NaNoWriMo Tip #4

Has life gotten in the way of your word count? Don't stress! What good would novel writing be if you didn't have a life to inspire you? So keep going, even if you are so behind that you will probably never catch up (like me).

I will be doing some baking tomorrow, in preparation for our Thanksgiving feast. I should have time to do lots of writing while the bread rises!

Happy Thanksgiving!

FRIDAY!!

I am so glad it's Friday. I'm going to sit down and work on my NaNoWriMo book as much as possible, even if I should be helping the kids clean the house. How much progress can I make in one writing-mad weekend?

NaNoWriMo Tip #3

Are you obsessing about word count? I have been. So here is a tip to help you avoid that trap:

Write by hand!

The process of writing by hand, for me, has been so freeing. I can focus on what I'm writing and not have to worry about saving the file or checking how close I am to my word count goal. I can curl up on the couch or in the bed and not have to worry about the laptop battery. I can leave the family computer open for other members of the family! I can stick my novel-in-progress in my purse and have it handy wherever I go. And then, when I get to a good stopping point and I've filled a few pages, I can type it all in to my word document and see how much progress I've made. Try it. It may do wonders for you too!

BONUS NaNoWriMo Tip

The crock pot is the NaNoWriMo writer's friend! Set it all up in the morning and when you come home from work in the afternoon, you can spend your cooking time working on your book.

NaNoWriMo Tip #2

All writers come to a point in their stories where the words just aren't coming. Normally you can walk away for an hour, a day, or a week until the words come back to you. You don't have that luxury during NaNoWriMo. So what do you do?

Paraphrase. Summarize. Make a list. When you get to that point in your story, the most important thing is to get the basic ideas down, whether it be a specific scene, an entire chapter, or speculative jottings about a character's motives. Yes, this will mean telling, not showing, but will also keep your word count building during the times when your story doesn't want to move forward. Eventually you will get back into your groove and your story will begin to flow again.

A Little Peek (and a guessing game)

Here's a tiny excerpt from my NaNoWriMo book in progress. Working title: Intercession. Genre: Christian fantasy/paranormal. Age range: YA.

Abby examined her wounded arm, now sticky with half-dried blood. "Stupid!" she scolded herself. "How could you have been so stupid?"

Would anyone like to guess what happened to poor Abby's arm?

NaNoWri-WOES

I've written about 3300 words of the wrong book.

Yesterday I sat down to work on my NaNo novel, and everything felt wrong about the story I was writing. I don't know why, but it felt like I should be writing something else. Or writing the same story in a different way.

I tried to plow forward with it this morning, because one of the points of doing NaNoWriMo is to get out of your comfort zone and write even when it turns out bad. I got about 200 words written, but the process was forced and I couldn't get into a groove.

But I am not giving up! I'm starting over.

I'm going back to the idea that had been bumping around in my head for months, the idea that I had originally planned on doing for NaNoWriMo. The barely developed speculative fiction idea that will lead me who-knows-where. But, for me, that's the fun of it!

Now I'm going to brew some tea and get to work.