Wrongful Love By Phoebe M.C.

I have officially Published Wrongful Love on both Amazon and lulu. for those who want to buy my book the links are

Amazon

lulu

For those who want more convincing here is the book trailer I made and my book description.

Elena is your not so average sixteen-year-old with a vast number of mental health issues but, when she meets thirty-five-year-old successful businessman, Marcus her whole life flips upside down for better or worse. Elena finds herself having to battle every obstacle thrown at her to prove her love for the man who swept her off her feet on the first meeting. While still trying to overcome her mental health issues, Marcus is incredibly supportive despite the distance that divides them. Will they live happily ever after or will it end up in flames?

How to win NaNoWriMo 2020

NaNoWriMo, 50,000 words in 30 days is it possible? yes! i wrote all 50k words in 24 days last year and you can too

the biggest thing to remember is that in November you have 30 days to write 50k words that is just over 1,666 words a day. if you only wrote on weekdays that is 22 days of writing at around 2,272 a day.

i wrote 24 days last year and won so it isn't impossible but that is about 2,083 words a day, some days i only manged fifteen words and i had to make up for all the lost words the next day which was hard. but before you start freaking out here is my tips on how to achieve this amazing goal.

winning NaNoWriMo is almost exactly the same as winning camp NaNoWriMo except you have to reach 50k and cant set your own goal.

1. Pace yourself

while it may sound like a good idea to sit down and write for five hours each day you will drain yourself a lot faster, if you plan to write every day you're goal is to hit 1,666 a day. some days you are going to be over that and other days you will be under but if you know that you have to write a certain amount of words you will soon work out how long it takes you on average to write that amount of words each day. which will make the days you are under a lot easier to catch up in the future.

2. Outline

while i myself am more of a pantser i do a brief outline of my project that i will be working on {Check out my blog post on outlining} in the post linked i talk about how i outline briefly to help get everything done without it being a full outline which makes me feel restricted.

3. Get inspired

there are many ways to do this, you could go for a walk, listen to music, go and be with nature it really depends on you. i personally search up on google "writing prompts" and look at pictures or follow links and find one best fitted for the novel you are writing. i find this really helpful and i immediately find inspiration

4. Leave it unfinished

when you know you are going to be finishing writing, for the time being, if it is for a few hours or for the day that doesn't matter, the best thing to do so you don't come back and go well what to do now start the next sentence and don't finish it. for me, i finished writing for the day and knew i wouldn't know where to start again so i finished off with 'i walked into the kitchen and saw' while you wouldn't want to finish a chapter, paragraph or bookending like that it just means you can come back and it will be super easy to get back into it, meaning fewer writers block moments.

5. Sprint

for this, all you need to do is search up NaNoWordSprints on twitter and wait for the people to come on, or you can set your own timer up on your laptop or phone. a word sprint is when you have a timer for a certain amount of time and you just flat out write, then you take a break when you are done before going straight back into it. Video on sprints with information on them

6. Accept That Your Manuscript Will Not Be Perfect

don't try and make it perfect, that will only help you not make your word goal, realize that no matter what there is going to be major editing involved so there is no point in worrying about it all being perfect now when that is the least of your concerns, the faster you realize that the easier it will for the words to flow.

7. Write

sometimes the best thing to do is just write, even if it is never going to make it into the final copy of your project, every word counts when you start writing the words should just start to flow meaning while it most likely won't make sense it still counts towards your word goal and you may make something that you can use for your book

Writing Sprints

Writing sprints are very useful things to do as a writer but when you don't know what they are you can get quite confused on how to do them so I am here to help.

First, let's talk about what a writing sprint is.

A writing sprint or a word sprint is when you have to sit down for a length of time and write as much as you can in that time without stopping. you then take a five-minute break and do it again. the sprints can be for any length of time but most writers pick somewhere between five minutes and half an hour.

The benefit of writing sprints varies from increasing how many words you can write, getting your story done faster and more.

you can do word sprints on anything. there are websites like mywriteclub where you can do your sprints with friends or by yourself that will time you or you can set up a timer on your phone. during NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo you can do writing sprints on twitter. 

if you search up @NaNoWordSprints they hold word sprints every April, July and November. AuthorTubers also randomly hold live streams where word sprints are done so just do some research and you'll find the best way for you after some experimenting.

Four Things That I Wish I Knew About Writing

There is a lot I wish I knew before I started writing so I have compiled some of them to help you.

