Practice Corner - NaNoWriMo tips

[witchyemerald.livejournal.com]

For the Practice Corner this month, I am tailoring the topics to NaNoWriMo. If you are not doing NaNoWriMo this month, don’t worry these tips will work with any large writing challenge you are doing. Big Bangs anyone?

Also before I get on with the topic, for those who don’t know, they’re are plenty of people, myself included that are doing fanfiction as their chosen work for this month. Also, can’t do the full 50,000 words but what to join the fun? Then join it! Pick a word goal and write with us.


Okay so today we are looking at tips to get started and plan a smooth writing month. I have tips not only from my self but others as well.

So first -
Emerald’s Tips To Write Large Word Counts When You Are Both Busy And Not A Fast Typer!
(pss - that's me!)

1. Pick your monthly word goal. It could be a project like a Fest. It could be the 50,000 words from NaNoWriMo. Just pick a goal! Then take that number and divide by the days this month (in the case 30). This is your day goal. Well sort of!

2. Open a calendar. Hey guess what! We’re in November, and if you are in America, this month has some big stuff happening. But stuffing yourself full of turkey aside, look at where you work schedule might be. Children off school and underfoot? Children at grandparents and you get the computer yourself? Look at thing you know you have to do, that many people might forget. Church, shopping for food (big thing for us), children's events etc. This helps you adjust your daily word count. If it’s the 1667 a day you need for the NaNoWriMo, you can’t hit that daily goal if you're stuck working 12 hours on Black Friday. So this is where I pick the daily goals. And what days are going to cover the one’s I have to miss.

3. Write it down. Tell people. Post it on your journal. Whatever you want to do, goal work better when the world knows about them.

4. Make yourself comfortable in your work space Doesn't have to be hard, but keeping the distractions to a low if you can and the water/coffee/wine next to you helps. I personally have headphones so I can let the music block the (insert loud problem) and I can get 10 mins in.

5. Write when you can This is the tip that helps me the most as the month goes on. You don’t know how many things I write that only get worked on when I am at hold on the phone, or waiting at a doctors office. I work long (like 12-16 hour) shifts sometimes, you get the words in when you can. And 3 times you work on you story is 30 mins. Which is always greater than 0!

6. They’re are word tickers you can use, make a spreadsheet. Or pick a buddy to check in with. Keeps you honest and you can keep on top of yourself. My tracker? Swear to Merlin, it’s a piece of lined “grocery list” paper on my desk.

7. Get a little help from your friends. Stuck? Need some motivation? Feel like eating all the leftover Halloween candy? Remember the making the world know tip in #2? Well time to ask for help from your friends. Word sprints, races, wars. (Whatever you like to call them) A little idea bouncing. Or even someone to get your mind back into the fandom. Get someone to read parts that you might be stuck on. It all works. Need friends? Hello! I’m right here!

8. Don’t get frustrated on word counts in a timed writing event. Sometimes I get 70 words in 30 min. while others do over 1000. It’s not that I am a slow typer per say, but sometimes parts flow differently. Heck tropes, fandoms, characters and dialog all flow differently. Harry and Draco having a sass off always types out faster than an angsty part about feeling.

On a flip, if you get in a grove keep going! Timed writing is to help you and give you a break when needed. But if you get the story flowing through your fingers, then write, write, write.

9. Take time to re-plan. Raise your hand if your story every went off track, and you have; new scenes, new characters, or you came up with new challenges for your main characters. Plan to re-plan! Stories getting off track and either dropping plot points, or having unnecessary parts, tend to make people what to toss everything in the bin. This is also a good spot for that writing buddy too.

10. You will never fail at this. This is a goal for writing as a hobby. If at the end of the month you get 35,000 words in - hey you did great, and next month you can finish. The important thing is you tried it. No one is going to shoot you for missing the word count.



These 10 tips are from the writingbox. I agree with most everything here and instead of, you know, rewriting the wheel, I’ll just post them :)

1. Get as far ahead of the daily target as you can in week 1 while you’re running on adrenaline. Week 2 is tough, and having a good margin will help you enormously.

