In order to make "writing what you know" easier, you also should read a lot of books. If you read a lot of stories, you will naturally "know" more than someone who doesn't read. Our minds may not be great at retaining minute details about what we've read, but we do retain some general knowledge from what we've been reading, and that includes learning about emotions. For example, all of your children might be alive and healthy, or maybe you don't even have children, but you've read some stories that include grieving parents; if the writing was well done, you've felt the pain those parents experienced while you were reading about it, because we, as humans, have the ability to empathise even with things we have not been through ourselves.

Writing what you know can help you move your story along, but don't limit yourself to writing only about what you know; imagine more. Human beings have an incredible ability to use their imaginations to create. We can create entire universes within our imaginations. You can imagine more than what you know and write more than what you know, all while letting some of the things you do know feed into what you are only imagining.

Happy writing!

Self Publishing: Getting to the End by Victoria Corva #ChaBooCha

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

Today, we have a vlog created especially for ChaBooCha by author Victoria Corva. I do believe this is the first vlog post done on the Chapter Book Challenge.

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Victoria Corva writes things and reads things and reads things out loud, and sometimes she gets paid for that, which is nice because it means she can feed her cat.

She lives in Wiltshire with her partner and her furry familiar and as many books as she could fit in her small flat.

She is anxious and autistic and doing just fine.

To find out more about her and read more of her work, visit https://victoriacorva.xyz
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Today's prize is a paperback copy of Books and Bone by Victoria Corva. (FYI: This is not a children's book.) To be entered to win, you must be a signed-up member of ChaBooCha and comment on this blog post. You only get one entry, and the drawing will be done by a random number generator on March 31st at noon. 

The Second Week #ChaBooChaLite #ChaBooCha

We've already reached the second week of the Lite challenge. How are you all doing with your stories?

The second week can often be difficult, because the first rush of the idea and your opening scene are done now and you have to start getting from one point in your story to the next. If you've outlined your story ahead of time, you might find this stage easier, but for those of you who, like me, create the story as you write it, you might find the writing comes to you a little bit more slowly now. You'll have to think about the story and where it is going before you write these next scenes.

Feel free to browse through previous posts here in the blog if you need some help or inspiration. ChaBooCha guest authors have covered a lot of topics during past challenges.

Give-away

And now for this week's prize:

Some of you might know that I, occasionally, create book covers: some for books I publish and some for clients. Here, you can see some examples of the covers I have created in the past. I am, by no means, the best at cover creation, but my covers do appeal to readers.

I'm offering, for this week's prize, to create a *book cover for one winner. You need to comment on this post to enter. The winner will be drawn by a random number generator drawn from signed-up members who comment below. The winner will be announced on September 30th.

*I work with photo-manipulation. My style might not be right for the book you are creating, but you are under no obligation, if you are the winner, to use the cover I create. I will do my best to come up with something that reflects the title and theme of your book. 

Regional Ambassadors & the Teapot Tales anthology series #ChaBooCha

ChaBooCha Regional Ambassadors

The Chapter Book Challenge has been growing year on year and, there are some things I cannot do because of the restrictions of my location, such as meet-ups. As a solution, in places where there are more than just one member, ChaBooCha has Regional Ambassadors. 

ChaBooCha regional ambassadors are the people who coordinate Chapter Book Challenge events within their region. In order to become a regional ambassador, there first needs to be more members in your region than just you, and your main duties are to arrange write-ins and meet-ups with other members within your region and also to spread the word about the challenge within your region.

Promotional materials, when they are in the budget, get sent out to our Regional Ambassadors, and printable files will be sent as well. A special RA badge will be created for RAs to use on their blogs and websites, if they so choose. As things move along, there may be more perks added for RAs.

If you think this is a role you might like to take on within your region, send me an e-mail. (There is only one RA per region, but they may choose a co-RA.)

The Teapot Tales anthology series

The Chapter Book Challenge began in 2012. In 2013, in an effort to help pay for the prizes, the domain, some of the promotional materials and other related stuff, members started contributing to an anthology of flash fictions stories. There are now three anthologies in the Teapot Tales series of anthologies: "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales" (Teapot Tales: Volume 1) and "Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea" (Teapot Tales: Volume 2) and Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales (Teapot Tales: Volume 3). 