One of the major things I wish I knew is that your first draft will never be perfect and just because it sucks doesn't mean it can't be great. this was something that took me forever to understand because for the longest time I would think my writing was amazing and then I would come back and read it and it is garbage so I would throw it out instead of editing and trying to make it better.

Talking about it is so much easier. I have spent hours and hours talking to my family and even friends about the amazing book I am writing or thought of and even discuss every little detail but the minute I went to write I couldn't find the right words, how to write it the way I pictured it in my head. which brings me onto the new thing I wish I knew

Perfection isn't key, now obviously if your book doesn't have spelling mistakes it would be so much easier in the long run to edit but the first draft is just you telling yourself the story, you can edit it the way you want the book to be once you have written the book so it is better to write half pie ideas and plots then not writing at all because you want it to be perfect from the start.

Not everyone will like your work and that's okay. when you are a writer rejection is a big part of it from agents, publishing houses, friends, family and readers alike. your book won't be for everyone and there will always be at least one hater who will try and destroy your confidence but no matter what you do there will be haters and as long as you love your book don't worry what others think.

What is something that you wish you knew?

My Writing Routine

I think there comes a point in every writer's life that they decide they need a writing schedule. it can be very handy to make sure you have all the time you need to do other things as well as get as many words down as possible.

I myself have been the victim many times to overworking and hitting the block and it wasn't until recently i decided to make a Writing Routine and this is it.

Before i start i want to point out that i have two writing routines, one for wattpad and one for my book writing. i will be splitting this post into two so you can see both my schedules.

My Book Routine

Since dropping out of school i normally wake up at around 11am to 1pm depending on what time i go to bed, i never set an alarm unless i have an early start for travelling or appointments so i wake up when either my animals wake me or my body does.

Once awake i make coffee to wake myself up and i just plot around until 2pm, this is when i start writing. i like to write around three pages of words a day which for me is normally 1,500 words. i work on multiple projects at one time so it maybe 300 words on one project and 800 words on another project and 400 on another or it may be the full 1,500 words on one project. i also sometimes write more than three pages it just depends on how much i am in the mood to write and how the words are flowing because sometimes that's a half an hour job and other times its a three-hour job it just depends. 

Now i know a lot of writers give themselves a day break but i don't i write every single day of the year. After i have written i log into Wattpad four days a week but i spend Wednesday and Saturday editing a book that has just come out of what i call the stand-down period which is where my books, once they are finished, go into for three months before i start to edit them.

My Wattpad Routine

Once i have finished with my three pages with my normal writing i log into my Wattpad and start writing, i am always writing across two books on wattpad every Wednesday and Saturday a new part goes up.

Now i do just want to point out i only spend four days writing on wattpad and i write four parts across two days. so every Monday and Tuesday i write for Wednesday uploads and every Thursday and Friday i write for Saturdays upload. i do it this way so that i know i always have parts and so i know i can upload when i am meant to and it also gives me time to build up parts before a new book is started.

On Sundays i edit one of my older books on wattpad, normally only one part a week but if its two shorter chapters i will do two.

My parts vary from 500 to 2,500 words per part so i don't set a goal other then i have to write eight parts in total in the week.

Starting A New Book: What You Need To Know

I am no stranger to starting new books and while I am no expert in writing and all of that I would say I know a fair bit about the drafting process and getting those first 500 words on the page.

starting a new book for me depends on two key factors, is it a solo book or a series? I will be getting into how I do both.

solo book: 

now solo books are the easiest for me because I have less preparation to do. typically I start out with my idea and do the quickest brainstorm ever literally all I have for a new book is this
project name
blurb
main characters
key info

an actual example from one of my plans

and then I just start writing.

series:

Now for me when it comes to series I have to be on the ball with it. I typically start with a
book idea,
then I make a book bible,
write out a small book plan,
project name
do what I do for solo books
then I start writing. 

things to know before starting a new book are:

• what you want the book to be about
• who your main characters are and there relationships to one another
• a ballpoint of how many words you want it to be  
• what the genre is 

that's really all there is to it, everyone has there own way of writing and that's okay you just have to find out how you do it and you'll be set

offline ways to get inspired to write

I live in an area that is prone to power outs which when you want to get inspired to write to either work or pass the time can be hard, so I have compiled a list of ways I get inspired to write when there is no internet or when you want a break from being online all the time.

I pay for Spotify premium so that I can download podcast episodes and music to get inspired while being offline. My favourite music that inspires me is rock and my favourite podcast to get in the mood is I Should Be Writing by Mur Lafferty.

