Monthly Archives: November 2012
Under 24 Hours Left!
Today is the last day of November for most Nanoers, though some of our friends “down under” have already run out of time. For those of you lucky enough to have a few hours left of November, today is the last day to make a final push towards 50, 000 words or whatever your final goal for the month happens to be.
Of course, unless you’ve already made arrangements for it to do so, life probably won’t just stand still so you can finish your novel. I myself have a full day of school followed by an evening school trip to dinner and a movie premiere. This means that while I’ll probably be lugging around my laptop all day, I probably won’t get a chance to write until at least 9:30 tonight. Still, I am hoping to write a couple thousand more words before midnight hits.
So today, no matter what your word count is or what you have to do, I challenge you to write with me. In fact, I challenge you to find some time on this final day of November and write at least 1, 667 words. It might not get you to your goal, but at least you will be able to say you tried, that even on the last day you didn’t give up.
And tonight when the clock strikes twelve and November ends, give yourself a pat on the back no matter what your word count is. It is time to celebrate, because the only way to be a loser in Nanowrimo is to give up.
Tonight, I congratulate you, my fellow Nanowrimo novelist. You have survived Nanowrimo 2012 and hopefully come out of it with a novel–or at least most of a novel–and some new experiences and insights. Now, let’s hope the world doesn’t end before you manage to get the darn thing out into the world.
What’s Next?
Usually in the first week of December I write a post discussing what to do when you’ve finished your novel. In the interest of organization and planning ahead, this year I’ve decided to write the post before November ends.
So what should you do after you finish your novel? You can do just about anything, but I have two main suggestions which I hope you’ll take seriously. The first is that you should keep your momentum from November. The second is that whatever you do, you shouldn’t start editing your novel.
Now, before you get all righteous and tell me how your family needs some love and your novel is horrible and needs editing like some people need heart surgery, let me explain what I mean. I don’t mean for you to ignore your family completely for another month. What I mean is that now, when your family’s already used to you taking some writing time out of every day, you should explain to your family that you need to write and create a writing schedule. Of course you can spend less time writing than you did last month, but the important thing is that you write regularly. It’s easy to fall out of the habit of writing regularly and to let your family distract you, but if you maintain a regular writing schedule, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you finish projects–and at how much better you feel.
Now, about editing your novel. The reason I tell you to wait is because to properly assess any piece of writing–or art, or just about anything else–you first need some distance from the work. Since you’ve just spent a month living and breathing your novel, you really won’t have that distance on December first. Instead, put your draft aside for the month and work on something else, preferably something quite different from your novel.
So if you’re not working on editing this novel, what should you be doing this December? Well the first thing is to pick up any other writing projects where you left off. This December I plan to finish my edit of Moonshadow’s Guardian; while there are several other projects waiting for me to get to them, this one is most important to me. Once you’ve finished those projects–or if you’re someone who really needs to have multiple things going so you can switch when you get stuck on one–start the project on your list of possibilities that is most different from the novel you just finished writing. For example, once I finish editing Moonshadow’s Guardian, I will be putting all of my energy into producing a non-fiction ebook with information and exercises for writers. This will distract me from my fiction, ensuring that when I get back into it I’ll have the distance I need.
Long story short, this December you should make a point of working on something new or finishing an old project totally unrelated to your novel, and you should make sure to work on this project every day. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish when you keep even a small amount of that November momentum and work at it every day.
The Final Stretch
Today is November 26th. If you’re like me, you planned to write a ridiculous amount of words this weekend, not only catching yourself up but putting yourself ahead, but life got in the way and your plans were totally ruined. Which means, if you’re like me and you’ve got a lot on your plate this week, you’re wishing there was another week in November. Of course, there isn’t, so you’re left with a choice: to give up, or to scramble frantically towards your desired word count, using every spare moment to write(which you should have been doing anyway, but I’m not judging).
No matter what your word count is or how busy you are, I’m here to tell you to go for it. While we all have our limits, you can’t know what’s possible until it’s done. I personally have written 50, 000 words in three days before. Of course, I didn’t have anything else to do on those days, but even on days when I’ve had other commitments I’ve managed to write over 10, 000 words–sometimes even over 20, 000 words. And certainly not everyone can replicate my writing speed, but you never know until you try.
So no matter what your word count is, this week I would ask you to try. Grab every spare moment you can and race to the finish line. In the words of Nike, “just do it”. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in a few short days, and remember: even if you don’t make it, you’re still a winner for trying.
Week Three Pep Talk
Today’s guest is a long time Nanoer and a dear friend, known lovingly by the ToNano community as Tabs. Though she hasn’t actually lived in Toronto for the last many years, she is just as much a part of my Nano family as all the people who do. Please give her a warm welcome.
