NaNoWriMo-National Novel Writing Month: Tips n Tricks

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