Anna's Writing Nook

Hey everyone! Welcome to the Writer’s Nook. If you like writing stories, or think you might like to write a story, or you just like to hang out with people who like to write stories, this little corner of the blog is for you!! 

Today I’ll just introduce myself and get y’all started with a few little things, then you can be on your merry way. In the future, though, you can expect this to be your place to go for writing tips, helpful resources, prompts, and maybe even some kind of virtual workshop setup if people are interested.

My name’s Anna, and you may have seen me around at the Victor Farmington Library. I like to hide in the YA room and browse the books when no one’s looking. I’m an aspiring author and hope to be a teen librarian someday, so when I’m not in the library surrounded by books, I’m probably writing my own books. I write YA fantasy, and naturally read a lot in the genre, but my book tastes are all over the board. When I’m not writing or reading, I love to draw, make crafts, and beat my friends at MarioKart.

I’ve been writing pretty seriously since I was in middle school, so I’ve had this crazy dream of being a published author for a hot minute. I will be the first to proudly state that it was writing fanfiction that got me into writing original fiction, which got me into writing novels. So let’s get one thing clear right away: whatever you write, this writing nook is for you. Short stories, poetry, fanfic, novels -- and any genre! -- are all celebrated here. If you have a love for creating stories like I do, get over here and let’s vibe.

One of the things that really helped when I first attempted to write a full novel was this fun little thing called NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. If you’re not familiar, NaNo is a virtual writing challenge that happens three times a year -- April, July, and November -- where you try to write a novel in a month. Yes, it’s absolutely insane. Yes, I have lost precious hours of sleep over it. But yes, it IS possible. The April and July events, called Camp NaNoWriMo, let you set your own word count goals for the month. The site helps you track your progress and tells you about how many words you have to write each day to reach your goal by the end. I personally enjoy the Camp sessions more than the “official” November event, simply because that goal is flexible. In November, the set goal is 50,000 words and that number is definitely daunting if this is your first crack at writing a book.

The great thing is, NaNo knows how insane it is, so the site also offers a LOT of resources, especially for young writers. And they’re very encouraging, too. You won’t be guilted if you can’t reach that word count goal -- the idea here is that you’re awesome for writing words at all! And if you do hit your goal, holy crap! Congrats! Look at that, you wrote an ENTIRE BOOK in a MONTH! 

I’ve done NaNo for six years now, and I usually participate in all three yearly events. Yes, I’m crazy, that’s not news to anyone. But I love it because it gets me into a steady writing groove where it becomes a routine to sit down and bang out some words every day, and that’s always a great habit to have. 

Obviously not every day is productive, and sometimes the words don’t want to happen, but as I’ve heard countless authors say, everything is writing. Thinking about your stories counts as writing. Drawing pictures of your characters counts as writing. Taking a walk and looking at the world around you counts as writing. Because even if you’re not actively scribbling words or typing at the speed of light, your brain is refilling its creative well. And in my experience, the best way to get words flowing again is to read! A writer can’t write without reading. Sometimes it takes other people’s words to get your brain to remember that it knows how to do that too.

So on that note, here’s what I’m reading these days:

Just finished: RUTHLESS GODS, by Emily A. Duncan. This book is the sequel to WICKED SAINTS, and the second in a trilogy that I’ve been in love with since I read the first book last year. These books are pretty dark, but if you’re into kinda horror-fantasy, you’ll love them. The worldbuilding is excellent, the magic is very cool, and the character dynamics are *chef’s kiss* absolutely brilliant. The cliffhanger at the end of RUTHLESS GODS still has me reeling. I had to stare at the wall for like ten whole minutes after I read the last page. This is definitely a series where you do NOT want to be waiting upwards of a year for the next book.

Starting next: Haven’t decided yet! I just got new books in the mail the other day, plus there’s one glaring at me from my shelf that I bought around Christmas and have yet to read (and also many many more from years ago that I have yet to read because I’m terrible). My probable options for my next reads are THE NEVER TILTING WORLD by Rin Chupeco, THE DEVOURING GRAY by Christine Lynn Herman, and ALL THE STARS AND TEETH by Adalyn Grace. I may or may not end up reading all three at once because I REALLY can’t decide. 

If you guys want, feel free to follow me on Goodreads!

Also, here’s NaNoWriMo if you wanna check them out.

ALSO also, I’ll leave you with the single best website I have ever discovered that has saved my life multiple times: Fantasy Name Generators. This is a treasure trove of every kind of name you can think of, for people, places, LITERALLY EVERYTHING. This site is a staple for every writer, even if you don’t write fantasy. They have real-world name generators too. I’m telling you, they have everything. It’s freakin’ fantastic.

Okay and one more thing! This weekend (May 1 and 2, Friday and Saturday) there’s a virtual teen and middle grade book festival going on! It’s called Everywhere Book Fest, and it looks like they’ve got a great lineup of authors and panels. I’m definitely going to attend a few! Author panels are super fun and inspiring, even if they don’t particularly talk about writing. It’s great simply to put a face to the name on the cover of the book, and they’re just fun people in general. Also we love book fests, so if you’re interested, here’s the info: https://everywherebookfest.com/

And that's all! For real now! I'll be back next week with some more things to say about writing. Drop a comment if you have any specific topics or struggles you want to talk about. Writing is hard, and as writers we sure do love to complain about it. This corner is for that too. Complain away! And I'll see ya next time! 

✌🏻😎 Anna