As a writer, keeping inspiration going from week to week can be tough. We want to change that. The point of A Novel Idea is to get your writing juices flowing even when you don’t feel like writing. We also want it to help you dig deeper into what writing looks like for you and let you share it with the world. We’ll be posting installments weekly, all focused on four things: characters, your novel, you writing process, and writing prompts. Follow the weekly guidelines and post it on your blog, then link up with us! We’d love to hear from you each week.


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This week, tell us about the books that make you want to become a better writer. Why do they inspire you? Who wrote them? What genre are they? What is it about them that appeals to you and inspires you?

As a writer, keeping inspiration going from week to week can be tough. My friend Ashley and I want to change that. The point of A Novel Idea is to get your writing juices flowing even when you don’t feel like writing. We also want it to help you dig deeper into what writing looks like for you and let you share it with the world. We’ll be posting installments weekly, all focused on four things: characters, your novel, you writing process, and writing prompts. Follow the weekly guidelines and post it on your blog, then link up with us! We’d love to hear from you each week.


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This week, follow this writing prompt as a starting point and see what happens. Have fun with it!

This week, describe your novel in three words. Get creative. Tell us as much about your story as you can in those 3 little (or big!) words.

I'm also jumping into this week's prompt early for once! Huzzah.

This week, I decided to feature my most recent WIP, Evanescent Fireworks. Set in the south, EF is a novel about Evyn Turnbow, an introvert with social anxiety, and the band of three boys who help pull her out of her shell. It's currently sitting at about 24k, and it's one of my favorite books I've written. I want to get back to writing it, so I decided to feature it for ANI this week. Without further ado...

As a writer, keeping inspiration going from week to week can be tough. My friend Ashley and I want to change that. The point of A Novel Idea is to get your writing juices flowing even when you don’t feel like writing. We also want it to help you dig deeper into what writing looks like for you and let you share it with the world. We’ll be posting installments weekly, all focused on four things: characters, your novel, you writing process, and writing prompts. Follow the weekly guidelines and post it on your blog, then link up with us! We’d love to hear from you each week.


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This week, describe your novel in three words. Get creative. Tell us as much about your story as you can in those 3 little (or big!) words.

Last November, my project for NaNoWriMo was called Leo Andromedus Saved the World, a magical realism novel about a bunch of rascals. Even though that book was narrated by my character Emilie, the enigmatic protagonist was Leo Andromedus Kelly, who could definitely stand for more development. That's why I'm featuring him for this week's A Novel Idea prompt, which is to write a list of 20 things about a character. Leo popped into mind, and after a lot of thought, I managed to assemble 20 facts about him for your enjoyment (and, much to my delight, I found out a lot more about Leo than I expected). So here we go!



1. He is an only child. This makes his bond with his squad (Emilie, Allan, and Raven) all the stronger--they are his family.

2. Not to be totally cliche, but Leo's an orphan. (*Hamilton voice* "You're an orphan? Of course!") His parents, for reasons undetermined, aren't around, leaving Leo to float alone in the universe.


3. When he was growing up, he learned to play the cello.

4. He is a giant ball of energy. When he drinks energy drinks or coffee, the effects can be disastrous. (Think about Hammy from Over the Hedge--the similarities between Leo and Hammy are...uncanny.)

5. Leo has ADHD. (This is something I didn't know before, so I'm glad I figured that out.)

As a writer, keeping inspiration going from week to week can be tough. My friend Ashley and I want to change that. The point of A Novel Idea is to get your writing juices flowing even when you don’t feel like writing. We also want it to help you dig deeper into what writing looks like for you and let you share it with the world. We’ll be posting installments weekly, all focused on four things: characters, your novel, you writing process, and writing prompts. Follow the weekly guidelines and post it on your blog, then link up with us! We’d love to hear from you each week.


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This week, make a list of 20 things about your character. They can be as simple or unique as you want, but hopefully it will help you learn at least something new about your character and their backstory.

This week's A Novel Idea prompt is dedicated to our writing role models, the ones we wish we could be and the ones we look up to in our own writing.

Who is an author (or two or three) you aspire to write like? What is it you admire about their work or their writing style? Are there any similarities between you and your writing role model(s)?

The first person to come to mind is Rainbow Rowell. I first read Fangirl in August of last year, and it spoke to me in my soul. This year, I read Attachments and Eleanor and Park, and both of those books enthralled me and made me FEEL SO MUCH. Because of this, I aspire to be Rainbow Rowell: to string together words in a way that makes someone's heart ache in the best of ways. If I can make books like that somehow--books that make people feel--I'll be happy.


The second author on this list is Morgan Matson. Her books are all the essence of summer, and they make me feel too. I bought Since You've Been Gone at Powell's in Portland, and I read it on the plane on the way home from Oregon. It was so beautiful--revolving around friendship and adventures with a side of romance. It's one of my favorite books ever. Since then, I've read Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and The Unexpected Everything, which only solidified Morgan Matson on the List of People I Want to Write Like.


The third author I aspire to be like is Sarah Dessen. Her descriptions are so vivid, and though her books tend to follow a similar plot formula, the characters are what really make every story of hers come to life for me. A few years ago I read This Lullaby, which became one of my favorite books because of Remy (the MC)'s character arc. This summer, I've read many more Sarah Dessen books, and each one has a special place in my heart. She has the ability to craft heroines that feel real, and they almost always have something they have to work through, some sort of quiet suffering. It'd be easy to write her books as fluffy summer romances--which they are--but her characters' journeys are deep and beautiful. I hope I can write like her someday, too.


The things that I have in common with these authors is that I love writing complex heroines. I like writing about adventures and bucket lists and life-changing summers and beauty in the every day. I know I'm not as good as they are yet, but I want to be, and I am so thankful that they've paved my way.

Hello again, writerlings! Another month, another round of Beautiful People. August snuck up on me quickly--July simultaneously went by too fast and moved at the pace of molasses. But here we are again back with more questions for your writing needs! This month's are themed around your character's appearance, and I'm so excited to read about what your beautiful people look like!

But first...

As a writer, keeping inspiration going from week to week can be tough. My friend Ashley and I want to change that. The point of A Novel Idea is to get your writing juices flowing even when you don’t feel like writing. We also want it to help you dig deeper into what writing looks like for you and let you share it with the world. We’ll be posting installments weekly, all focused on four things: characters, your novel, you writing process, and writing prompts. Follow the weekly guidelines and post it on your blog, then link up with us! We’d love to hear from you each week.


<div align="center"><a href="http://www.furtherupfurtherin.net"><img src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/MountainFireflower/Personal%20Files/Blog/a%20novel%20idea_zpst7dvpftu.png"></a></div>

Who is an author (or two or three) you aspire to write like? What is it you admire about their work or their writing style? Are there any similarities between you and your writing role model(s)?

I'm sliding in just under the wire to participate in this week's ANI prompt, which is as follows!