But writing is like jumping into a cold lake: You squirm less once you’re all in. The first words will rarely be your best, and the fear of bad writing often keeps writers from the initial click on the keys. Get your first draft finished before you pay attention to your feelings, because-in the early stages-most of your feelings will steer you off a cliff like a GPS for lemmings. The only way to succeed is to set a schedule, write like mad and never stop, even if you despair. Passion will get you started, but discipline will see you through. But even if you don’t get that far, there is satisfaction in meeting the challenge and finding that you can do it. What was in 2011 a 51,000-word story-in-the-rough has grown to a 71,000-word novel that will be on its way to an agent soon. I wrote a lot of junk, and stuff that had possibilities. What you need right now is the story and nothing but the story, no matter how outlandish or unorganized. To hell with spelling, punctuation, the precise word, the perfect reference (and I’m a copy editor by profession!). And kick that persnickety editor out of your head. Get those words onto your page and count them each day. ( Learn the 4 Successful Approaches You Should Consider for the First Chapter of Your Novel) Buy paper plates send out for pizza or stock frozen tacos, whatever-just don’t take time to cook. The key is to keep writing and let everything else fall by the wayside. Otherwise, pick it out of the air and start writing. Here’s my advice: If you have an idea in mind, it helps. Everyone tackles the job in a different way, some with a meticulous plan or a detailed outline-but not me. You never know what you can accomplish until you try. I did finish that year and went on to finish every year since. And now for something entirely different. Up to then, I’d written a few magazine articles, a how-to book, a children’s book, and untold numbers of unpublished short stories. This was 2009, and my first time writing any length novel in any length of time, let alone 50,000 words in one month. I had no idea what I would write about, but I was determined to do it, just to see if I could.
What the heck was it? I discovered the challenge just two days before Nov. NaNoWriMo? It looked like a text message. That’s where your planning and your outline can save you.Īndrew Setters, Cincinnati 5. When you’re in the heat of the moment trying to crank out thousands of words every day it is very easy to get off track. It’s possible to write 50,000 words in 30 days, but what is really difficult is having a finished product that really makes any sense. My advice is simple: Plan ahead and outline.
( 5 NaNoWriMo Prompts for Mid-Challenge Motivation) 4.
For an 80,000-word novel, for instance, that’s 2,666 words/day for 30 days-or, if you prefer weekly goals, 20,000/week for four weeks. A rough draft of a draft? A full-length manuscript? Then do the math.
So no matter when your write-a-thon takes place, know what you’re setting out to accomplish. For instance, NaNoWriMo challenges participants to write a 50,000-word novel, and provides word count trackers to help you log and measure your progress as you go-but it’s worth noting that in most genres, 50,000 words doesn’t constitute a commercial book-length manuscript. Do the math.ĭaily or weekly word count goals help you track your progress toward your end-of-month goal, regardless of whether you average the same number of words every day. Jocelyn Frentz, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 3. Do you want to spend hours sitting in front of your computer? Do you want to have characters and plot twists swirling around in your head at every turn? Do you want the daunting task of placing the perfect words in each and every sentence? Do you, at times, want to smash your head against your keyboard? If your answer is yes, and not a mousy yes, but a standing-on-the-couch-Tom-Cruise yes, then maybe you’re just crazy enough to write a novel in a month. īefore you jump in, think about it long and hard.
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