I wrote this back in April, but I hope it can still help and encourage a few of you out there who are interested in participating in NaNo this year. Good luck, God bless, and DON’T GIVE UP.
Genna
A lot of people, especially my Twitter friends who stood by me and cheered me on through the dreaded month of November, 2008, wonder how I got through it and came out with 50,006 words on November 23. It was not easy. It was nerve wracking, irritating, and often made me cry. I would easily spend 5-7 hours working on my writing every night.
I realize most people don't have that kind of time to dedicate to writing so I decided to put together a post of my best advice, tips, tricks, and exercises for getting through NaNoWriMo 2009.
Planning: I know it's only April, but most of us have already been in the planning stages of our NaNo '09 novels, right? I began planning my NaNo '08 novel more than two years before it was ever written. You might be sitting there thinking "Wow! Two years? Is that really necessary? Do I have to plan out my novel for two years before I write it?". The answer is absolutely not! So how do you know when to start the planning and outlining stages of that novel? It's all up to the author. But here's how it can start.
1. The novel idea begins. You are laying in bed, are in the shower, driving down the road, when a character starts talking to you. She whispers in your ear, he demands his story be told, whoever it is, they're very very persistent. Stop. Grab a pen, lipstick, anything and write that idea down. No matter what it is, it could be "a man dies in his favorite rocking chair", but write that idea down!
2. Don't let it just sit there! Expand on it! Get out a sheet of paper, your journal, or open up your word processing program of choice and write. Write about that idea, write from your point of view, and then from the character's point of view, and then if you're feeling brave, rewrite the scene from a bystanders point of view. This will accomplish two things. One, it will give you a voice for your story, help you decide from what point of view you want to write and how. Two, it will expand your idea and begin developing a plot or theme. Don't let it escape you, though. When you first begin an idea, that is the best time to expand on it and outline it.
3. Write an epilogue. It doesn't matter if you only have 3 paragraphs of story, the best way to begin is to end. It may sound silly but I have done this and it helped me to develop a story line. Write the end of your story, even if you don't actually use that epilogue, it will help you to see a light at the end of the tunnel as you write.
Developing a plot: This is possibly only slightly less difficult than developing your characters. It’s a long and tedious process but very rewarding in the end, and a necessary evil. You have to know what happens in your story. Flying by the seat of your pants, as one often does in NaNoWriMo, can produce some of the greatest and worst writing you've ever done. Still, at least a vague idea of a plot, and even a subplot can be helpful for those days when you find yourself facing the dreaded writer's block.
Meet Your Characters: We're all afraid of them. We all want to throw them into a vat of scalding oil sometimes. We all love them. We all want to tape their mouths shut, but, in the end, the characters are what gives the story a voice and a life. So how do you develop your characters? Here are a few tips to get you started.
1. I'm sure you've all seen them. The dreaded surveys that make their way into your Myspace bulletin box or tag you in notes on Facebook but, believe it or not, these can be highly useful character development tools. You may only think you know all about your characters but chances are you haven't even scratched the surface of character development. Naming your character and his physical appearance and interests are not going to stand up in the face of actual novel and story writing. You need to know who your character is! Get deep down into her soul. Ask her questions about mom and dad. Fill out a psychological profile of your character. Really understand them.
2. Learning more about your character's interests will help you to become a better writer. If you know your character inside and out and take time to learn their interests, chances are you'll find yourself excited about writing about them. If your protagonist is into deep sea fishing, look up deep sea fishing or even go deep sea fishing to get a feel for it. It's understandable that you may not be able to take up pottery or gymnastics, but learn about what they like. For instance, during the writing process of "Heart of the Bells", I studied orchestral instruments and terms to get a better feel for the arrangement he was making.
3. Try not to hate your characters. If you're writing from the viewpoint of a preppy, whiny diva that you can't stand, you may want to stop where you're at unless you're going for the audience to hate your lead character. The despise you feel for any character translates to the page and your audience may be able to pick up on that.
4. Don't write a character blindly. If you're a 58 year old man writing from the viewpoint of a 22 year old woman, you may want to do some research and even dig into the heads of some women you know. You should be able to relate, on some level, to the character who's viewpoint you're writing from.
NaNoWriMo: Everyone who's ever signed up on the website wants to be immortalized by seeing that purple winner's bar proudly displayed on their profile pages and underneath their name on the forums for the next 330 days or so, right? But how does one arrive there? How do you get through 30 days of bad hygiene, lack of sufficient nutrition, neglecting your spouse, children and household chores? Now, granted, I have no children or spouse but, at the time I wrote my novel my world was busy nonetheless.
As you may recall, 2008 was rather a substantial election year here in the US and I was involved with one of the political parties so the first few days of 2008 NaNoWriMo were pretty much hell on me. I'd been at the office day and night volunteering 40-60 hours a week and so by the time the 1st of November arrived, I came down with the worst cold I have ever had. You know what? That didn't stop me! I went to the Midnight Dash at IHOP with my writing buddies and I very determinedly wrote 1300 words between midnight and 2:30 am. That weekend, despite the election, being sick, and the Celtic Festival, I accomplished my daily goals and even managed to write over my goals so I could take the 4th off.
What got me through that month was severe perseverance and dedication, prayer, and some wonderful friends! How can you be successful too?
1. Just WRITE! Stop criticizing your every word and write. Even if it is crap, write. Even if you hate it, write. Even if it makes no sense, write. Just write. There is a saying on the boards: "Don't edit your work during November, that's what December is for." You're going for quantity, not quality. Chances are, you're going to end up with a 50,000 word novel that makes little sense but you'll have a 50,000 word novel. I can understand probably better than anyone that it is difficult to write without editing but it is not impossible.
2. Don't give up. If you don't make the 1500 word goal one day, then write 1700 the next! There were days I wrote up to 5000 words in one day! Chances are you'll have more free time on certain days than others. If you fall a little behind, or even a lot, that's ok! Just keep moving on and write as much as you can the next day. Usually, it evens out at the end. But, whatever you do, don't quit if you get discouraged.
3. Go to a write in. Very little writing may occur during write ins but I have discovered that some of the best material happens during write ins.
4. Don't do it alone! If there is one thing I can tell you it is that because of my friends and family pushing me to be my best that I got this far with my novel. Whether you have a writing buddy or not, just having a support group of friends and family can get you through it. I had one friend that would tell me constantly to write, she would ask me what my word count was and why I hadn't written and push me to write more. My family stayed away and were very understanding when I needed my time to be alone and write.
I hope some of these tips can help you succeed this year. Happy writing!!!
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