Submissions are only open to Chapter Book Challenge members. The anthologies are sold through Amazon, but will be expanding to other retail outlets. All authors retain the copyrights to their stories to publish in their own collections or on their own websites. Up to three stories may be submitted. 
Submitting to the anthology is completely voluntary; you do not have to submit any stories in order to participate in the Chapter Book Challenge. Proceeds go towards the Chapter Book Challenge. Contributing authors get an author bio listed towards the back of the anthology in an "About the Authors and Illustrators" section. Artwork (line drawings) is also accepted.. Submission information can be found at Melusine Muse Press.

This year's anthology title is "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Extraordinary Fairy Tales." The stories are flash fiction (minimum word count 300 words/maximum word count 1,000 words) and are to either be a new take on an old fairy tale (sometimes called twisted fairy tales or fractured fairy tales) or completely new fairy tales.

All work must be your own.

Deadline for story submissions (and artwork): August 31st, 2016

Last Day for ChaBooCha Lite Writing #ChaBooChaLite

Today is the last day for the challenge. How has everyone done?

For those of you who succeeded in writing their stories, well done! It's a wonderful accomplishment! Now you need to get down to the oh-so-important editing and revising part of creating your book.

For those of you who used this Lite challenge to edit or finish your previous book, again, well done! I hope to see your book on Amazon or in book stores someday soon!

For those of you who didn't complete your book, I'm still going to tell you, "Well done." You planned your book, and/or wrote some of it, That's more than you had before the month started, right?

The thing about these challenges, and the main purpose of them, is to get you to sit down and spend time on your story. It's important that you get your story out into the world, because someone somewhere is going to love it.

I hope you enjoyed this "light" version of the challenge and managed to spend some time on your book this month.

So, tell me in the comments how you did this month.

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Everyone signed up for this challenge will be entered into a drawing for a $5 (USD) Amazon gift card. All the drawings will be done tomorrow, so check back late tomorrow and see if you won anything this month.

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Also Friday, we will be posting the possible covers to choose from for Teapot Tales: Volume 3, so please come back and vote on your favourite. If you would like to submit a cover for the anthology, please send it by 9:00am tomorrow morning (GMT).

We are still accepting story submissions and art submissions for the anthology through this weekend.

Research for your Novel #ChaBooChaLite

Research is something that, with most books, you will have no choice but to do at some point during your writing. If you are writing a fiction novel, than you will need to research a variety of things for your book?

Some things you might need to research when writing a fiction novel:

History:
When is your story set? If it's in the past, what did people wear? How did they speak? What buildings were already built in that era? How were women treated? What occupations were prevalent? How did people travel? How was food prepared? As you can see, the list of things you will need to know if you story is set in the past is a long one, much longer than the questions asked here. And you will need to do thorough research on the topic in order to write a story that won't ask people to suspend their belief more than they should have to. Local museums, libraries and, if you have one, your local historical society are good places to start your research. Elderly relatives can also be true fonts of information about the past.

If your story is set in the future, it's important that you portray a future that is believable. What types of technology are being invented today? How do you think they will change by the time period your story is set in? Science and technology magazine could be a good source for finding out how some things are already set to change in the near future.

If you story is set in the present, your research won't have to be as intensive, unless your setting is somewhere that you are not familiar with.

Setting: 
Where are you setting your story? How is the setting important to the story and the events within the story? Have you done enough research on your setting to be able to write about it? Is your story going to be in a different world? If so, what do you need to research in order to accurately portray this mythical world?

Some authors who have a book set in the present day world use the need to research their chosen location for their setting as an excuse to travel. Some authors keep their stories located somewhere that they already know very well, but even then, there is research that might need to be done about the location. If the setting is local but in the past, local museums can be a great help in your research. For local stories set in the present, see if your town or city has a visitor's welcome center.

Weapons: 
If your protagonist or antagonist are using weaponry of any kind, you will need to research the type of weapon and how it is used. for example, different guns have different weights and caliber of bullets. Some guns and rifles take longer to reload than others ans some guns and rifles shoot faster than others. Some shoot more bullets before needing to be reloaded than others do. You have automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons. Which will your character be using? And, taking a moment to look back at setting, which weapons are legal or illegal to carry in your story's location? What about licensing regulations within the chosen location for your story? 
Archery also contains differences that need to be researched. There are long bows and short bows, as well as cross bows and compound bows. Do you know what makes each of them different? And what about the way they feel when you use each one? Does one take more strength to pull back than another does? How fast can each type shoot arrows? What types of arrows do they use? Did you know that the compound bow was created in such a way that it reduces the holding weight when it reach full draw position? Or that the recurve bow is the only bow style allowed at the Olympics?