2. Turn off the television. If you think you can write in front of the tv you are just kidding yourself.

3. Treat yourself for reaching goals. Put your favourite chocolate bar, cake, beer, or whatever your vice is, on the table in front of you while you write. Don’t allow yourself to have it until you’ve written your daily word target. It’ll also make your treat taste that much better…

4. Be strict on yourself. Sit down and tell yourself you will write for 20mins, or 30mins, or an hour. Actually do it. Turn off the tv, hide from other people and stay off the internet. Write.

5. Don’t do it alone. Whether you meet up with people in real life, or meet up with people online, just meet up with someone. Make friends, encourage each other, motivate each other, compete against each other. (And most importantly, drink coffee with each other)

6. Compete against your writing buddies. Each day, check the word counts of your writing buddies. Decide whose wordcount you’re going to try and beat, then do it.

7. Take part in word wars (also known as word sprints.) Either meet up with friends or play with people online. Agree on an amount of time (20 mins, 1 hour, 24 hours) and at the end of that time, see who’s written the most words. Good fun, a great way to make friends and super productive too.

8. Don’t take more than one day off in a row. NaNoWriMo is full-on, and we all need a break now and again. We also all have a life to live outside of NaNo. Don’t feel guilty about taking the odd day off. But if you make it two days off, it’ll be that much harder to get back into it. Three days, and you’ll really struggle. More days and you’re unlikely to get back to it at all.

9.Trust your characters. Whether you’re a strict outliner or more of a discovery writer, you can often find your characters rebel; leading your story off in a direction you didn’t expect. Let them explore, you may find out that they have had a better idea than you did! And if your characters do start telling their own story, be glad. It only means that you have written them well, and written them fully, managing to bring them completely to life.

10. Just keep going. So what if you’re 5,000 words behind? So what if you’re only managing 800 words a day? So what if it’s 11.30pm on November 30th and you’ve only written 30,000 words. Not everyone will hit their 50k target, but that doesn’t mean they’ve failed at all. By carrying on until the end of the month you have achieved an incredible feat no matter what your word count. The only true failure is giving up.


Okay peps any tips YOU would like to share?

Comments

[sophie-french.livejournal.com]

Those tips are great, thanks! Will almost make me regret not doing the NaNo! Ah, well, next year! Anyway I loved what you said about re-plan, that's so true! :D

[cyn-ful.livejournal.com]

This is sooo awesome. Thank you! (I'm totally not slipping away from writing to browse the internet at all right now...really) Honestly, I am either right at my word goal for the day (and it's my day off), or over it now. I plan on doing some serious writing today, BUT I have to go pay off my car! *does happy no car payment after today dance*

[witchyemerald.livejournal.com]

No car payment deserve all the happy dances!

[cyn-ful.livejournal.com]

Yes! I think it is time for me to take a break from writing and go and make that payment!! Woohoo!! I'm so excited!

That and I'm now over 20,000 words! WOOHOO!

[witchyemerald.livejournal.com]

2/5th the way down in 7 days is an awesome place to be!

[cyn-ful.livejournal.com]

I know. I am so excited. I don't think I have ever made it this far in previous years. I'm actually at a good spot right now too. I just added intrigue to the mystery.
My nerves are all jittery because they have been racing through the LIbrary of Congress.

I have one friend that I am trying to keep up with. He has his own deadline. He plans on being done by the 11th. Four more days. I have been trying to keep up with him. He was at 26000 last night. So, I still have 6000 to even get close to him right now.

At what point to you start to panic over the story taking over your life and you not being able to do it justice? I just hit this point...

[witchyemerald.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. There's about 3 fest i have written for this year that were not where I wanted to story to go. But with this, you don't have to post at the end of the month. So you can get you story our. think rough draft. You can always finish and change in Dec...Jan...Feb

But isn't getting the rough draft the hardest part?

[cyn-ful.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, it is just so much bigger. I cringe every time I write He looked, she looked. But I know the important part is getting it out.

My panic just set in because of a website and what it said and so my simple what if story has turned into a much bigger one than I even though. Might go on up into 100000 words...maybe. I'm at 20000 and she is just now finding out his secret.