J. R. FRONTERA, author

Rebel stories for rebel souls...

NaNoWriMo BOOT CAMP: Lesson Three – The Center of the Paradox (ie, for Pantsers!)

(Originally posted in October 2013, but posting again for a refresher as NaNoWriMo 2015 fast approaches! - JF) SO, you want to be a rebel, eh?!?! You just HATE outlining, do you?? You just can’t for the life of you figure out WTF is going to happen in your novel past  Act 1?? You shudder at the very mention of ACTS and STRUCTURE and turn up your nose at all that “rubbish”?? Think you don’t need to give any thought whatsoever as to the make-up of your novel before plunging into the ... View Post

NaNoWriMo Boot Camp: Lesson Two – CHARACTERS AND GMC!

(these Boot Camps were originally posted in October 2013, but I'm bringing them out again as a refresher for NaNoWriMo #NaNoPrep 2015!) NO, I do NOT mean a GMC car!!!  You don’t know what else I could possibly mean by GMC?!??!  You think your characters are just bodies to occupy your awesomely fantastic setting or move through your utterly original and mind-blowing plot!???!? WRONG!!!!! WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! Failing on the CHARACTER LEVEL will make your entire book FAIL!! THAT’S ... View Post

Bait, Fish, and Reel Report for September 2015

September was a rather productive month, actually, which amuses me because I did not set very many goals for the month, and subsequently accomplished a heckuvalot more than I expected! Here is a report of what I accomplished in the month of September 2015: - 30.5 hours editing Primus (only up to chapter 8, ugh)- Edited two of author friend's fantasy novel chapters - Compiled and organized handout for Wordwraiths' NaNoWriMo workshop and participated in workshop- Wrote my first children's ... View Post

NaNoWriMo Boot Camp: Lesson One – Preparation Matters

(this NaNoWriMo Boot Camp series was originally written in October of 2013. However, I like to pull them out and dust them off every October  as a refresher! So, if you haven't yet seen them, enjoy! If you have seen them already ... enjoy again! Good luck! - J. R.) OH, so you thought NaNoWriMo started in NOVEMBER, did you!?! WRONG! NaNoWriMo starts NOW, RIGHT NOW! The secret to success in this venture is PLANNING!!! PLANNING, people. “But I’m a PANTSER!” you say??? NOT THIS MONTH YOU ... View Post

NaNoWriMo: The Secret to Success is to …

Winter is coming. More specifically, November is coming. And with it, National Novel Writing Month. If you are a writer or an author, you probably either love or hate this time of year, as your social media will suddenly alight with a frenzy of "NaNoWriMo preparation" posts. You'll hate this if you think NaNoWriMo is just a bunch of rubbish (and you'd be wrong about that), and you'll love it if you think NaNoWriMo is awesome (and you'd be right about that) and plan to take part this year ... View Post

5 Reasons I Participate in the Writing Challenges on Twitter – And Why You Should, Too!

If you are a writer and sometimes struggle with having the motivation to meet your word count or editing goals (so, like, all of us?), and you're not participating in the monthly writing challenges on Twitter, your only two excuses had better be that you've never heard of it, or you don't have a Twitter account. As to the first excuse, go here and be educated. As for the second excuse ... why are you a writer without a Twitter account!? But that discussion is for another day, so let's move ... View Post

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