Outside of Spotify, I read another writers work which gets my mind flowing with different words then the hardest bit is putting those words onto paper (of a word document)

Or I will go out into nature if weather permits and stare at the woods and imagine in my book what my characters would be doing if they were in the real world.

How do you get inspiration?

What I do when I am not writing

I talk a lot about my writing (the whole point of this blog) but some people forget that no matter what you do for work from the police to teachers that we are all people and we do have lives outside of work, and while I don't have an eventful life out of writing I decided to dedicate this blog post to things I do outside of writing.

the main thing I do when I am not writing is my other jobs like my youtube, my business making dreamcatchers and modelling. I also spend a lot of time sleeping.

outside of work though you will find me watching movies or tv-shows, listening to podcasts or music. researching different things (i love to research) you will catch me at doctors appointments or in my back garden taking photos of the sky, flowers and animals. I am also a very big gamer.

as I said nothing eventful but it works for me. 

what do you do in your spare time?

Things to know about your characters

Having started a Pinterest board filled with pins around writing. I have slowly begun to realize while I am a good writer (maybe biased, but I have faith in myself and my abilities) I could have more planning done to make my job that bit easier. 

I have been a panster for as long as I can remember which is why I love book bibles because I can pants my way through the book but remember vital information that I may forget in the long run like the colours of the characters eyes, birthdays and more.

However, because I am starting more series of books, I need to plan ahead in a sense which I find planning some things to be useful, and they could also be helpful in my solo books like full character outlines.

So I have made an extensive list of things both big and small I have found very useful to know from the start, and while your characters will change and grow throughout your the story, it can be a good idea to start with an outline and change it as you go.

characters full name:

reason or meaning of name: 

characters nickname:

reason for the nickname:

gender:

birthday:

age:

mothers name:

fathers name:

siblings:

friends:

how old does he/she look:

height:

body build:

eye colour:

skin tone:

distinguishing features or marks (scars, glasses, tattoos etc.):

hair colour:

type of hair:

hairstyle:

does your character have any disabilities or disorders and what:

family situation:

friend situation:

home town:

type of childhood:

pets:

dream job:

actual job:

education:

religion:

finances:

current location:

currently living with:

bad experiences in life:

good experiences in life:

good traits:

bad traits:

mood character is often in:

sense of humour:

characters greatest joy in life:

characters fear:

nervous tics:

flaws:

hobbies:

does your character smoke:

drink:

do any drugs:

favourite colour:

least favourite colour:

logical or emotional:

daredevil or cautious:

introvert or extrovert:

there you have it my list of things I find useful to know about my characters. let me know what you find useful in the comments if it isn't already on the list

How to make a book bible/ series bible

making a book bible was foreign to me not that long ago, I didn't even know what they were but now I have made five-book bibles for different stories and they are amazing so here is some information on them and how to make your own.

A book bible also known as a series bible is a place like a folder or a notebook where you keep all books information. so this is the place where to write their names, what they look like hobbies and all of that so it doesn't randomly change in the middle of book one or even in the third book of your series.

even if you are a Panster like me it can be really beneficial to have one of these, you don't need to have a book outline in this just the small details you need to remember so you dont randomly change something like eye colour throughout the books.

things you should have/what I have in a book/series bible are

• series name
• start and end date of the book
• mini blurb about each book
• word count per chapter
• goals for the book (word/chapter etc.)
• key information like things that need to go into the next book

• characters name
• age
• race/kind 
• hair/eye/skin colour
• height/ build
• marks on the body (tattoos, scars etc.)
• skills and abilities
• personality
• living situation
• family
• occupation
• history
• life experience
• education
• history

and there you have it, I book these now for all my book series and even just some of my stand-alone books that I am forgetting a lot of information. these can be done digitally or even physically all up to you.

April Camp NaNoWriMo | how i did, my goals etc.

video: https://youtu.be/9DUKPwjNHJ0
Aprils camp NaNoWriMo was my first NaNoWriMo in April and my third time participating in NaNoWriMo. In Julys NaNoWriMo I wrote book one in my book series, in NaNoWriMo in November I wrote book two and in Aprils NaNoWriMo, I tried to write the final book in the series. now I do want to point out the final book in the series is a novella with a total of 45,000 words while the other two are 52,000 and 56,000 words. I knew from the start the final book would be shorter than the other two because this one focuses on Tosha and her becoming a Banshee.

I declared my project on the 11th of January 2020, because I already knew what I wanted to write. I had set my goal at 45,000 words for the 30 days which equals out to 1,500 words each day something I know I could do with my eyes closed, all that was left to do was wait.

in the time I was waiting I just made a list of things that needed to happen to make it fit in with the other two books so that I could just write like I needed to. 

