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.

The Questions

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