(ST) Secrets to Staying on Track

I've got a few....

-Don't look back unless necessary! This was the one big problem I had with year one, and I think we all hit. Rereading tempts you to correct grammar, change crappy sentences, correct spelling. Then you get caught up in editing and next thing you know, you're 10k behind. This month, while writing your novel, do not look back. Keep writing forward. The only time you should ever reread is if you're trying to get back into the mindset you were in at 2am when you decided you finally had to sleep ;) And even then, sparingly.

-Say goodbye to notions of grammar, spelling and consistancy for the month. That's what the editing process is for.

-Silence the inner!editor. I do this by visualizing him/her locked in a room in a basement, tied to a chair and behind soundproof walls. Sounds crazy, but it works.

Be sure to remove as many distractions as possible, I have trouble with that far to often and it is the number one thing that leads to the downward spiral that was my failures last few rounds.

Don't sit in a high traffic area, people will talk to you.

Remove yourself from your entertainment hot-spots, they will tempt you.

Besure to notify people you like that you will be incognito or they will hunt you down and pull you away.

Try not to spend too many hours on the forums talking with interesting people it will reduce the hours you have for writing!

DO NOT PURCHASE A NEW FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT DURING NOVEMBER, This one is for fellow gamers mostly, november is a big game release month and you know if you buy them, your gonna play them. No you will not play for "Just an hour", you know you will suddenly realize you have 4 hours to sleep before class/work and that means no writing time!

If I remove myself from entertainment hot spots, then I won't be able to type up my story! And Mis does NOT write long-hand thank you very much. I suppose I could find a way to password lock my folders containing seasons one and two of Supernatural so I don't start watching... as well, lock my WoW/Sims2 games.. xD

But... nah ;p

LOCK WoW...you nearly gave me a heart attack!!!

Entertainment hotspots....I can do that...now I just have to make the dogs and cats understand LOL

I'm also going to try to write for a minimum of 15 minutes if I really, really don't feel like writing.

What about getting "stuck"?

I have a few goodies I'll be handing out at Kick-Off that might help with that ;)

Get rid of distractions! Seriously! I cannot stress this enough! Unless you have already pre-planned how much time you're going to spend playing The Sims 2, or Warcrack, then you're fine. But seriously - uninstall (backup saved Sims files first!) or put a parental lock on Warcraft, etc. Unhook your gaming consoles, unplug the television cable/digital box etc xD

Even make a DND sign for your bedroom door, and don't forget to let friends and family know you're been AWOL during your writing hours - both online and off!

Of course, the forums can prove distraction but.. they're also necessary ;p

One last one that was told to me last year: turn your inner editor off. That way, you won't get so caught up in the little typos, mistakes, etc that will eventually drive you crazy and possibly make you want to give up (trust me, been there ><).

Oooh you play WoW as well?! What server(s)? I'm on Whisperwind, Moonrunner and Farstriders.

I'm an Age of Empires addict (there should be a 12-step group for it), so I can't quite bring myself to uninstall it for the month of November. However, I do ration myself. During a WriMo contest, I let myself play ONE game, and then absolutely NO MORE until I've finished my day's quota.

Playing that one game is part of my pre-writing ritual. The whole ritual is: I eat breakfast, see the family off to work/school, play one game of AofE, re-read what I wrote yesterday and then commence typing new material. Oh, yeah, I get dressed at some point in there, but not necessarily right away. Grins.

I know what you mean about the Inner Editor, Toybirds. It's not just the typos, though; I have to be very firm with my I.E. that I will not be revising, re-writing, re-working, expanding, or anything else like that, until Dec. 1. Worst case, I threaten the I.E. with my main character's magic sword!

FOR STAYING ON TRACK

Don't completely cut yourself off from entertainment, because it's like a diet. If you cut yourself off completely you're going to want to cave more and more and when you do you'll like eat up an entire day just not writing. Instead Moderate.
Cut back, visit your forums once, answer posts once, don't search for replies, move on. Read your webcomics get everything out of the way in a reasonable ammount of time. This, also keeps you from bogging down because you don't begin to resent your book.

Try to write in your down time, writing in school cuts back on social interaction you may start to crave.

Take breaks, this isn't a punishment! Take a walk, get some ideas flowing, get something to eat. This won't effect any rolls you might be on because when on a role you'll hardly notice anything let alone think you need a break.

Tea/snacks. Keeps the nerves at bay, gives you something to do besides write and you can do it WHILE you write.

TIPS FOR GETTING GOING IF YOU'RE BOGGED DOWN

Best tip I could possibly give is (and you're going to laugh but it works) Change the font.

Nothing too scripty, I suggest Courier New. For some reason, it's almost like a change of scenary and the ideas'll stat flowing again..

Think about what you've written so far, not critically, just tell yourself the story so far while you're going to sleep. There's a possibility your mind already has ideas for it and you'll get them in your dreams. (another one is just, pay close attention to your dreams, you might get a fun idea there.)

