Successful Writing Ninjas

Read first.

Once your computer is loaded, 
you may get your novel open and start writing. 

When you reach 10%, you may get your stickers from me to post next to your name!
Woo!
(BUT - It must be validated on your NaNoWriMo account first.)



Some things you might have missed yesterday:

• I'm grading your English Journals this week. Don't panic. If you've been preparing for NaNoWriMo with the class, and doing your classwork, you'll be okay.
• November 19th - You have TWO book reviews due in Goodreads. Will you get time in class? Probably. But it will mean that you'll have less time to work on your novel in class.

Guest Speaker - Margaret Dilloway

There is not much to catch up on from today because we went to see a guest speaker.

Her name is Margaret Dilloway.
She is a novelist and might be able to answer some of your questions about the novel you're about to write.

Reminders:

• By the way, did you finish your book blurb for your perfect novel? I have what you submitted, but if you didn't finish or need to make it better, you should probably do that. **hint hint**
• Read your independent reading novel. Really.
• If you finish a book, go write the book review for it and post it on Goodreads.
• Turn in your group novel at the library if you have not done so already.

Some highlights (she had great advice and you might want to use some of this):

• The 3 Cs of Novels - Context, Character, Conflict
• Context - This includes your setting or the world your characters live in
• Character - This includes actions that speak about the character. it is important to know what and who the character loves as well. 
• In novels, you sometimes have to make bad things happen to good people (it's about the lessons those characters learn from those bad experiences)
• Conflict - what does the character want and what is in his/her way?
• There should be conflict of some sort in every scene and every piece of dialogue.
• Most novels have about 60 scenes
• Act 1: Inciting Incident and Plot Point 1 (15 scenes)
• Act 2: Plot Point 2 and Turning Point (30 scenes)
• Act 3: Climax and Denouement (15 scenes)
• Check out the index card method for plotting scenes
• You DO NOT have to have 60 scenes. Your novel can have less. It's a guide. 
• Dialogue!
• Real dialogue is boring.
• You have to include what the characters are thinking as well. What someone is saying isn't necessarily what they are thinking.