Image courtesy of NaNoWriMo.
NaNoWriMo is an annual event that challenges you to write an entire draft of your novel (50,000 words!) throughout the month of November. Sign up to get started and join a regional community to meet other writers who are on the same journey.
Xavier University Library is a "write-in" location! Come write your novel with us!
Word Processors
Microsoft Word: Xavier University students, faculty, and staff can download and install Microsoft Office for free
LibreOffice: Cross-platform free and open source office suite.
Google Docs: Web-based word processor that requires a free Google account.
FocusWriter: Free, distraction-free word processor for Windows and Linux.
Inspiration
Language is a Virus: Writing prompts, exercises, and games to help cure writer's block.
How to Be a Writer by Athletes practice. Musicians practice. As a writer you need to do the same. Whether you have dreams of writing a novel or a memoir or a collection of poems, or you simply want to improve your everyday writing, this innovative book will show you how to build your skills by way of practice. Through playful and purposeful exercises, you'll develop your natural aptitude for communication, strengthening your ability to come up with things to say, and your ability to get those things into the minds (and the hearts) of readers. You'll learn to: * Train and develop your writer's powers--creativity, memory, observation, imagination, curiosity, and the subconscious * Understand the true nature of the relationship between you and your readers * Find your writer's voice * Get required writing projects done so you have more time for the writing you want to do * And much more Empowering and down-to-earth, How to Be a Writer gives you the tools you need, and tells you what (and how) to practice so that you can become the writer you want to be.
Novel Ideas by Novel Ideas provides a substantial introduction to the elements of fiction followed by in-depth interviews with successful novelists who speak with candor and insight into the complex process by which a novel is made. This edition includes new and updated interviews as well as writing exercises to enhance its use in the writing classroom. Dorothy Allison recalls "deliciously self-indulgent" days of writing in her bathrobe, wrapped in misery and exultation; Peter Cameron explains how he made the move from short fiction to the novel with the aid of a music composer's notebook to track the movement of his characters. Writers as different as Ha Jin, Jill McCorkle, Richard Ford, and Michael Chabon describe their unique approaches to their work while consistently affirming the necessity of committing to the hard effort of it while also remaining open to surprise. Aspiring novelists will find hands-on strategies for beginning, working through, and revising a novel; accomplished novelists will discover new ways to solve the problems they face in process; and serious readers of contemporary fiction will enjoy a glimpse into the way novels are made. Includes interviews with:Dorothy AllisonLarry BrownPeter CameronMichael ChabonMichael CunninghamRobb Forman DewRichard FordHa JinPatricia HenleyCharles JohnsonWally LambValerie MartinJill McCorkleSena Jeter NaslundLewis NordanSheri ReynoldsS. J. RozanJane SmileyLee SmithTheodore Weesner
Creative Writing by Creative writing is arguably the ultimate form of self-expression. Ideal for anyone interested in writing (student or not), Idiot's Guides: Creative Writing helps readers master the basics of crafting compelling fiction and nonfiction stories. Various genres, including novels, short stories, plays and screenplays, poetry, book-length and article-length narrative nonfiction, memoirs, and more are covered. Content includes the fundamental elements, such as plot, character, point-of-view, setting, dialogue, style, and theme. And readers will be able to hone their writing skills and boost their creativity with writing prompts and exercises.
Writing by You are a writer and you have a killer book idea. When your project starts to take off you will find yourself managing a writhing tangle of ideas, possibilities and potential potholes. How do you turn your inspiration into a finished novel? Writing a User's Manual offers practical insight into the processes that go into writing a novel, from planning to story development, research to revision and, finally, delivery in a form which will catch the eye of an agent or publisher. David Hewson, a highly productive and successful writer of popular fiction with more than sixteen novels in print in twenty or so languages, shows how to manage the day to day process of writing. Writers will learn how to get the best out of software and novel writing packages such as Scrivener, which help you view your novel not as one piece of text, but as individual linked scenes, each with their own statistics, notes and place within the novel structure. As you write, you will need to assemble the main building blocks to underpin your artistry : story structure; genre - and how that affects what you write; point of view; past, present or future tense; software for keeping a book journal to manage your ideas, research and outlining; organization and more. The advice contained in this book could mean the difference between finishing your novel, and a never-ending work in progress. An essential tool for writers of all kinds. Foreword by Lee Child.