Moving Toward Publication

Good morning, Today we worked on setting up your CreateSpace accounts. You can find the link to CreateSpace on your NaNoWriMo winner's page.

A really important part of getting your book ready for publication is formatting the interior of your book. Use the guidelines here to help you with that. (You will need to be logged in to CreateSpace for that link to work.)  I HIGHLY recommend downloading the Word template that matches the size of the book you want to create from that page.  Get the one that has 'sample formated content'. That will make it much easier for you to see where you need to paste in your material. (Like the highlighted part below.)

Of course, you must finish editing your novel before you can even think of getting to this part. So, if you haven't finished editing, stop dreaming about format and get back to work.

Revision 4

Opening adverbs
Editing
My.sandi.net and the importance of shutting down completely.

Revision 3

Do Now:  Rearrange the words and phrases below to create a sentence that begins with an opening adjective.

• after dinner
• Jeremy
• anxious
• waited to see what his mother would say

Our list today:
Combining sentences
Excerpt revision and editing
Learning to use My.sandi.net

Revision 2

DO NOW: (in WN)
Write three sentences that begin with an opening adjective, or two opening adjectives, or an opening adjective phrase.

Have you:
-Selected your excerpt that you want me to use to evaluate your novel?
-Revised that excerpt if needed?
-Edited that excerpt very carefully?
-Reviewed your partners novel (the opening)?
-Checked on the purpose of your chapters?

Lets work some more on our revision plan. 

Review from yesterday:

Are you using your chapters purposefully? Remember chapters serve a purpose.

• Change perspective, talk about a different character
• Change time, skip hours, days, months, years or go back in time, flashback, years, months, days, hours
• Change setting
• Create suspense
• Short chapter with a sub plot
• Give the reader a chance to think
• Distracting the reader from one event to another

Revision

Good morning,
   We have a lot to accomplish for the rest of this week and next. I'm making a list.

1. Finish reviewing the beginning of your partner's novel. Use the Reader Review Form to send your feedback.
2. Make a revision plan for yourself. (We are going to start on that together today) You will need this page from NaNoWriMo.
3. Revise your novel. (daily) You have a large text to revise, work on it every day.
4. Select an excerpt of your novel for me to evaluate. Make sure that excerpt is perfect, all mistakes fixed, great word choices, includes some fancy techniques like flashback, foreshadowing and figurative language.

Excerpt Directions:

1. Select a section of your novel from 500-1000 words. This section should be a good example of your writing and will probably be about something important from your novel.  
2. Mark this section with the word "excerpt" at the beginning and "excerpt" again at the end. Also highlight it in light green.
3. Proofread this section carefully. Make sure it is very perfect, like a final draft.

Homework: Finish your review of the opening of your partner's novel. Decide on your excerpt and edit that. Check your chapter structure and revise if needed.

Writing Partners Review

Good morning:


Do Now:  (This is practice from what we did on Friday. If you were absent or need a review look at the slides in the post below.)  You will need the sentence below to work with.

Ted was tired as he walked home from dance class.

A. Write that sentence in your WN (writer's notebook) and highlight the adjective.
B. Rewrite the sentence so that it opens with the adjective.
C. Rewrite the sentence again so that it opens with TWO opening adjectives, make sure one of them is much more interesting than the adjective you have already.

Great, now lets take a look at what NaNoWriMo says about writing workshop. CLICK HERE

Today you will also need the Reader Review Form

Homework: If you were unable to complete your review and submit your form during class please make sure you get that done tonight.

Catching up- Opening Adjectives

If you missed class today then you missed out.  We had to catch up on a grammar lesson about opening adjectives and it was a lot of fun. (Yes, I just said grammar and fun in the same sentence.) Review the slides below and check notes with a classmate.

You Won!

Congratulations to everyone! Awesome job and a whole lot of fun.

Do Now: Go to your writer's notebook in docs. 
Spend a few minutes writing your thoughts about the NaNoWriMo experience. What did you like or not like? What did you learn about writing, about novels, about yourself?