Before long it was April and I kicked it off with 2387 words on the first day, not to bad I will admit but it was a pretty bad attempt especially since the next day I only was able to write 1126 words.

After that, my work went downhill, with day four and seven getting no words but I got a combined total of 2031 words over the other three days which means I completed week one of Camp NaNoWriMo with 5544 words total.

week two wasn't much better with only getting 1,777 words all week and only writing five days and four of those days were only 19 words a day.

between the 15th and 21st I only got 2,468 words and only wrote two days, on the 21st I decided to give up with writing for camp nanowrimo because of how far behind I was and because of bad writer's block getting in the way.

How i outline my books

outlining books can be a daunting experience, i pride myself in my Panster ways but for writing challenges like NaNoWriMo i do a brief outline and in today's post, i am going to talk over how i do my brief outlines.

first, i get a clean piece of paper in a book. i like to have a physical copy for if im travelling and don't have internet. i then like to write my characters names on one piece of paper, just there names so that i know the names off by heart and not have to scroll halfway up my book to find the name. i do make book bibles which i will get into in the future but i don't write my plans in my book bible.

i then get my black pen and start writing, any idea i can think of for my book i write down. i don't do it in any particular order nor by chapter because i feel that limits me in my writing.

by the end of it, my plan will look a lot like this

things to write in project {what ever the project name is} 

• meet Andrew
• kill beast
• date night
• get to know Andrew
• the fight scene with hunters
• learn magic powers
• find out about the supernatural world
• find out she is magic

characters

• Andrew
• Emily
• Sofia
• jack
• Patrick
• baby Ashley

that is literally it, normally my plans and one to two pages along in a 2B5 lecture book. i really do try and keep it as simple as possible so that i have the freedom to add more and move things around as needed.

How i come up with my book names

Coming up with book names can be one of the hardest things you will do for your book but i am going to tell you how i name my books so you can get a brief idea of how to do it yourself.

first thing first is i write the book. while i am writing book names pop into my head so i write them down on a note on my laptop screen to make it easier to come back to.

say i was writing a book about a killer teddy bear some name ideas i would think of would be

• killer bear
• the silent killer
• whats wrong with teddy: a death story
• teddybear in new york killing edition
• the bloody bear
• the surprise killer 

i would then have to go online and search up each book name and see if a book already has that name. normally my search will look like {name} book so for example killer bear book.

while i am doing the searches any books with that name will be removed.

so after my search, my list looks like

• whats wrong with teddy: a death story
• teddybear in new york killing edition
• the bloody bear
• the surprise killer 

as you can see there was already books called the silent killer and killer bear so they were removed. because there are four names left i have to work out which would be the most eye-catching and that i will think will get the most sales.

so say my book was based in Canada and not new york i obviously wouldn't use teddybear in new york killing edition. but if it was in new york the edition part would most likely make people think there will be more books in the series in different places. which would be fine if it was a series but if it was a solo book it wouldn't work.

something like what's wrong with teddy: a death story may make little kids pick it up and the parents not see a death story so that wouldn't be the best either. which narrows it down to the bloody bear and the surprise killer. 

the bloody bear shows its a story about a bear and if the cover of the book was a bear covered in blood it would be pretty obvious about what it is about but if i was writing a mystery the surprise killer would get peoples attention and would be a major twist in the story what is actually a teddy. 

so i personally would pick the surprise killer because it would be a major twist. and because my book will have already been written i would know that the bear was a twist in the story which makes it perfect.

there you have it, how do you name your books? let me know in the comments and have a wonderful day.

monthly challenge | writing as many words as i can in a month

in January 2020 I gave myself a challenge. I had to write as many words as I could in a month and this is how I did.
video:

January was a bit different than my normal months because I had to go to wellington on the fourteenth for a night, so the fourteenth and fifteenth I had to handwrite on the plan which isn't fun in any shape or form for me because my fingers cramp up and make it hard to write for long periods of time with a pen.

I split my writing into a few different categories. blog one (endometriosis) blog two (this blog right here) blog three (my main blog) Wattpad books and my novels, novellas and short stories.

after seven days I had a grand total of 14,996 words and that's with me not writing any words on the third.

by day fourteen my word count was up to 27,613 words by this point I hadn't written on two days day three and day twelve.

at day twenty-three I had a grand total of 42,276.
blog one-548
blog two-2,549
blog three-2,319
Wattpad-25,606
books-11,254

by the end of the experiment, I had a total of 61,875 words
blog one-758
blog two-3220
blog three-2879
wattpad-36,908
books- 16,130

Rant about word counts and hate comments.

