#nano tips

to celebrate the first day of national novel writing month, i thought i’d share some tips and tricks on how to get through the month! here are some easy ways to get some extra words in if you’re worried about not meeting that word goal

(please remember nano should not be too stressful!! this is meant to be motivating, positive and fun!)

show AND tell

don’t be afraid to be E X T R A thorough with your descriptions this month! Remember, the more the better!

Nano is a great time for getting any and all of your ideas out, so write down anything that comes to mind! Remember, editing is something you can do later, this does not have to be perfect!

5 senses!

so your character has seen and touched things in this scene, but have they smelt, heard or tasted anything? it is SO easy to forget that your mc (no matter what POV you’re writing from) can do so much more than see, speak and feel. combine this with showing and telling, and giving a little insight into your mc’s thoughts, and you could potentially add a whole page to your scene!

ramble

this month is just for you, so while your final version of your story might not need those three pages of backstory or that one page on scene-setting, if it pleases you, if it helps get you in to your story more, write! it! down!

anything can count...

from bullet points to scenes that you don’t think will include at the end, to one-shots of your own mc’s, it’s all just words!

no one has to read this draft. and if it helps you know your characters or your world, or your story more, that’s great!!

edit in, not out i know for some it’s hard to not edit as you go, but trust me when i say that is NOT the purpose of nanowrimo! (uless you ARE editing for nanowrimo... in which case maybe skip this!) the focus is on getting the ideas out, no matter how rough or messy they sound on the page.

if you have the urge to edit, hold off. write a note somewhere (on a piece of paper, sticky note, a comment on your word doc) of what you want to edit, and then move on! (and this way, when you come back to the editing process, you already have somewhere to start!)

enjoy and believe in yourself

you are writing your story!!!! your poem collection!!!! your very first tv episode!!! whatever it is your working on, maintain that hype!!! 

let your excitement fuel you to write whatever comes to mind! nanowrimo is so fun and a great motivator to get you doing the first step in any writing process — getting your idea out there! 

You don’t have to do all your writing for the day in one sitting. I don’t think I’ve ever written 1,667 words in one sitting before. I set 10-minute timers whenever I have it to spare and write as much as I can in that time. I do that a few times a day and ta-da! 

Hello world! This is Kara. I’m trying something new for my Nano planning process this year. This is the grid method, or the corkboard method, or whatever you want to call it. 

Each section of the board is one arc of my story, and then I’ll use this board to arrange and rearrange the scenes of my story until it flows like a narrative should. 

1. Write the scene you don’t want to write.

I know you don’t want to write the boring bridging scene and you think 1300 words is a pretty good word count for the first day and you don’t even have any ideas for that scene because you had ideas for the scene before and you have ideas for the scene after. Screw that, write it anyway. Yes, it might be bad, yes you’re really not inspired and it feels very bland right now. Write it. WRITE IT. Get to 1700 words with a boring filler scene that is needed for context. Because honestly, if you’re not into writing that boring scene now, you’re not gonna be happy to have to write it on day 25 with 8K words to catch up. Nano isn’t about writing your best novel, you cannot always write your best, Nano is about writing the whole damn thing. Then you’ll edit and rewrite until you make it good, make it best.

2. Pay attention when you read.

I’m not saying read everyday, nobody got the energy for that, but when you do read, pay attention to the words. If the way someone blended dialogue and descriptions together flows well, write it down for later. There is only so many times you can use “As for”, “But her eyes”, “When she”. At some point you get really tired of the way you write things, it doesn’t feel like a style anymore but just the same bits of sentences, simply reorganized with different words. So pay attention to others’ words. Being able to use a phrasing you liked in your own writing will suddenly make you feel a whole lot more talented than you felt ten seconds before. Ride the highs when you can.

3. If you’re inspired to write more, write more.

don’t stop when you don’t know what comes next

stop before that

even if it’s only a line or 2

going back is harder if you don’t know where you’re going because then you have to figure it out before you get into the groove, instead let yourself get into the groove and it’ll be easier to figure out