There are several other weapons that your characters might make use of; a few examples are swords, throwing knives and poison darts. An extra step for your research would be to take a class that teaches you how to use the weapon. One class might be enough to give you an idea of the level of skill and difficulty and how each movement feels for the person wielding the weapon.

And a whole lot more:The types of research you will need to do will depend on what or who your novel is about, where it is set and many other factors. Each novel is unique and so is the research that it will need in order for it to be written well.

What have you needed to research for your novels?

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Everyone who is signed up for ChaBooCha Lite and comments on this post will be entered into a drawing for the cat charm book mark (similar to the one shown above). The drawing will occur at the end of the month and the winner will be announced in a blog post.

Outlining and You by Patti Larsen #ChaBooCha

one of J. K. Rowling's very complicated plot
outline pages

Outlining and You

I know what you’re thinking about the title of this post. Outlining, the evil scourge of the writer, nasty holdover from high school English class that sucks all the fun and creativity out of opening up your muse and letting her flow from your fingertips unfettered, free.

Please, allow me to elaborate before you brush off the one tool that could take you from the choppy sea of book writing to the hallowed shores of book written.

When I outline, it’s one of the most creative things I’ve ever been privileged to undertake. From core idea through one-sheet delight into conflict building and to a full, chapter-by-chapter breakdown, the outlining process is, in every step, joyful and full of sparkle I can’t get enough of.

Consider the following as a peek inside what could easily be the most fun you’ve had as a writer. Now, don’t get me wrong. Outlining isn’t for everyone. I do know a small few writers who can manage to follow the thread of their story from beginning to end with all subplots firmly in place in their first pass. I’m in awe of such talent and have only accomplished it in short story form, not full novel. Nor would I want to attempt it, to be honest, when the format I use makes my writing life so easy it’s a delight.

First benefit: attachment. When I’m outlining, I’m slowly building from the seed of the idea into layers of information and plotting, rather than sitting down and writing out a giant scene (or scenes), making it 10 or 20K into the work before realizing I’ve painted myself into a corner and am now forced to delete the bulk of the job and start again. Horrifying. By building the story, plot point by conflict by character trait, I allow myself the clear and concise vision of what is coming before committing whole heartedly to the thing. It’s awesome and liberating and leaves me with goosebumpy shivers I can’t wait to feel every time I sit down to outline.

Second benefit: editing. My content editor loves me. LOVES. I love me, too. Imagine being able to follow a plan, to write a book from a template of your own creation (no unoriginality or formulas here!) in a way you can see exactly where plot holes might lurk in wait to swallow your story whole. Or having a—dare I say—easy time with your edits because, lo and behold, the story is actually complete. Finally, the delighted response from your editor when he or she discovers you’ve done a large majority of their work for them. Priceless.

Third benefit: time. No more waiting for the muse to strike. No need. The entire story is written, you just need to sit down and fill in the blanks (Procrastination is, however, up to you to deal with). Using my method, I’m able to outline and write two books a month when I’m feeling ambitious (my record is three). And yes, according to my readers, they are good, thank you.

As writers, there are times (more often than not) when we’re taught what we do is hard. Painful, angst-filled, a struggle, and that we suck at it so much, why do we bother? I choose to change that way of thinking, starting with what I can do to make my life as a writer easier. Not only loving what I write, but embracing everything to do with the process, including outlining and editing. This job has enough pitfalls. Why not grasp every advantage?

That doesn’t mean you have to do what I do. Exploring method is half the fun. Sometimes something as simple as a beat sheet (taken from screenwriting) that breaks the story down into the three acts of a complete story is enough. Or, if you’re like me, a detailed paragraph per chapter might be your cup of tea. No matter your skill set or level of accomplishment, an outline can be a valuable tool for your writer’s box of tricks.

Now, if only there were more hours in the day…

About Patti Larson

Patti Larsen is an award-winning author with a passion for the paranormal, now with many books in happy publication and her best-selling Hayle Coven Novels re-releasing in book stores everywhere. She lives in beautiful Prince Edward Island, Canada, with a patient husband, six demanding cats and a Gypsy Vanner gelding, Fynn.