I am one of those writers where I love to celebrate different milestones with my followers. things like a higher word per minute total or doing a writing sprint and getting a higher word count, reaching a certain amount of words in my story or finishing it.

but with that comes the hate. it's quality over quantity. messages saying you won't make it and just trying to bring you down and stop you feeling good about your writing.

one of which inspired this blog post. I was asking questions for my book I am writing about endometriosis and someone slides upon the question and wrote a message telling me to get a real job and that I need to stop being happy about how many words I wrote because they will be all shit anyway.

these messages don't discourage me they make me work harder. I am not one to get down and think about what I'm doing wrong, well I am but when it comes to writing I can get all these feelings out on paper and turn it into something more, something amazing.

for the longest time, I took these messages as this is what I should be doing, by stoping every chapter, every page to rewrite and edit and do all the stuff I do now at the end of the book I stopped loving writing, it was no longer something I love but more of a chore. I got myself into writers' block badly, I left books unfinished because I just couldn't make it perfect and now I fix it at the end. my first draft is getting the story down no matter how good or bad it will be and then going through and fixing it, putting it away for three months and coming back with a clear mind, no longer having my head tell me everything that needs to be done still.

on the getting a 'real' job front it's very complicated, I hate to drop out of high school because of endometriosis and any boss says that I would be unreliable and can't have a job there so I made my writing my job. I have a fiver where I offer to ghostwrite and beta read, write blog posts and even proofread and edit things. I also do freelance gigs, working in a normal 9 to 5 job is impossible for me so I had to find a way to make a job out of something I love and can do and that is writing, that is youtube and that is my business.  whats to say that I am no good at writing and cant to make it a career? I am about to query one of my books to publishing houses and I'm excited for how far I have come in this world of writing.

what I'm getting at is that people are going to hate no matter what and what works for you is what matters not what people think you should be doing, keep your head high and push through it, find a way that works for you and stick to it and the first draft is never going to be perfect no matter how hard you try that's what editing and proofreading are for.

How to come up with character names + 100 names

it can be very hard to come up with names for your book characters, i spend hours per name trying to find the right name on baby name sites and generators. so i have come up with a quick list of ways to come up with character names as well as well as listed 50 female and 50 male names (and names that can be used for both) remember you can always mix names together to make new names altogether 

1. try to avoid using names starting with the same letter to ease confusion
2. look through baby name websites 
3. search for a name relating to your characters traits and country of origin
4. consider the era your character lives in. you wouldn't find the name apple over in France in the 1600s but you might have found someone with the name Nicolas

now that you have that to consider i will go onto my list of 50 female names and 50 males names, some can be used for both genders. 

Female

1- Mei

2- Dolly

3- Bethany

4- Cher

5- Demi

6- Ruby

7- Poppy

8- Summer

9- Indie

10- Sienna 

11- Emma 

12- Paige 

13- Rachael

14- Savannah

15- Chole

16- Bonnie

17- Tianna 

18- Fleur 

19- Kimmy

20- Claudia 

21- Elizabeth

22- Abagail

23- Rebecca 

24- Aira

25- Aleisha

26- Hannah

27- Ashley

28- Olivia

29- Charlotte

30- Mia

31- Amelia

32- Sophia

33- Ashley

34- Victoria

35- Isabella

36- Alleah

37- Camila

38- Taina

39- Ella

40- Amber

41- Nefertari

42- Shukura

43- Athalia

44- Beata

45- Cyra

46- Avery 

47- Chelsea

48- Teresia

49- Alyssa

50- Tracey

Male

1- Arlo
2- Joe
3- Casper
4- Lee
5- Joey
6- Shawn
7- Alfie
8- Shane
9- Jack
10-  Nathon
11- Alex
12- Willie
13- Sam
14- Hamish
15- Blake
16- Quin
17- Bruin
18- George
19- William
20- John
21- Nathaniel
22- Connor
23- Jaden
24- Patrick
25- Jacob
26- Xander
27- Parker
28- Riley
29- Jordon 
30- Felix
31- Ben
32- Phenix 
33- Arron 
34- Skyler
35- Apollo
36- Cato
37- Morgan 
38- Homer
39- River
40- Adam
41- Harley
42- Julius
43- Jake
44- Ethan
45- Aiden
46- David
47- Luke
48- Asher
49- Sage
50- Angel