World Building and Researching Part 1

Researching 

In addition to finishing my first rough draft for my story, I have started world building.  One of my first posts on this website discussed that the setting of my story will be in Virginia Beach, Virginia in the United States.  Although I have lived near that area since 1993, there is still a lot to learn about the city's beach, events, and even its history.

Through writing my first draft, I ended up adding a fantasy realm for my merpeople to in habit.  The setting in my fantasy realm takes place at a village near a beach.  Due to taking Marine Biology in 2006, I forgot a lot of information I learned about the ocean.

These are what I am using to regain that knowledge of the ocean.  

This book is not just filled with pretty pictures but also a ton of information about the ocean.  I plan on reading this book fully; front and back.  My story has a ton of sea travel and I better know the ocean like the back of my hand.

 

Videos on Youtube and Animal Planet

There are a ton of playlists and channels dedicated to oceanography on youtube.  One of the most interesting sources was Mermaids: The Body Found.   This creative documentary has some people believing that merpeople exist with various stories of mermaid bodies found or encounters with mermaids.  I never knew about the Aquatic Ape Theory until I saw this documentary.  

This post was originally on Indie Author Tiffany.

Moving Beyond National Novel Writing Month (November)

Today is January the first, 2014 and I hope that everyone has had a Happy New Year.  I am still writing my novel beyond the 50,000 word goal.  Part of my writing process has me writing some parts of my story in my notebook, some parts in a writing app on my iPhone, and then putting everything together on my computer.

Writing Tips

What I use to write with depends on whatever I have lying around, if I'm waiting for an appointment, or who is with me.  For some reason, typing in my Iphone is more acceptable than writing in my notebook when I am with friends.   Everyone thinks I am writing a long text message to a friend rather than trying to add more words to a long story.  

I have joined National Writing Month's forum which is open all year long.  You can click here to view my profile.  Also feel free to add me as a friend on the forum.  It's always nice to see what others are writing.  There are a few very helpful threads that have helped me continue writing my novel.

One thing that helped me out last month was knowing that I was writing a rough draft.  There was and still is no need to feel like every word on paper or screen has to be perfect.  Editing will become important on the second draft and whenever I let another pair of eyes view my work.   What slowed me down on the first week was constantly stopping and editing my work as if I was on the final draft.  

The last tip was generally knowing what direction my story was going, what my character's personalities were like, and how my characters respond to certain situations.  For me, knowing such things helped prevent writers block and kept me writing.

This post was originally from Indie Author Tiffany