The leaves are beginning to change, the days are getting shorter, and the air is filled with a faint whiff of “I’m going to write me a novel.” Yes, it’s nearly November, which means nearly time for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, wherein thousands of people around the globe attempt to write a novel in a month and opt for plot over pumpkin pie, turning points over turkey, and foreshadowing over football.
Are you participating? What do you think of NaNoWriMo? Is it a great opportunity to finally get over the hump and get that novel going? Or is writing best done when not in a mad dash?
Let this also serve as a preview for a NaNoWriMo themed week on the blog next week, wherein I will attempt to get those who are participating in the right frame of mind to write pages like they have never written pages before.
There's some great tips here – I'm going to start using some of these. Thanks, writers.
One way I try to combat/avoid hitting the wall is by working through a full outline/brain dump of how the plot breaks down and key points about the characters, how events in the plot make them feel, how they react to each other, etc. It’s not really a formal I, II, III type of outline, just getting the general sketch out as much as I have formulated at the time. That helps me keep some momentum going and avoid distractions of worrying about what I have in my head for the next scene while trying to write the one before it.
But I still get stuck, of course. I try to keep my hands moving on the keyboard to hold focus, so I start writing out the (open-ended) questions that are keeping me from continuing: What does [character] do next? How does [character] feel about that? Sometimes answers just come. But if they don’t, I’ll leave them there for later and try starting over with what I know and coming at the scene from a different angle, or picking up again at a point where I have more to say at the moment.
I'm working backwards, I guess, starting with your post today and working back to this.
I am jumping into NaNoWriMo with two feet!
I can't say that any work of literary genius has been born for me in November, but I loved Water for Elephants. Tackling NaNoWriMo and expecting a publishable book on November 30 is like signing up for a marathon and expecting to lose 100 pounds in the race. Be proud to cross the finish line!
I am participating. This will make my 10th year, with only 2 years skipped in that 10 years. Didn't win every time, but did participate. I won 3 different years.
I'm doing NaNo for the 3rd year. I'm a caregiver for a family member, so I get to write all day and after 4 days, I already have 28,900 words…on the way to an estimated 120K for my fantasy novel, the first of a 6-book series. I'm in the US but I love the local and international friendships I've made through NaNo and the spring Southern Cross challenge out of New Zealand. Go Writers!