* * * *
It’s ironic that this year has been the hardest year for me with NaNoWriMo and yet here I am, writing a pep talk. But the thing with NaNo is that not every year is going to be your golden year. We’re rounding into the last week, which I always find is my toughest. I get frantic, I get upset, and as I look at my word count goal, I find myself feeling like I’m just not going to make it.
The last week is always tough. That’s why there are two things that you should focus on to get you through.
1) No matter what you finish at, even if it’s not the goal you set, you’ve likely been more productive on one novel in a single month than 90% of writers will be in a full year. That’s a lot to be proud of.
2) If you fall short of your NaNo word count goal, it’s not over. Sure, you’re not going to be pounding out 1667 words a day for the rest of the year, but the project doesn’t have to end on Nov. 30.
This is the point in the month where you need to look back at what you have accomplished and remind yourself of the great work you’ve done. To look at it and realize that you have done fantastic this far, and that, as much as reaching that 50k, 100k or whatever your goal is would be awesome, you’ve already done awesome. The last week isn’t the time to panic. It’s the time to focus your energy on finishing up the story as much as you can. It’s the time to breathe and cheer yourself on, because you have done something awesome. This is the week to make sure that, if you haven’t done so already, you have fun with it. Because really, when it comes down to it, that’s a major part of what NaNoWriMo is about — having fun.
So don’t give up, and certainly don’t give in. Keep on going, and focus on doing what you want to do with that story this week. It might just surprise you how much more you end up writing.
What to do When You Can’t Stand Your Novel Anymore
Whether it be due to your characters rebelling, your story shifting, your muse abandoning you or a dull ache in your wrists, at some point this month you will hate your novel. In fact, you’ve probably already had a moment like that. At some points during the drafting process–both inside and outside of Nanowrimo–you will be unable to look at your novel anymore. The key is to remember that these moments pass, prepare yourself to play catch up and then go off in search of something better to do than look at your novel, because staring at your novel at these times will probably give you the intense urge to delete the whole thing.
Today I’m going to suggest an activity to distract you entirely from the awful draft you’ve been working on all month, one that’s in keeping with my practice of productive procrastination, an activity that will keep you moving towards success as a writer while also distracting you from the less pleasant task at hand.
So what should you do when you can’t stand your novel anymore? Start planning future projects! Do you have any idea what your plans are for December? If not, now’s a good time to start making them. It’s also a great time to start setting your 2013 goals. By starting now you’re actually getting ahead, giving yourself more time to plan the next year than many people do. You’re also staying productive, even though you’re refusing to face your novel.
Of course, depending on whether or not you’ve already given this some thought, you might not want to start making to-do lists for next year right away. Instead, you might want to brainstorm future projects. One way to do this would be by creating a mindmap of potential project ideas. Another would be to create categories that sort ideas in terms of topic, genre or length.
When you’re choosing what projects you’re actually going to put on that list, first consider what you’re actually able to accomplish in a given period of time. Consider the obligations you already know you’ll have–school, work, childcare, that sort of thing–and how much time you’ll have after those. Then consider how much time each kind of project takes you. Once you’ve figured out an average time for each kind of project and you have an idea of the time you’ll have available, create a list of the projects you plan on completing in the time period you’ve chosen.
My advice when you’re creating a plan, whether it be for a month, a year or a day, is to plan for two thirds of the projects you want to complete. Humans are over confident and that over confidence leads to over commitment and a cycle of procrastination and guilt. Life is also impossible to predict or understand completely, so leaving some room for error is always a good idea–this way if a family catastrophe occurs or you come into a new project you never expected, you have some leeway.
In December I’ll be talking a lot more about creating your plans for the next year, but right now, if you can’t stand your novel, the best thing to do is get ahead by planning out your 2013 now. When December comes around you’ll be happy to find yourself already prepared with the beginnings of a plan–or a detailed plan, depending on how much you hate that novel right now.
10K in 4 Hours?
At my best, when I took this challenge, I reached the 10K easily. The first two or three times I did it, I wrote a little over 12K in the four hours I had been assigned.
This Saturday, I devoted four hours as fully to writing as I was able–and I wrote 8.9K. I’d already been feeling slow this year, but this challenge really brought it home for me. I just can’t keep the pace I used to.
So what changed? It’s not that I became a slower writer. I still type just as quickly as I did then. My story is falling from my fingertips as easily as any novel ever has–maybe even more easily at times.
What changed is not my typing speed or my level of inspiration. It was the condition of my wrists. I’ve struggled with tendonitis in my wrists for several years, but this year the amount of pain peaked after March break, when I spent a week in so much pain that I could barely lift a small bottle of Dr. Pepper. In June I could barely write a page by hand without tears forming in my eyes from the pain.
