Hey! It’s November. Like, just barely scraping into
November. By hours. You’ve probably still got the
taste of chocolate in your mouth, don’t you?
Yes you
do. Don’t lie.
Anyway, if
you’re even a semi-regular reader of this site, you’ve probably heard of a
certain November writing event that starts... well, probably right about now,
depending what time zone you’re in. Some
of you may have been writing for the past hour or two, fueled by miniature
Heath bars and Reese’s cups. Power to you
for starting right at midnight .
On the off
chance this is all new to you, I’m talking about NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. You sit yourself down at the keyboard, scoop
up your legal pad, jack in to your hexadecimal cerebral port, and try to get an
entire novel done—start to finish—in just thirty days.
And when
you finish, you get...
Well,
bragging rights, basically. Pride. A feeling of accomplishment.
Sounds a
bit intimidating, yes?
It sure as
hell is.
Don’t get
me wrong. It can be fun, recharge your
batteries, stoke the fires, and lots of other clever aphorisms. But the simple truth is, it’s a huge,
exhausting undertaking. I do this full
time, for a living, and the idea of writing an entire book in thirty days makes
me feel a bit overwhelmed just thinking about it.
So here’s
four quick thing to keep in mind so you don’t get as intimidated or
overwhelmed.
1) Don’t
be Hard on Yourself—this is supposed to be fun. You’re on a deadline, yes, but it’s a
self-imposed deadline with no consequences if it’s missed. Seriously, relax. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t make your daily or weekly word count. That’s the
kind of thing that makes you feel bad about yourself and about your ability as
a writer. It doesn’t help anything, it
just makes you enjoy the act of writing less.
Push
yourself, but don’t pressure yourself.
The big goal here is to improve, so any and every improvement
counts. Have fun and enjoy all the
little victories this month. This is a
time when coming in second or third is still a great achievement.
2) Pace
Yourself—nobody wins a marathon by sprinting the entire way. Trying to fill every single waking moment
with writing is going to burn you out quick.
And it’ll show in your work.
Try to be
aware of diminishing returns. A lot of
times when I’m on a deadline, I’ll work late into the night. Sometimes it goes great, but sometimes... I
start to slow down. My productivity
drops. And eventually it hits a point
where I would’ve been better off going to bed two hours ago because I would’ve
gotten just as much done in half an hour on a good night’s sleep.
It’s so
friggin’ simplistic, but think of the Tortoise and the Hare. Slow and steady
gets the worm and the second mouse gets the cheese. Something like that. You get the idea.
3) Rest
and recharge—if the last two pieces of advice got together and had an
advice baby, it would be this. Don’t be
scared to step away, just for a little while.
Have a nice meal and maybe a drink.
Go for a walk. Take a nap. Take a shower. No, seriously, take a shower. You should probably do that before going
out—you’ve been sitting there for days typing and you’ve got writer stink on
you. Play a game. Call a friend. Curl up with somebody on the couch and watch
an episode of Legends of Tomorrow or The Chilling Adventures of
Sabrina or something.
Point is,
don’t feel bad about stepping away from the computer for an hour. You’re trying to get a lot done, yeah, but
with that in mind you don’t want to overwork the machine to the point it
overheats and seizes up. Give it time to cool down and refuel. I’m not saying
take a day or three off in the middle of this, but don’t be scared to get up,
stretch, and walk away from your computer for an hour. In the end, it’ll run smoother and faster
overall.
4) This Won’t Sell—no, seriously. It’s won’t. Kick that idea right out of your mind and stop worrying about it altogether. It’s just not going to happen. You’re worrying about your wedding venue and playlist when you’re not even dating anybody right now.
4) This Won’t Sell—no, seriously. It’s won’t. Kick that idea right out of your mind and stop worrying about it altogether. It’s just not going to happen. You’re worrying about your wedding venue and playlist when you’re not even dating anybody right now.
The name
NaNoWriMo is kinda deceptive, because you’re not really writing a novel
this month. You’re writing the first
draft of a novel. Maybe
even just the first draft of a novella.
And there’s a huge difference between a first draft and a polished,
completed manuscript.
Most
importantly... nobody’s going to buy a first draft. No agent’s going to look at it. No film studio will pre-emptively buy the
rights after a prolonged bidding war.
This draft
is for you. It’s to do whatever you want
with. Don’t spend a second
second-guessing what those other people will want. They’re never going to see this. They may see the third or fourth draft—and be
interested in it—but what you’re doing right now? This is just a mess of cake batter. It’s barely halfway through the process.
So forget
them. Right now, just crank up the music
and let your imagination run wild. Do
whatever you want. Tell your story. Drop all inhibitions and expectations and
just write.
Keep these things in mind over the next couple days. Hopefully they’ll make things a little easier for you. Which’ll make the writing a little more enjoyable.
Keep these things in mind over the next couple days. Hopefully they’ll make things a little easier for you. Which’ll make the writing a little more enjoyable.
Next
time...
Well, it’s
been a while, so I figured we could talk about characters. Or, to be more exact, who deserves to be a
character in my story.
Until
then... go write.
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