You can find Patti in these places:

PattiLarsen.com

Purely Paranormal Press

Facebook

Twitter

and sign up for her newsletter here

Giveaway

Patti has generously offered a signed copy of Girl Incredible as a prize for one commenter. All you need to do to be entered is comment on this post. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on March 31st. (Only one entry is allowed per person, and you must be a signed-up member of the challenge in order to qualify.)

First day of the challenge! - and our preliminary guest post line-up #ChaBooCha

It's the first day of the ChaBooCha. Are you writing? Do you already have your idea lined up and your story planned out?

We'll be covering a lot of topics this month, some of which have been covered in previous Chapter Book Challenges but from different authors (so with different perspectives), and some of which will be new topics for you to learn from.

We have a terrific preliminary line-up of guests who will be posting this month, some of them you will recognize immediately. (I'm not sure how I'm going to top this year's guest line-up for next year's challenge, but if anyone knows Neil Gaimon or Meg Cabot and can get them to agree to guest post for us next year, that would help. lol!)

Why is this just a "preliminary" line-up? Well, because a few big name authors have told me they are going to check their schedules and see if they can post for us, and I am still waiting to hear back from them. If I hear back soon, then I will be adding them to this line-up. There are also a few authors who have posted for us before who I have yet to get in contact with, but plan to ask to join us yet again. This list is just a preliminary one until I can finalize it with these last details.

Preliminary line-up of guests who will be posting for the 2015 challenge (in no particular order):

Tamora Pierce - New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling writer Tamora Pierce has written 29 books of fantasy for teenagers, a short story collection, an original audio book, radio plays, comic books, and articles.  Her books have been translated into many different languages and are available on audio. Her works have been ALA Best Books for Young Adults, YALSA Best Books, and NY Public Library Books for the Teen Age.  She was also named the 2013 Margaret A. Edwards Award winner for her Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small quartets.  She lives with her Spouse-Creature, two parakeets, and many indoor and outdoor cats in Syracuse New York.

Visit Tamora Pierce’s Webpage at www.tamorapierce.com

 
Lee Wardlaw (guest post) - Lee Wardlaw has published close to 30 books for children, tweens and teens, selling more than one million copies world-wide. Lee's newest books include: WON TON - A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU (Holt, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin), recipient of the 2012 Lee Bennett Hopkins Children's Poetry Award and the 2012 Myra Cohn Livingston Children's Poetry Award, among others; RED, WHITE AND BOOM! (Holt, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee), a CCBC Best Books of the Year and a Parents' Choice Award "Recommended" Book; and 101 WAYS TO BUG YOUR FRIENDS AND ENEMIES (Penguin), winner of the Forward National Literature Award for Humor. She has a degree in education. She has 30+ years experience presenting lively and interactive writing programs in grades K through 8th. Since 1988, she has also taught a variety of workshops and classes for educators, librarians, parents and aspiring writers. Lee's books have been honored by the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, the Children's Book Council, the National Council of the Social Studies, the National Council of Teachers of English, Bank Street College of Education, the International School Librarians Association, and more. 

Patti Larsen (guest post) - Patti Larsen is an award-winning middle grade and young adult author with a passion for the paranormal with well over 20 novels published. Her most recent book, "Girl Incredible," is available from March 3rd this year.

Yvonne Navarro (guest post) - Yvonne Navarro has written around a hundred stories, most of which have been or are scheduled to be published. Her first novel, "AfterAge," was published in 1993 and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. In 1995, her second solo novel, "Dead Rush", was published, and it also was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, this time in the category of Superior Achievement in a novel. "Final Impact," the third solo novel, was published in 1997, and won both the Chicago Women In Publishing's Award for Excellence in Adult Fiction and the "Unreal Worlds" Award for Best Horror Paperback of 1997 from the Rocky Mountain News. Since then she's published several more solo novels, "Red Shadows," "Dead Times," and "That's Not My Name." "That's Not My Name," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Paleo," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, Vol. 2" all won at the Illinois State level of the IWPA 2001 Mate E. Palmer Communications contest (two first place and one second place, respectively), plus she swept all three awards of the Short Story category with "Ascension," "Divine Justice," and "Santa Alma." She's written a number of media tie-in novels, including several Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, Hellboy, Elektra, and Ultraviolet. 

Nancy I. Sanders (guest post) - Nancy I. Sanders is the author of over 75 books published with publishing houses both big and small, including "Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books" and "Yes! You Can Learn to Write Children's Books, Get Them Published and Build a Successful Writing Career."

