National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short is just around the corner. Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Didn’t think you had time or energy? Or have you participated and won?
Either way, here are some tricks to think about if you want to give it a try (or another). Bev, Pat, Susan and I all have participated in the past and we urged/inspired each other to make it to the end.
NaNoWriMo is the only reason I have a finished/published novel. I wrote the bulk of Cookie Encounter during the ’07 NaNo, and worked on it/edited it on and off for 8 years before I decided to indie publish. NaNo can work for you as well. Here are some tricks to help you reach the 50k mark.
NaNoWriMo tricks:
skip ahead
write a scene that comes easily (like an argument or tense scene)
remember this is a first draft-anything goes
do not edit, just keep the words coming
invent a new character with quirks or strong opinions and throw him in the mix
find writers locally and attend ‘write ins’ with them
with online writer friends, set a challenge with them, for either word counts or a specific item or character to add to your novel in progress
don’t worry if you don’t have any ideas on November 1st; I didn’t, and wrote anyway
tell friends/family you are setting aside your novel-writing time; schedule it and keep to it
celebrate when you finish (or however much you accomplished), it is still more than you had on Oct. 31
For a previous post on NaNo, click here.
Are you going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year? Share with us your progress! We’d love to hear from you!
Happy writing!
~~Michelle
Great tips! It took me a while to figure some of these out too. Like you, my first novel took years to write…too much on going editing!
But at least you have a book to edit, right? Thanks for stopping by! Did you do Nano this year?
I’m 15,000 plus words into my Nanowrimo book….falling a little behind so must work harder. Your tips are great, especially the one about skipping forward. Thanks for the encouragement!
Bev.
That’s fantastic! Keep going!