Gordon W Miller

Canadian Author

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Gordon W Miller

Canadian Author

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Home / Blog
Writing

NaNoWriMo 2020 Results

2 Likes
3 mins read
25 Views
Writing

NaNoWriMo

4 Likes
3 mins read
43 Views
Jar of barbecue sauce
Recipes

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

5 Likes
1 min read
142 Views
Choosing author pen names
Personal

Author Pen Names

7 Likes
6 mins read
159 Views
Lioness in Tree
Writing

Make Decisions Under a Minute

15 Likes
5 mins read
390 Views
Yogurt Dill Dip
Recipes

Yogurt Dill Dip and Baked Pita Chips

8 Likes
2 mins read
335 Views
Writing

Going Forward

7 Likes
3 mins read
282 Views
Personal

First Autographed Book

4 Likes
2 mins read
267 Views
traintracks
Insights

Stay On Track With Your Writing

5 Likes
4 mins read
250 Views
Three Dimensional Sphere
Writing

Creating Three Dimensional Characters

5 Likes
4 mins read
241 Views
Writing

New Completion Deadline

3 Likes
1 min read
259 Views
Writing

Structuring My Novel

2 Likes
2 mins read
265 Views
Cessna 172
Writing

Flying High

2 Likes
3 mins read
269 Views
eyestearing
Writing

Writing Emotion

1 Like
2 mins read
282 Views
Place To Write
Personal

A Place To Write

1 Like
2 mins read
248 Views
Writing

Google Love

1 Like
3 mins read
247 Views
Recipes

Best Stove Top Popcorn

0 Like
3 mins read
295 Views
Writing

It’s Getting Serious

0 Like
2 mins read
246 Views
Writing

Naming Characters

So far I have three main characters in this manuscript. I had to change the names of the protagonist and her kid brother to better represent their backgrounds. It's important to never be "married" to anything while writing a novel. Not even character names that you love. So, I kept her name by giving it to an eleven year old secondary character. Simple.

There are four more characters who are in the story with minor roles. One needs a full name which I will have shortly. Two others only need last names. It's funny when I write and don't have their names yet. For example, I type "BROTHERSNAME" when I name the brother in the story. Then, I go back and make a list of all the names that I need to create. I've done this for towns and cities as well. I didn't know how else to do it because I wanted to keep the writing flow going.

1 Like
2 mins read
256 Views
Goals

Author Website Complete

I have completed this website. Well, almost. It has taken me eight weeks to get everything where I want it. There will still be things to add and I'll get new ideas, but most of the heavy lifting is done. I played with the colours for about four weeks. No kidding. It started off blue, then it was light green, and finally I settled on this colour scheme. Brown, green and blue. I hope it feels comfortable. That was my intention.

3 Likes
2 mins read
261 Views
Writing

Rolling Along

My manuscript is going very well this month so I am pretty happy about that.  So far, I have written just under one thousand words. I put over two thousand words in an out file. Clearly, I write much better when I know the direction I'm going.  Being prepared has always helped give me confidence.

1 Like
2 mins read
249 Views
Writing

Starting Over

I have made the decision to scrap the first two thousand words of my manuscript. After a week with the flu, and reading a book written by Beth Revis called Paper Hearts, it just seems like the direction to go.  The story is still the same but the way it will be written is going to be different. There were many mistakes that would have to be edited anyway so it's better to take care of them now.

0 Like
1 min read
257 Views
Writing

Learning about Character Archetypes

This past weekend I finished reading a book about learning how to write better. It showed me what not to do in certain situations. The characters that I made were created without any flaws. The problem is that they are almost perfect. I mean, it’s okay to make your protagonist polite, but she was going to be good the entire book. Nobody in real life is that perfect. She needed to have some flaws or make a mistake somewhere.

0 Like
1 min read
250 Views
Writing, Goals

Reading Goals

Does anyone else set a reading goal for the year? For the last two years I have managed to make it happen.  If you are not on Goodreads then you might want to take a look at it.  It's a great place for keeping track of what you read.

At the beginning of the year you can set a goal to read a certain amount of books. You can update your progress as you read. For 2019, I have set a goal to read twenty books, one non-fiction and one fiction concurrently. So I will always have two books on the go.

1 Like
2 mins read
257 Views
Writing

Two Thousand Words

Currently, my manuscript is about two thousand words long.  When I sit down to write, I visualize what my characters are doing in the story. They are having real conversations with each other, in my head, as I write. The visual images just keep coming to me one after the other.  When you find something you love to do time seems to fly by.  For me it's real. I love writing.

0 Like
2 mins read
251 Views
Writing

Fifteen Hundred Words

0 Like
1 min read
248 Views
Insights

New Ideas for Writing Manuscript

0 Like
1 min read
243 Views
Writing

Setting the Goal

1 Like
1 min read
291 Views
Goals

First time blog post

3 Likes
1 min read
277 Views

Current Manuscript Progress

First Transit
18% Complete
14,918 of 84,000 words
Deadline: April 14, 2021

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Latest posts

Writing

NaNoWriMo 2020 Results

Writing

NaNoWriMo

Recipes

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

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  • Insights (2)
  • Personal (3)
  • Recipes (3)
  • Writing (19)

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Canadian Author

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Gordon W. Miller lives in the vibrant city of Nanaimo, BC. He enjoys astronomy, chess, swimming, and reading. He is married and loves to barbecue.
Copyright © 2019-2020 by Gordon W. Miller
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