Beautiful Books #1: Let’s Talk Books || New Linkup of Awesome

Greetings, writerlings! Let me introduce you to Beautiful Books!

Now I know you’re saying, “What the heck is going on, Cait, you confusing antelope.” But calm down. Please. Let me explain. Obviously you know of our Beautiful People linkup? It’s on the 5th of every month…EXCEPT FOR THIS MONTH.

This is why.

Sky and I wanted to theme a version of Beautiful People around NaNoWriMo…and it turned into a three month long event. Because we have enormous imaginations. Thus, Beautiful Books!

What is it exactly?

Beautiful Books is a three-month-long blog event linkup focused on three different stages of writing: plotting, writing, and editing. It was designed with NaNoWriMo in mind. NaNoWriMo is a writing event where you write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Because a lot of writers will be participating, we decided to help get your juices flowing! We’ll be focusing on plotting in October, writing in November, and editing in December. See how organised we are? Super cool.

Do I have to be doing NaNo to participate?

Nope! Just pick a work-in-progress and you’ll be good to go. If you don’t have a novel that works for the entirety of the blog event, you can feature different ones. The point is, you absolutely don’t have to do NaNoWriMo to participate, and we really want you to join! We also want your friends to join, so if you have writing groups…spread the word!

How does it work?

The format is really similar to Beautiful People (see what that’s all about here). Each month, we’ll be posting 15 questions to answer about your WIP. These questions will correspond to either plotting, writing, or editing, and are designed to help you with each of these stages. Even if you aren’t up to editing yet, they’ll get you to think about making your book the best of ever — basically turning it into a beautiful book. You’ll take our 15 questions and answer them on your blog, then come back and link up here! And don’t forget to go around and read the posts of the other participants — it could be a great way to make friends!

What about Beautiful People?!

We hope to do both concurrently, but, depending on life and reasons, there could be a few breaks here and there. Thankfully, you’ll have Beautiful Books around to fulfil your blog link-up needs, and there’s always the archive if you get the itch to do BP at any time.

So… what do I do? Sit tight and read the questions Sky and I will post in the next three months, then use them to help you think through one of your novels! Then link back, and overall, be your awesome self! And totally share with your writing friends. We wish to have a ginormous writerly party.

The Questions

What came first: characters or plot idea? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Do you have a title and/or a “back-cover-blurb”?
What wordcount are you aiming for when your novel is finished?
Sum up your novel in 3 sentences.
Sum up your characters in one word each.
Which character are you most excited to write? Tell us about them!
What about your villain? Who is he, what is his goal?
What is your protagonist’s goal? And what stands in the way?
What inciting incident begins your protagonist’s journey?
Where is your novel set?
What are three big scenes in your novel that change the game completely?
What is the most dynamic relationship your character has? Who else do they come in contact with or become close to during the story?
How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?
Do you have an ending in mind, or do you plan to see what happens?
What are your hopes and dreams for your book? What impressions are you hoping this novel will leave on your readers and yourself?

The buttons

Grab whichever you prefer! Or just link back to my blog or Sky’s.

The Linky

Let’s do this, writerlings!

The linkup is open all month, and if you have questions…throw ’em at me in the comments. I will be joining in just as soon as I figure out which book I’m writing for NaNo. (It’s a battle between two of them now.)

so writers, are you joining in?! is this an acceptable swap for the Beautiful People characters-themed linkup for this month?! we hope so. anyone have plans for NaNo? and remember you can totally do this even if you’re not doing NaNo.

Cait only has two ARCs left to review and 3 library books. A manageable TBR? What IS this wizardry? Mind you, she’s officially filled her bookshelf and is now relocating her Narnia audios and DVDs so she can squeeze more books into their old spots. Terribly sad. Currently she’s listening to an audio of DISRUPTION because Twitter told her to.