Talk about your plotline with someone. You might get ideas from just hearing it aloud.

Write anyway. Babble, long round about sentences that say nothing, entire scenes that don't mean anything. New character that only stick around for a page. The writers block will untangle if you keep unraveling random ideas and hey somethnig good might even come out of the unraveling and pull your novel into a completely different direction!

Do things that Inspire you. Draw your characters, think about their pasts instead of where the book is going. Take a walk, listen to music, call up a friend.

Lastly, Don't get stressed. And if you are stressed, back away from the computer and go unwind. Stress is your worst enemy and only feeds that pesky writers block. You don't HAVE to finish for November. This story isn't just got NaNoWriMo it's for you. If you get stressed you're going to be more inclined to give up. Don't give up!

I'm only on one Tanaris. I've got a few toons...but I definately prefer my Hunter!! How about you?

As to staying on track? I've no idea. I've got incredible will power to do that. It's slow when I don't want to, but I can nearly always punch out 2K/day. Just take it slow. Maybe write a few hundred, then do something else you enjoy, and go back to your story. Perhapes you even got an idea while away?

As for aliviating writer's block? I have the worst cases sometime and what I do is I do something that lets my mind wander (Last year I braided bracelets *constantly* so everyone I knew had atleast one:-P and I would start thinking of my novel and where I wanted it to go and about a quarter of the way done my bracelet I'd have this really awesome idea, but I wouldn't stop what I was doing and keep expanding the idea until the point where when I'm finished the bracelet all I can tihnk about is writing and then I get on a role).
Something like a walk, drawing, anything that doesn't require a lot of 'thereness' of your brain, so that it can wander. I found it works wonders.

Hi there,

Another way to stay on track is to move with your mind. if you've got lots of energy one day, use it; then if you get tired another you can feel like you're still moving forward.

Also, I keep having unrelated conversations with my character's in my head and outside of the novel so that when they get into other situations I feel more comfortable letting go and having them react.

The only other thing I can suggest is getting a cat who won't leave your lap so that when you aren't writing the only other thing you can do is think about writing and how your laptop is actually lighter than this big black ball of fur that has made you its new home. Laptop isn't required, but you know what I mean. Don't you???

I'm so fizzled out after this long and wonderful birthday!

Good night all.

I haven't gotten superly stuck so far, but its bound to happen. The small sticks I would read some comments on the forums, or talk to my friends, or watch T.v and I wouldn't think about it directly. I'd run ideas by. I might see a show about cooking and (it might help if you've got a random mind like me) my thoughts might start out as "maybe some kitchen incident, or if that can't fit in, maybe a past experience thats brought up" and then I might start wandering around my brain, not really racking it for ideas. I could start thinking of how the food looks good, then end up with a whole new 3 pages of story about an elephant and a flying rat.

If this doesn't work, then I find that my best ideas have come while I'm showering, odd as it may seem. Last night I thought about an idea and now I've got another two pages worth to write, at least.

I agree with writing every day. If you say "oh i just wont write, I can stop for now, pick up tomorrow" then you might get into the habit and you might not get back on track.

Also, try not looking at it as "47, 436 words to go. Ugh." I look at it as "Wow, I've got 2, 564 words done. Thats a lot, better keep at it, 4K sounds good on the tongue" If I don't get to 4 K that day, I just pick it back up the next.

These work good for me, if it works better the opposite way for you then don't listen to me heh. :) Just don't try so hard that it isn't fun anymore, because isn't this all for fun?

Some folks in our region -- mostly the wackos who did 20K last weekend -- are considerably ahead of schedule on their word counts. Some of us -- myself included -- are a leetel behind. Just a day or two, but definitely not on schedule.

Sometimes when I get behind schedule I sort of panic and become paralyzed. I spend time calculating how much I'm falling behind, on average, every day, and so on. Then, typically, I'll try to catch it all up in one day. If I just write 4K today (or 8K or, the gods forbid, 10K), I'll be back where I should be. Ack! What an overwhelming thing to lay on myself.

However, in terms on staying on track, I do know that the best thing to do if I get behind schedule is to give myself three days or even a week to catch up. Say that I'm behind by 1570 words (which, as a matter of fact, I am). Rather than berating myself and telling myself that today I have to write the whole 1570 plus today's 1667, I aim first of all not to fall further behind. First goal: 1667, as usual. Then, if I make the 1667, I'll tackle a bit more - maybe 300 or 400. If I can manage that for a few days in a row, I'll be back on track. It sure beats berating myself, which only puts me into a non-productive tail-spin.

Don't Panic! <-- these are large friendly letters

Some more good advice: Don't write three novels at the same time

Are you speaking from personal experience, Welestra? *smile*

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw, what would make you say that? >D

Truthfully yes, I am. Maybe it's the ML duties too, but trying to keep 3 novels on track is really stressful. Darn me and my stubbornness! >.<