I spent August with my left wrist–where the pain is worst–in a splint all the time, and I have been splinting when I sleep ever since. While the pain is certainly not as severe as it was in June, some nights it takes all my energy just to write a thousand words, and I find myself having to take more breaks. Once upon a time I could easily write for four hours straight, my only breaks being when I got up to refill my glass. Now I find myself having to take several breaks in those four hours, even after taking painkillers.
What does this mean? It means that I’ll probably never be able to write 300, 000 words in a month again. It means that until my wrists recover–and I don’t think they’ll ever fully heal–I’ll be extremely limited in how much I can write on any given day, and some days I will not be able to write at all. It means that when I’ve worked myself too hard, I’ll know because of the blinding pain in my wrists. It means that some days I’ll have to be careful how I open doors, because if I do it wrong I’ll hurt myself.
And why am I telling you all of this? There are a few reasons. One is to show you why it’s important to take care of yourself. If you start doing regular wrist stretches and invest in a heating pad and a cold compress for when you overwork your wrist muscles before you have tendonitis or carpal tunnel, you’ll stop yourself from developing these issues. And if you do have tendonitis or carpal tunnel, remember to care for yourself so it doesn’t get worse.
The other important reason why I’m telling you this–other than that it’s good fodder for blog posts–is because my failure to hit 10K in four hours means I will be trying this challenge again this Saturday. This Saturday from 2-6PM, I will be trying again to write 10K in four hours. I’m determined to stay focused this time and more determined to prove that I have not been completely conquered by tendonitis.
Of course, since I’m doing the challenge again this weekend, you’re all welcome to try with me. Pick your own hours or write with me in spirit, it’s up to you. If you participate, just leave your username and word count achieved in the comments on this post and you’ll be recognized on my blog.
On account of this being more difficult than I remember, I am changing up the list a little bit. It will now be two lists: one list of those who succeeded, and another list for all those who tried. Just like when you attempt Nanowrimo, failing to meet the official goal doesn’t make you a loser–in fact, you’re a winner just for being brave enough to try. So I’ve decided that everyone brave enough to attempt writing 10K in four hours will get a place of honour on my blog. I’m also hoping this will encourage more people to try, because it’s always more fun with a bigger group.
So, do you think you can write 10K in four hours?
Remember: You Are Not Alone
If you are struggling this week, remember that you are not alone. There are hundreds, probably even thousands, of writers who are several thousand words behind in their Nanovels. Everyone struggles at some point during the month. Even in my biggest year, when I wrote 300K, I still struggled. I didn’t write 10K every day. I couldn’t write every day. There were several days during the month when I felt uninspired and my head hurt too much to figure out where to take my novel next. The reason I got my extreme word count was because on the days when I did write, I wrote 20K or more.
This year I’ve been struggling a lot to stay on top of my Nanowrimo. I spent the last week of October and the first week of November extremely sick and recovering from dental surgery, and I’m still behind where I should be in order to reach my goal of 100K for the year. While my word count seems impressive to some, I am disappointed with myself this Nanowrimo. Still, I’m reasonable to understand that a combination of being sick, busy and dealing with my tendonitis–which I’m now being told might not be tendonitis at all, and in fact that they might not know or have ever known what it actually is–has held me back and, frankly, would hold anyone back.
Staying active in the Nanowrimo community has helped me keep this in perspective. Through the Toronto Nanowrimo chat and the wider forums, I’ve reminded myself that I am not alone. I have read several threads and spoken to several chatters who are also behind on their novels. Some are reaching for 50K and are struggling to get past 10K. Others, like me, are reaching for the stars beyond 100K and are flailing, but are still in good standing to officially ‘win’ Nanowrimo.
Wherever you are in your novel, be it 5K, 10K, 20K, or 40K, know that you are not alone. Somewhere out there in the vast Nanowrimo community, there is at least one person–probably a few people, maybe even a few dozen–sitting at the same word count as you, shaking their heads and wondering how they got there. Remember too that every year only a small percentage of Nanowrimo participants win. Most are already behind and will stay there for the whole month. 50, 000 words in one month truly is an accomplishment, something to be proud of.
So remember that you are not alone, but choose to distinguish yourself from the crowd: choose to put your whole self into it, to write furiously and to win. And remember, it doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, or how many words you have now. We might be almost halfway through the month, but you can still win. I believe in you, even if you don’t believe in yourself. Just keep your eyes on the prize and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
The Week Two Writing Challenge
We’re entering the second full week of November, and with any luck, you’re almost halfway through your novel. Of course, not everyone is lucky. If you’re one of the unlucky ones, you might be sitting three, five, even ten thousand words behind. You might not even have started, or you might be considering throwing your novel away and trying for a completely new one. No matter what the case is, don’t despair. Remember that even if you don’t reach 50, 000 words, you’re still a winner for trying and you’ve still written more than you would have otherwise. Also keep in mind that it depends more on your dedication than the number of days you have left–I’ve hit 50, 000 words in three days before and I’ve met people who have done it in one.
