If you have any tips for your fellow novellers put your words of wisdom here. Whether it's something that has worked for you in previous years or a trick you'll be trying out this year, let us know. And maybe we can get to 100 tips (or even more?)
I'll start off with a few.
1. Pack away your inner editor. While you're writing, don't delete anything. Just keep going, even if you think it sounds rubbish. You can always go back and change it at the end of the month.
2. If you're stuck for something to write about (whether it be a scene or the whole novel!) turn on the telly and go on a few random channels. Then steal the odd thing such as a theme/situation/setting/character trait from each one and then merge it all together. Voila! You have yourself a plot!
3. Try to write every day even if it's just 100 words.
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77,708 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2009 - 09 11
4. If you suddenly realise you've created a massive plot hole/don't like a particular scene or character, just put in NB: whatever and then highlight it. Makes life easier when editing.
5. Try writing by hand for a bit if you get writer's block--sometimes using a different thing to get the words down can help.
6. If you're really, really stuck, blow something up. (The first year I did it, I had to resort to this... I started by blowing up an airship when I was bored. It progressed to Berlin and then London...).
7. Character profiles are good for getting ideas to carry on if you get stuck too.
8. Have fun with it.
----------NutmegAngel
Inspired by chocolate.
Fuelled by tea.
45,670 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2009 - 11 27
9. Do sprints and word wars with friends.
10. Don't give up. If you miss a day, make it up.
11. Try to write more than the minimum daily word count during the early part of the month then, if you start to flag you won't fall behind.
12. Set yourself targets and rewards e.g. another 200 words then I can have a cup of tea/bar of chocolate/stiff drink!
----------www.auburnimp.net
38,463 / 50,000
Okt 15, 2009 - 09 09
13. Come to the write ins - it's amazing how much you can get done with some moral support!
8,700 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 08 51
14. Learn how to set up BBC iPlayer to download before hand. Useful if you either write through a program, or want to watch something a weird time. (EDIT: You get about a 30 days to watch a program after downloading, or 7 days to catch it after hitting play.)
----------Visit http://mikesharpewriter.com/ for a Free eBook set in Manchester UK.
16,827 / 50,000
Okt 15, 2009 - 11 36
15. Skip really troublesome scenes - you can always go back and put them in later!
----------NaNo 06: Freedom Club (Sci-fi) - 23k
NaNo 07: Hex (Sci-Fi) - 51k
NaNo 08: The Five Hands of Gert de Vries (Supernatural) - 71k
NaNo 09: Bright Fire Burning Hands (Fantasy)
http://holliequ.livejournal.com/
0 / 50,000
Okt 17, 2009 - 12 02
16. If you're stuck (or even if you're not!), and have an idea for a scene, but you're not sure how it'll fit in, just write it down, and find a way to slot it in later. Last year I had scenes floating around all over the place even hours before the deadline, but I managed to slot them all in logically and perfectly before the end =D
----------img src="http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/WordWar/446456-450176.png"/
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Okt 18, 2009 - 06 32
17. If you are stuck, write a scene from another part of the story, don't worry too much about chronology.
18. BACK UP! E-mail to yourself, save to data pen, use Dropbox (www.getdropbox.com) - you never know what will happen to your computer.
19. Get people to give you challenges. At the 2007 write in, I ended up accepting a challenge to include the phrase 'sticky dragon' in my novel, despite the fact it was set on a space ship. The result was 2000+ words worth of really good writing culminating in, yes, a (metaphorical) sticky dragon.
20. If your dialogue is bogging you down, don't worry too much about the formatting and layout - just use dashes. It speeds up the flow and you can get conversations out of your brain and onto the screen much faster
21. Make a NaNo playlist on your computer. Include lots of stuff and then play it on shuffle. All sorts of random and serendipitous things will happen in your story as a result.
----------Dispatches 2007 - won!
We do not talk about 2008
38,463 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2009 - 08 10
22. Tell as many people as you can that you're writing a novel. It'll encourage you to write (imagine telling ALL those people that you failed tor each the target!)
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23. Keep your writing area clean and tidy and try not to face anything that might distract you (like TV)
24. Get yourself a lucky mascot - for moral support!
25. Eavesdrop on people around you, a lot of the time you can find some really good pieces for dialogue.
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Okt 30, 2009 - 15 43
I've never done Nano before, but I did write a 220, 000 word story earlier this year, and with that in mind...
26. When you're stuck, get some air! Go out with your friends and try to forget about your story for a few hours; you'll come back to your computer with a million more ideas!
27. Write what interests you. If you're bored with your own writing, something's gone wrong...
28. Don't get disheartened and think, 'this is all a load of rubbish and I should never write again'. Persevere! Even if it IS rubbish (which, let's face it, will be the case... in PLACES), come December, you and you alone have the power to change that. Don't like something? You can always fix it! (In a month... :P)
29. Don't get offended when you tell your friends you're writing a novel, and they respond with shrugs. People are just like that. :S
30. If you're stuck with the writing side of things, try drawing a picture. Strange things can happen...
----------~Sorcery and science collide!~
3,647 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 05 22
I like Raymond Chandler's tip:
31. "When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand."
I think I will almost certainly be resorting to this, however that's ok as I'm trying to write a detective noir thriller type thing. May be less useful for those of you who are writing romance, or something else in which guns are equally incongruous.
And, my own tip:
32. Try to enjoy your writing - if you're into your story, it's much easier to finish. Every time I've given up it's because I'mbored of what I'm writing, largely because I've got stuck and churned out 6 pages of turgid description. I am determined this will not happen this year.
19,517 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 13 12
I was going to give the Raymond Chandler one ^__^. Oh well.
33. Do writing exercises when you're stuck. Start with a phrase, like "I know..." or "I wish..", and just write for half an hour. It's amazing what you'll come up with. Similarly, make yourself a list of awesome opening lines. Whenever you're stuck throw one in and just go for it.
34. Write Or Die. Use it.