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The start of Writer's Camp x NaNoWriMo (which is our 3rd edition of Writer's Camp) is just a few days away and we hope everyone is ready, whether you're a plotter or a pantser! We chatted with writer Beau Van Dalen about their plans for NaNoWriMo this year and if they could share any advice for those participating for the first time or for those who are veterans of this annual writing challenge. Beau Van Dalen is also a winner of our last Writer's Camp with their webnovel "Android Affection" and gave us some insight into their writing process. 

1. Do you prefer plot-driven or character-driven stories?

Both can work well depending on the story and its context. I have a slight preference towards character-driven stories, as I often find myself being more invested in the stakes at hand if I care for the characters, whereas I tend to view plot based stories from a more technical standpoint which—although makes for a great experience overall—might be a tad less amusing during said read.

2. Do you write a little every day, or in big spontaneous chunks?

I have a daily word count goal that I do my best to meet every day, however, my process often tends to turn into binge-writing as I find it hard to stop writing once I start.

3. How do you get in the mood to write?

Reading and listening to music. Music is awesome! I’m currently very fond of these tracks:

Ludovico Einaudi - Elegy for the Arctic

Akira Kosemura - Shutter Girl

Tartini - Violin Sonata in G minor

Camille Saint-Saë

ns - Danse Macabre

AURORA - Soft Universe

To name a few more, the works of Danheim, Ramin Djwawadi, Mree, Soley, Nicholas Yee, Audace, Lucas King, Howard Shore, and Sea Oleena are great!

4. How do you shush your inner editor?

By remembering that there’s a time for writing, a time for editing, and that doing both these things in unison will be detrimental to my productivity. I also weigh the pros and cons such as: Would I rather have a decent hundred pages to work with, or a hundred empty ones to edit?

5. When you’re in a pinch, how do you find extra inspiration?

Plotting a novel and its characters before writing has saved me countless times. It’s always good to have something on hand that was written when you were inspired for the days that you aren’t.

If I’m truly stuck, I’ll try to look at things objectively. Is my plan missing something? Why am I not inspired by this anymore? Is this boring? Can I cut this scene? etc. After that I’ll take a few notes, put those aside, and sleep on it to look at the problem again with a fresh mind in the morning.

6. What’s the silliest thing you’ve written to up your word count?

Adding a romantic subplot never hurts. :)

7. What’s your favorite concept you’ve written for a NaNo novel?

A fighter pilot falls in love with his extraterrestrial comrade, and goes on an adventure with him, all while fighting off a space-kraken and dealing with his newfound disability after being victim to a tragic accident.

This also happens to be the first book I published (Somebody’s Monster).

8. How similar are your characters to yourself? Do you write what you know or imagine things completely new?

They are all imagined; similarities are usually coincidences.

Since I enjoy writing stories with diverse characters from all walks of life, it does happen that there are subjects I’m not familiar with every now and then. In these cases, I will do my best to research beforehand. :)

9. Favorite literary tropes?

Not exactly a trope, but the stranger a concept is, the more inclined I will be to write/read it.

10. Can you tell us a little about your NaNo idea for this year?

I’ll be entering it as a Writer’s Camp entry. It’s a mashup of genres I feared weren’t going to work at first. There will be blood. Lots of blood. (In fact, if you’re a vampire currently suffering from anemia, you’ll probably be into it. ;)

11. Do you have any advice for those who are new to Writers Camp, NaNo, or even just writing in general?

If you want to write, do NaNo, or enter Camp—do it. Don’t let doubt hold you back.

Good first drafts exist, perfect first drafts don’t. You can mourn the total annihilation of your eight-headed dragon army after the first few rounds of edits, for now, enjoy the process.

Critiques will help you grow—welcome them, take some with a grain of salt, but never reject them.

Try to write often and read everything you can get your hands on. Finally, asides from grammar and punctuation: all advice is subjective and only you’ll know what works best for you through trial and error.

12. Okay, lightning round!

- Cereal or Milk first? Cereal.

- Pineapple on pizza, yay or nay?  100% yes. Bring on the pineapples!

- Friends-to-lovers or Enemies-to-lovers? Friends-to-lovers.

- Slow-burn romance or Fast-paced? Slow burn. 

- Fluff or angst? Fluffy angst!

We wish the best of luck to everyone participating in Writer's Camp and hope everyone can join in on the fun of NaNoWriMo!

Stay tuned for more Creator Highlights. See you next time!