1. When I get the urge to clean, it’s usually when I should be writing. It’s okay to ignore that rare urge in favor of actually writing. There are small things I can do through the day to keep up or catch up. My favorite tip? Muffin eggs.
2. Even though I have a job that gives me a lot of downtime, I shouldn’t count on that to be my writing time. I still need to set aside time for myself with no distractions, including the incredibly adorable lap warmers that are my cats.
3. Just write. This is obvious, but the reminder is always good. Don’t listen to the nagging during writing time and just get things done.
4. Having a plan for what I’m working on helps. I generally know what will be happening when I sit down to write but it really helps to put into words what I want to get out of the scene. This can be done as I sit down or it can be done the day before.
5. It’s also okay that I don’t always have a plan. Sometimes my best ideas come when I’m just writing. There are times when I just need to see what the characters do in a situation.
6. It is okay to be bad. I have scenes that are just dialog, and no description. I introduce things awkwardly and bring up elements that weren’t mentioned earlier because I forgot. Instead of worrying, I just write a note to myself asking questions or pointing out important ideas or telling myself to put some clue in. I never make notes about how bad things are.
NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow. I’m giving myself time to that sleep and then wake up although I’m pretty nervous and excited. This month (October), I had intended to do absolutely nothing except maybe edit. It didn’t work out that way. I actually ended up writing three crappy stories, and I hit across one story I’d like to delve into more deeply.
Let me just say that finishing anything, even if very rough, feels amazing. One of the greatest fears I have is that I won’t be able to finish because I’m not a real writer. I’ll just let the story fizzle out and become frustrated when I can’t connect the beginning and the end.
I went to the first meet up last week, and it made me realize that this is exactly what NaNo is about for me. This fear usually sits in the back of my head where I ignore it because, duh, we all feel this way when we commit ourselves to a story. But NaNo puts the pressure on. It forces that fear out of hiding and puts it front and center where I have to face it.
So far suggestions have been to tell people that a novel is being written so that people in your life will help hold you accountable, but I don’t think that’ll work for me. This is a battle with myself. Luckily, I have left over confidence from my intended month of rest all because I managed to finish a couple of really questionable stories. That’s the power of just doing. I’ve see that it can be done, and now I just have to do it with a larger story over a longer period of time. That’s all.
So on this day before NaNo, and I just want to wish everyone a happy month. Even if you don’t hit your goal, or even if your story is crap, just keep going. The reward is really worth it.
The local NaNoWrimo chapter is holding a meet and greet on Monday. They’ll do local write-ins during November. I’ve never actually gone to one of these write-ins, though I was very curious. Part of it was because I couldn’t make the meet-ups, but most of it was because it meant having to meet writers in real life.
I’m so used to writers being someone on the computer screen. Your face is just a picture next to your twitter name/bio to me. What I meet are a writer’s words, and I learn a lot from those words. Despite the importance of book covers and author pictures, I really judge a writer on what they say. (I’m actually very picky, friends! I don’t just friend people because they also happen to write. /snob) The internet is our medium, we live our words and put ourselves forward with them. Some of my best friends have never even heard my voice! But they know me better than many people who actually meet me and have a chat with me.
The other thing about write-ins for me is that they’re just a distraction. How in the world would anyone get any writing done as a group and in public? I don’t think I would. Maybe their furor would help? It might be an interesting group dynamic. Anything can happen when people get together. So, though I’m nervous, I just might go.
Yes, this year, I’m doing NaNo. My intent is to knock out the next rough draft of a story that’s been on my mind for a year now. I need to learn how to write out rough drafts faster, especially if I want to spend more time editing. My current plan is to write up a basic outline, and then each day in November that I sit down to write, I’m going to write out what I intend to do that day. Sort of the same way I do already when I get stuck on something. I put down my intent with the scene so that I can see it clearer.
Anyone else doing NaNo this year? Ever go to a local meet up?