No matter what your word count is, you’re probably going to face some difficulties this week. At the beginning, your novel was fresh, new and exciting. By now there’s a good chance you’re sick of your story and either want to give up completely or start over.
Don’t give up. You have no idea what you’re capable of until you do it. Every entrepreneur I’ve ever met has been amazed by what they could accomplish. Success is found by pushing yourself beyond what you think is capable. If you have to, start your story over or start a new one, but don’t give up. Keep your old novel in a back up file in case you need it for some extra word count or if you decide to go back to it. Then forge ahead and create something new.
For all those who are already discouraged, and all those who will get discouraged this week–week two is always a rough time for many Nanoers–I’ve decided to host a challenge this weekend. It’s a challenge which was originally run on the Nanowrimo forums a few years ago and which I have done myself several times and hosted in my local forum and chatroom.
So what’s the challenge? Your goal is to take four hours out of this weekend and dedicate them purely to writing, attempting to write 10K in those four hours. This is challenging both to newbies and to overachievers and forces you to focus on your writing for a solid chunk of time. While it’s a difficult pace for some, anyone who ordinarily types quickly should be able to achieve this goal. And even if you don’t manage to reach 10K before your time is up, you’ll still have written more that day than you would have otherwise and gotten a nice chunk of word count.
To combat my lethargy last week and this weekend, I’ll be doing this challenge Saturday from 12-4. If you’re unable to participate at that time due to other obligations, that’s all right. You can pick any four hour chunk of this weekend to focus on writing. Just leave a comment letting me know who you are and which hours you’ve chosen for your writing spree. If you’re feeling brave and you want to create a new word count goal for yourself, you can leave that information in your comment too.
So what do you get out of this? Well, you get a few thousand–right up to ten thousand–words for your novel and an idea of how much you really can write in just a few hours. Even better, next Wednesday I’ll be writing a post listing all the Nanoers who successfully complete this challenge over the weekend. Simply let me know when you did your 10K, what your final word count was in the four hours, and include your Nanowrimo name and a link to whatever website you have. Then on Wednesday, you’ll get to see your name and link go up on my blog, forever honoring you as an incredibly quick fingered writer.
So, are you in?
Peppy McTalk
Today’s guest poster is Dylan Madeley, a freelance writer, editing professional and several time Nanowrimo winner. I hope his words will inspire you to greatness!
* * * *
Hello, NaNoer.
It’s been a week and two days since we started this thing, you and me.
Chances are, your novel is comparable to mine and many of the others:
it’s a caterpillar.
How you view this caterpillar means a fair deal. You might perceive a
big ugly worm-like thing in front of you every time that you open the
notepad or file. You might feel frustrated that there isn’t a
wonderful, colourful creature instead.
Or you might be more protective. You might say: “This is not just any
caterpillar, but my caterpillar, who is cute and fuzzy and look I have
given him a purple mohawk and/or a bowler hat.” Given that this part
of the novel writing process is absolutely necessary, more power to
you if you’ve found the fun in it. Otherwise, if you find things
dragging already, there’s not yet any need to worry.
Whether you’re one type of person or the other, or a degree in
between, the fact is that you probably have a caterpillar. And how you
feel about this creature going forward matters far more than what it
presently is. You could have the germ of a brilliant concept, a
detailed outline and character profiles at the ready, or you could be
pantsing like me.
I want you to think about how you feel. Disagree if you want, but I
believe that the feeling is where it starts. It’s not that I don’t
wish I had an outline right-frigging-now, but if this doesn’t feel
right, the outline is not going to amount to much.
If you don’t know that feeling, I have all faith that you will find
it. If you’ve felt it before, you’re slightly ahead: you need only
find a way to remember it. What readily accessible thing do you
associate with it? A song, a book, a movie, a conversation with
someone special to you? Some perfectly reasonable thing that hasn’t
occurred to me just now?
This might not be a new idea for you. Many people seem to have an
intuition toward this, even if they never read it anywhere. I log in
to chat and read about an acquaintance who put Hans Zimmer soundtracks
on for inspiration; hopefully that works for them.
Turn that key. Open that door. Before you know it, you’ll find it’s a
beautiful day and you’re riding a unicorn next to the constant tides
of a glittering ocean, rainbows springing toward the sky out of every
hoof-print before the sand has any chance to settle back down. Unless
that isn’t an accurate description of your feeling, of course, in
which case, insert accurate description here.
And don’t worry about how things are now, because it’s not the time
for that. Today’s caterpillars can be tomorrow’s butterflies.
Sincerely,
Dylan Madeley
diannaswritingden 