Know the Novel – Part Two: Within the WIP // A Writer’s Tag

And just like that it’s November. Which, for a lot of us, means busily typing away at our novel WIPs.* And it also means Part 2 of the Know the Novel tag!

*We don’t talk about the existential crises. It’s fine. Just bring us snacks, please? 🥺

Welcome back to Part 2!

Whether you’re just getting started on the first words of a novel or have been deep in the throes of the writing sanity (how are we two weeks into FicFrenzy??), November’s set of questions offers a good chance to step away from the manuscript doc and give us nosy bookdragons a glimpse at the behind-the-scenes process.

You’ve got words to write, so let’s jump right in!

KNOW THE NOVEL

What is Know the Novel?

Know the Novel is an annual 3-part tag for writers, one for each of these last three months of the year. Each part features ten questions you can answer on your own blog/substack/newsletter/social media account/anywhere you want. The questions focus on different parts of your novel and how the writing is progressing.

The tags go as follows:

OCTOBER

Part One: Introduce Your WIP – Last month, we got to have such a fun introduction to everyone’s WIPs. Thank you so much to all who participated! You can find everyone’s links HERE.

SIDE NOTE: Just because the official linkup is closed, it doesn’t mean you can’t still use these questions! They’re free for the taking ANY time. A link back to my blog would be much appreciated, but otherwise, use them however you’d like!

NOVEMBER

Part Two: Within the WIP – This month we’re exploring the writing process itself, sharing snippets, and digging into some fun inner workings of our WIPs. Scroll down to find all the questions!

DECEMBER

Part Three: Words Written – In December we’ll look back at everything we accomplished, reflect, and share what’s next!

In Summary…

For each month I throw ten writing-related questions your way, you can take the questions and answer them on your social media platform of choice, and then share your link in the linkup I’ll attach below so others can read about your awesome WIP. Easy and fun for all!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This tag is for any WIPs you have. Whether you’re doing a writing challenge or writing within your own time, it doesn’t matter. The point here is to just have fun and get a chance to share your ideas with others. And you definitely do not have to do all three of the tags. There are basically no rules here but to have fun!

KNOW THE NOVEL
PART TWO: WITHIN THE WIP

Feel free to use this graphic for your posts, but it’s certainly not required.

THE QUESTIONS

1. How’s the writing going overall?

2. What’s been the most fun aspect of writing this novel so far?

3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?

5. Have you come across any problem areas?

6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

7. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph and a couple more favorite snippets!

9. Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)

10. Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!