Adam Wallace (guest post) - Adam Wallace has written and published more than 20 books for children, including The Better Out Than In series, The Pete McGee series, the Rhymes With Art - Learn Cartooning the Fun Way series, "The Share-a-not," "Mac O'Beasty" and "The Negatees."

Darren Shan (interview) - Darren Shan's Darren Shan's real name is Darren O'Shaughnessy. His initial breakthrough in publication was with an adult book, in 1999, titled Ayuamarca (since re-released in the UK as Procession Of The Dead, and coming to the USA in 2010). In January 2000, his first children's book, Cirque du Freak, which he'd written as a fun side-project, was published. The first book in a series titled The Saga of Darren Shan (or Cirque du Freak, as it's known in America) attracted rave reviews. Shan loved writing for children so much, that for the next several years he focused exclusively on his books for younger readers. First, he wrote a total of 12 books about vampires. He quickly followed up his vampiric saga with The Demonata, a series about demons. Running to ten books in total, The Demonata cemented Shan's place in the UK as the Master Of Children's Horror, and saw him score his first UK #1 bestseller. He also wrote a one-off short book, called Koyasan, for Wold Book Day in the UK. There was a very successful manga adaptation of Shan's vampire series, drawn by the Japanese artist, Takahiro Arai. It was originally serialized in Japan, but collected volumes are now on sale in the USA, UK and other countries. In addition to writing for children, Shan has now returned to his first love and is once again writing for adults as well. He has had two adult books published in the UK, Procession Of The Dead and Hell's Horizon. They have been released in a number of other countries too, and are due to hit the USA in 2010. A third, City of the Snakes, goes on sale in the UK in March 2010. His first adult books were released under the name of D B Shan, but they are being reprinted under the name of Darren Shan in March 2010, and City of the Snakes will be released under the Darren Shan name. By the start of 2010, Shan's books were on sale in every continent, in 39 countries, in 31 languages, and have been children's bestsellers in America, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and other countries. The books have topped adult bestseller charts in Hungary, Japan and Taiwan. In total, Shan's books have sold close to 15 million copies worldwide! The movie rights to Cirque Du Freak were bought by Universal, and the first movie (which combines elements from the first three books in the series) was released on October 23rd, 2009, starring newcomer Chris Massoglia as Darren Shan, along with a wide array of established stars such as Josh Hutcherson, John C Reilly, Salma Hayek, Willem Defoe and Ken Watanabe. The movie was called Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. It was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in February 2010.

Amanda Hocking (guest post) - Amanda Hocking writes young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Her New York Times best-selling series the Trylle Trilogy has been optioned for films. She has published fifteen young adult novels, including the Hollows and the Watersong series. Frostfire - the first book in her newest trilogy, the Kanin Chronicles - is out now, and the second book - Ice Kissed - will be out May 5, 2015. 

Wendy Orr (guest post) - Wendy Orr writes for children, young adults and adults. Her books have been published in 25 countries and languages and have won awards including the CBC (Australian) Book of the Year, American Library Association Book for older readers, and the Israeli March of Books. Wendy also worked on the screenplay that turned her book Nim’s Island into a 2008 Hollywood feature film starring Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler. The sequel, Nim at Sea, is now in production, with Bindi Irwin starring as Nim. Her latest books are: (in Australia) The Nim Stories, illustrated by Kerry Millard, Allen & Unwin, (in Canada) Facing the Mountain, Scholastic Canada,  (in USA) DISCOVERED: A Beagle Called Bella, illustrated by Patricia Castelao; the 6th book in the Rainbow Street Shelter series, Henry Holt.

Harold Underdown (will be sharing an excerpt from his book "the Complete Idiot's guide to Publishing Children's Books") - Harold Underdown is an independent editor; he does critiques, helps to develop manuscripts, and provides other editorial and consulting services for individuals and publishers. Harold enjoys teaching wrote "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Children's Book Publishing.". He founded and runs "The Purple Crayon." He speaks and gives workshop through the Highlights Foundation, SCBWI's national and regional conferences, and Kid's Book Revisions. As an in-house editor, he worked at Macmillan, Orchard, and Charlesbridge, and has experience in trade and educational publishing. 

Jackie Castle (guest post) -  Jackie Castle graduated from UT Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas. She is a published freelance writer, storyteller and former elementary school educator. Jackie has published three successful YA novels in her White Road Chronicles series, along with three accompanying novellas. She also has short stories published in a variety of anthologies.

