As Ian warned us in his wonderful Week 2 pep talk, this is the hardest week of National Novel Writing Month. I've done NaNoWriMo seven times before, and I'm still dreading this week. My novel is boring, I didn't write yesterday so now I'm behind, and there are a lot of things I need to do this week besides work on my novel. I figured that since most everyone is probably feeling the same way, it would be good to share some tips and tricks for getting through this week and the rest of the month.
Here are my words of advice:
- Write every day, even if you only write a couple hundred words. I've tried to follow this NaNo rule for years, and I'm always sorry when I ignore it. You won't always have time for a full quota of 1667 words, but if you make yourself write *something* every day, you're that much farther along. More importantly, you avoid the dangerous thinking of "Well, I already skipped one day, so another isn't that much worse." It is that much worse. Write daily!
- Throw in the unexpected. On Thursday, when I was facing my character going through another day that would go exactly as I expected it to, ho hum, I decided that the doorbell would ring and a stranger would be at the door. Then it got interesting. Then I had to figure out who the stranger was and what she wanted and what effect that would have on my main character. It gave me a lot of words, and I had more fun writing them than I had in several days.
- Introduce conflict. Fights, dilemmas, arguments, and problems are way more interesting to write about than everything going along smoothly. At every opportunity, make things more difficult for your characters. Be sadistic. It's fun!
What has worked for you in the past, or what are you figuring out now that helps?
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48,227 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 48
Throwing in unexpected stuff is a great word count builder. Yesterday, I realized that in my novel, Mr. Rogers (of public TV Mr. Roger's Neighborhood fame) was the second coming of the Messiah, but nobody realized it until after he died. It led to a nice long (and interesting, I think) conversation for my dinner scene. So come up with some random ideas and figure out how to incorporate them into your book!
----------idunno, co-ML for California :: South Bay
2009 Novel: The Stephen Hawking Detective Agency
49,036 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 51
Have your MC try to stuff a bicycle up a chimney.
Well you have to admit, that's random.
If your MC's have any long lost relatives, this would be a good week to introduce them.
And when all else fails, add a ninja.
Melissa
----------You can have a sound mind in a healthy body.... Or you can be a Nanonovelist!
Nanowrimo--Eavesdrop on the Voices In Your Head
7,600 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 14 18
Grab one random plot ninja from Plot Ninja thread and use _one_ of them every day.
Also add a stalking serial killer.
One of my FMC's apartment was trashed and threating notes have been delivered to her. And I don't quite know who it is, nor why they are focused on her. I do know how they will meet their unfortunate end however... never eat chocolate chip cookies that have been sent to you in prison by an anonymous source... just sayin'.
And as an addendum to marcopolo... write 10 words, then 10 more. and soon you'll have quite a tidy word count.
Good Luck!!
----------2006 - Star Fire - 65k
2007 - Demon's Desire - 100k
2008 - Dead Lines -125k
2009 - Gideon's Gambit - 54k
2009 - Just Desserts - 53k
The Beatings Will Continue Until Word Count Improves!