The last episode of the current season! Pilar talks about what she's gained from taking part in previous NaNoWriMo s  and encourages anyone who's been thinking of writing a novel to try it too. What is NaNoWriMo https://nanowrimo.org/

Community aspect You commit for a month, that might be easier You discover the story I learned to sit and write - at least to sit and start Learn what works, what doesn't Helps you to talk about writing without saying you're a writer Why Pilar is pausing her novel writing and this podcast. If you're looking for podcast help, get in touch via www.pilarwrites.com

In today's episode, Pilar talks about:

Why she's stuck.

How the story's changed once she got writing, and how the idea can develop. What's she learned from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman What's she's incorporated from Scott King's Story Pitch Here's the link to exporting synopses from Scrivener https://www.scrivenervirgin.com/2018/05/file-compile-export-synopsis/

She also mentions Austin Kleon's clarification of what he means by Show Your Work, in his interview in the What You Will Learn podcast. You can find her Trello board here https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast and you can get in touch with her through www.pilarwrites.com

Pilar has realised that all her character was doing was living in the past, but she has a couple of things she's going to try to make the character more active. Following feedback from her writing coach, she now needs to almost go back to the drawing board, but this presents plenty of opportunities to make the piece richer. Plus: Thinking Remote: Inspiration for leaders of distributed teams is now out in audiobook format.

You'd think it's obvious, but it's taken Pilar quite a while to realise the main difference between writing a non-fiction book and writing a novel.  Pilar recommends Anne Janzer’s excellent book on writing non-fiction, "Writing to Be Understood: What Works and Why".  A little bit of progress on Pilar's own editing the novel.  Check out the Trello board for book recommendations https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast and Pilar's website for more info www.pilarwrites.com

Why do we write? I struggled so much during the re-write that I almost threw it all away and gave up this "I want to write fiction" thing.

Why I didn't:

• I hate dropping stuff before giving it a proper go - that's why I went to drama school
• I'm learning a lot
• I know that what I'm doing is hard, so if I get through it, or almost there, it will be amazing
• I'm paying for the process!
• I still don't know why we write / create art

2. Really glad I put the work in, because apparently, the writing has improved. Now the problem is the story, but that's ok, because that's fun. Now I've gone back to previous writing and seen how much MORE rewriting I need to do...

Still hard, I need to find the truth! Which means spending more time developing the relationship between Paula and Miguel- but always with that thread of suspense-is this a good thing to be happening? I don't want to write a love story...

3. The new opening, bringing the sounds to life; the sound routines, the breaking of them; the sounds from her neighbours

Description through point of view.

If you are also struggling with writing description that is relevant and reveals character, check out Episode 14.5 from Writing Excuses: Viewpoint as Worldbuilding

4. Twitter rocks- I needed the word for "shutters", tweeted, and got some options with minutes.

Pilar updates listeners on her writing retreat and how it's difficult to explain to people who don't write that writing is not driven by inspiration. She shares her struggle with technique and the bad writing habits she's discovered. This episode's wisdom is on using dialogue as exposition, borrowed from Into the Woods by John Yorke.

For book recommendations: https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast

And to find out more about me and get in touch: www.pilarwrites.com

I've finally received some feedback, at a micro and macro level. Lots to think about regarding character, supporting characters and the level of trauma the character is carrying with her at the beginning of the story, and what's triggered by the inciting incident.

I recommend episode 456 of the Helping Writers become Authors podcast. https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/podcasts/

For book recommendations: https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast

And to find out more about me and get in touch: www.pilarwrites.com

Today I share how I'm struggled to write a scene which was hard for the character to go through. 

The writing journal has been very useful in identifying where I need to pay attention to next in the story. How shall I incorporate all the subplots into the ending?

Check out all the books I talk about in my Trello board https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast

And get in touch through www.pilarwrites.com

Having never "journaled" before, Pilar has started a writing journal to help her identify the bits that need fixing. She came across this idea when listening to the podcast How do you write? with Rachel Herron

Connect with Pilar over at www.pilarwrites.com

For more book recommendations, check out Pilar's Trello board for this show: https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast

Pilar has started working with a coach, and so now the hard work begins!

She talks about how she's made some changes after considering the character's point of view.  Recommended book: On Editing. How to edit your novel the professional way by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price (again!) For more book recommendations, check out https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast

And connect with Pilar over at www.pilarwrites.com or @PilarWrites on twitter

In this episode, Pilar talks about how she's working on the structure of her novel and the holes she's identified.  She recommends the book On Editing. How to edit your novel the professional way by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price For more books, check out the Trello board https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast And to check out Pilar's books and other podcasts, head over to www.pilarwrites.com