Y. I. Lee (guest post) - Yvonne's genre is Y/A Fantasy. "The Shadowed Valley," her first book, was published in 2011, followed by "A Rat and a Ransom," published in  2012.
Her third novel, "'Through a Glass" was published in 2012 and the sequel "Through a Glass: Gathering Storm" was published in 2014.

How to Avoid Writer's Block and Get Your Story Written #ChaBooChaLite

In my third year participating in NaNoWriMo, I set a goal of writing 10,000 words every three days until I reached 50,000 words, and I beat that goal by reaching a word count of 50,020 words within the first two weeks. The following year during National Novel Writing Month, I wrote 100,126 words within the 30 days of the challenge. These are some of the strategies I used while writing my novel for NaNoWriMo. (This is reposted from Blog Your Book in 30 Days.)

This is the half-way point in your writing, and for many, this is the point, when writing, that writer's block can sneak up on you or you might start feeling a lack of enthusiasm for your story. It's also possible that you have continued writing daily until this point, but you don't feel that you are getting the word count you were hoping for. Here are some tips that will help you to avoid writer's block and produce a high word count over the next two weeks.

1. Split your focus between different parts of the story-line. By writing different parts of your book at different times, whenever you feel stuck on what you are writing or just need a break from it, you will be able to switch to a different story to write about. This can work when writing a one-story novel or a non-fcition book as well. When you get stuck on a certain part of the book or just need a break from what you are writing, start on a different scene within the story or a different chapter within your non-fiction book. You can always go back to finish the one you started with and when you do, you will feel refreshed and full of new ideas.

2. Set aside as much time as you can spare for writing. You may find that you can sneak more writing time into your day than you originally thought was possible. If you're a parent, you can write when your kids are at school, when your youngest takes a nap, or when all of the children go to bed. Maybe you will stay up late to write. Take a notebook with you everywhere and write while on the bus or while waiting at the doctor's office. Wake up early to write before everyone else is up or before you have to leave for work.

3. Get rid of distractions during your writing time. Many things constitute distractions. Children can be very distracting, so write when they were in bed or at school. The TV is distracting, so make sure it is off when you are writing. Facebook and Twitter are distracting, so tell yourself that you will reach a specific word count before allowing yourself time on either site.

4. Challenge yourself. Try and beat your best record for word count in a day. Or look at how your friends are doing and try to beat their word count. Think of a daily word count that seems slightly out of reach for you and then challenge yourself to find a way to reach it that day.

5. Believe in yourself. No matter what obstacles seem to be in the way of you reaching your word count goal, believe that you will overcome them. Because you can.

6. Make writing a priority. There may be a lot of things that have to be priorities in your life, but if you are reading this, then there is at least a part of you that wants to make writing a priority too. So do it. Make writing something you will not allow yourself to set aside.

7. Get rid of your internal editor. Just write without looking back. When you finish your novel, you can go back and edit what you have written, but just let it go while you are in the middle of writing. You can't edit writing that hasn't been written.

8. When you are not writing your novel, talk about it with others. Not only is this helpful in coming up with new ideas or ways for you to think about your plot, but also, just the act of talking about it will help you to come up with new ideas on your own.

9. Give yourself a break from writing every now and then. Sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes to give yourself fresh ideas and keep the writing flowing.

10. And the one thing that is the most important is to have fun with your story! Enjoy every second of the world you are creating!

***** 

And now to announce the winners of the first two prizes!

The winner of the journal is:

Melissa Khalinsky

Congratulations, Melissa!

*****

The winner of the mock book cover is

Kelly Vavala!

Congratulations, Kelly! (Please e-mail me with your book title and any ideas you have for the cover.)

Chapter Book Challenge 2014 badge - Meet Nabu #ChaBooCha

This year's Chapter Book Challenge has a new mascot - Nabu the Badger. Nabu loves to read, and he is really looking forward to all of the new chapter books, middle grade books and YA books that are going to be written and published as a result of this year's ChaBooCha.

In fact, Nabu loves reading your stories so much that he is here to remind you and "badger" you into writing those books during the Chapter Book Challenge.

The 2014 ChaBooCha begins in just ten days! It's time to start preparing for the awesomeness that is going to be your next book!

If you haven't signed up for the challenge yet, don't forget to sign-up using the official sign-up form.

Don't forget to put the Chapter Book Challenge logo (above) on your blog or website so that Nabu can continue to remind you to get writing!