Novel Research – Write on the World

Iris Applewood is a cozy romance and mystery author crafting worlds of wonder from her home in Southern Indiana. She loves blending the boundaries between the mundane and the magical. In her free time, Iris enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, creating dishes and perfumes that feel like potions.

When she’s not mixing spices or spinning stories, she treasures her sleep, where she often dreams up her next big idea. Through her writing, Iris hopes to add a touch of enchantment to everyday life, inspiring readers to find magic in the most unexpected places—even in their own backyards.

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Finish Writing Your Novel Now!

Conducting Effective Novel Research: Top Tips

September 12, 2024September 5, 2024 Mandy Webster

Once you have written the first draft of your novel manuscript, you may find during the evaluation stage that there are elements of your story that could use some fact-checking.

Novel research may be conducted in a library, from your home computer, or even on your smart phone. (On a side note, why does Microsoft Designer keep giving me images of thin people, even when I ask for an image of an average-sized — size 12 — woman? Artificial Intelligence has some diversity and inclusion issues to solve!

While I advise against conducting any detailed research during the drafting stage of the novel writing process, I heartily encourage it during the evaluation stage. Research is an important part of writing a novel, as it can provide the necessary information and inspiration to create a rich and believable world for your story.

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Finish Writing Your Novel Now!, NaNoWriMo

How NaNoWriMo can increase motivation & momentum

August 22, 2024August 21, 2024 Mandy Webster

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an annual creative writing challenge that takes place in November. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000-word novel draft in just 30 days, from November 1st to November 30th. Participating in this activity is a great way to build and maintain momentum. Plus, if you can write 50,000 words of your own novel draft in one month, you will be well on your way to finishing your novel in months rather than years.

NaNoWriMo is open to anyone who wants to participate, regardless of writing experience or genre preference. Participants can register on the NaNoWriMo website and connect with other writers in their local community or online for support and encouragement. The site also offers a word count tracker that helps you see how many words you need to write each day to stay on track.

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Finish Writing Your Novel Now!

Novel drafting rule #5: No research allowed

August 16, 2024July 26, 2024 Mandy Webster

During the planning stage of the novel writing process, you probably did a lot of research into your topic while you generated ideas and plotted your story structure. But now that you’re in the drafting stage of the novel writing process, all that needs to stop.

While research was welcome during the planning stage of the writing process, it’s not a good idea to try to conduct research during the drafting stage. Image generated using artificial intelligence.

Stopping to do research during the drafting process of writing a novel can be a distraction and slow down your progress. Here are some reasons why you may want to avoid stopping to do research while drafting:

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