This was my fifth year doing NaNo. I started off very strong… and died in the middle. Died is probably an exaggeration. But here it is the 30th and I have 28,000 words done. So this is about what I learned from this year’s NaNo.

Accountability is Good

I started November with two family members and my writing group all participating in NaNo. The two family members dropped out within a week. My writing group stayed strong and made tremendous progress on their novels. They had daily checkins on their progress through our Yahoo group. Check-ins which I didn’t participate in. If I had… I think I would have made better progress. There’s nothing like your friends harassing you to keep you writing.

Pre-Planning is Important

I didn’t do a lot of pre-planning on my novel. I meant to, but let October get away from me. And I found that I needed all of that detailed planning to keep making progress and to keep my writing spirits up during November. For my first newsletter on Learn to Write Fiction, I covered the writing process that Elizabeth George uses and it sounds perfect for me. I need that character and setting work done ahead of time so I know what I’m going to write when I sit down.

Maintaining Momentum is a Must

I kept up during the first ten days or so. Then I missed a day, then two and before I knew it I was 10,000 words behind where I should be. To succeed in NaNo, I have to write 1667 words every day without fail. If I skip even one, it is even harder to write the next day.

Clear the Decks

In addition to NaNo in November, I had my day job and my work on Learn to Write Fiction which is essentially another job. Two jobs and writing a novel is a tough combination. I’d have been better off to get November’s website work done ahead of time so that I only had the novel to work on.

Recap

So what will happen to my novel? I plan to finish it, just at a slower pace. And after I do the necessary pre-work.

If you participated in NaNo this year, what did you learn?

Seth Godin has written a great article on How Often Should You Publish. In the article, he proposes that you think about the question in a different way – by examining your tactics for your frontlist and backlist.

Frontlist

This is your new book release or your new published short story. The stuff that your fans are anxiously waiting for. The releases that make the news.

Backlist

Backlist is all of your books and stories that are not new. They aren’t in the news, they aren’t in the stores any more. Maybe they’re only available on Amazon or used book outlets.

The Strategy

1. Assemble a tribe, a group of true fans, followers, people who have given you permission. Give them all the frontlist they can handle. Make it easy for them to spread the word, to Digg you or bring a friend to your movie or buy your new book for their friends. If you create too much content for this crowd, then you’re publishing too much. They care, and they want to hear from you.

2. Promote your backlist. Invest significant time and money to make your backlist available, to recirculate it, to have it adopted as a textbook in English class or featured on Netflix or part of a retrospective on TV. Take all that money you waste in frontlist marketing and spend it on the backlist instead.

3. Repeat. Frontlist becomes backlist, backlist grows, fan base grows, it scales.

What Does This Mean for Writers?

Use your website to connect with your fans. Give your current readers as much of your work and attention as you can.

1. Post short stories on your site, especially ones written with your familiar characters or new characters in your familiar world, as a “reward” for your fans.
2. Answer as much email as possible and reply to comments on your blog. It gives your fans a feeling of connection to you.
3. Have an email signup for readers to opt-in and get emails from you announcing your latest release.

Make sure your backlist is clearly available through your website.

1. Use obvious navigation to your backlist page so it can’t be missed.
2. Give plot summaries for each book. Use your backcover copy if your publisher will allow it. If you can’t get permission to use the cover copy, write your own enticing summary.
3. Provide a suggested reading order for your books, especially if you write a series.
4. Provide printable lists of your backlist books so new readers can take them to the store.

Make it easy for your fans to recommend your backlist to their friends.

1. Provide links to your books on Amazon or an online bookstore so they are easy to buy.
2. Provide “Tell a Friend” links so that your fans can easily email book recommendations to their friends.

What other suggestions do you have for promoting your frontlist or backlist?

Have writer friends who might enjoy this post? Send it to them with my compliments!

Kathy McIntosh of Well-Placed Words offers up some great suggestions for staying on track with your chapters. She lists questions at the top of each chapter document and then as she is writing, she reviews them to be sure she is on track in the chapter.

I go one further on this and lay out my chapters in a grid outline – chapters down the left side and main characters across the top. Then I write a short description under each character for what they are doing or thinking in this chapter. It forces me to think about who else might be affected by a specific plot event beside the characters in that scene.

After all, everyone has an opinion and many people like to stick their nose into things that don’t really matter to them at all. You can use that tendency to make your story more believable and cohesive… not to mention, that busybody could cause more problems for your protagonist to overcome.

What methods do you use to keep your chapters on track while you are writing?

Belinda aka Worderella offers up Five Tips on Character Building through Adversity .

1. Physical Adversity – nobody goes through life untouched by illness or accidents, whether it is to themselves or someone they know and love. Give your character a touch of realism by including a physical or mental illness or family history.

2. Unfulfilled Desire – nobody gets everything they want out of life, either. Give your character a lingering desire for something they can’t have.

3. Haunting Past – you can give your character regrets for something he did or for something he didn’t do. Give your character horrific memories of the death of a loved one.

My mother died slowly of cancer. The doctor told us there would be certain signs that indicated death would occur within hours. My sister called me at work when she saw those signs. I decided to stay at work because I had a vendor coming in for a presentation that afternoon. My mom died an hour later. I could have been there to say goodbye one last time, but I wasn’t. I still have a lot of guilt over that. Does your character carry any trauma or guilt from her past?

4. Counter-culture Tendencies – if you heroine has thoughts and action that run contrary to her culture (time period, belief system, family morals), use the frustration and anger she feels as part of your plot. Show her struggling to achieve her goals in the face of opposition.

5. Worderella’s last piece of advice is to surprise yourself and your character. While this doesn’t seem to initially fit with torturing your character, think of it this way–people are mean, rude, and self-centered much of the time. Take an easy situation where your character could logically expect a good outcome (ordering a coffee from Starbucks) and turn it on its head (the server intentionally spills it all over your character and insists it was your character’s fault, refusing to get her another one).

Okay, it’s kind of far-fetched… but what can you do with the “normal” moments in your story, to make them more challenging for your character?

How do you torture your characters?

Yes, I had scary thoughts of every Frankenstein’s monster movie I have ever seen when I wrote that title. But at long last, the Learn to Write Fiction Write Wise newsletter is now available for your reading pleasure!

Don’t just write your stories… write them wisely by using the techniques and strategies that work best for you.

Just click here to find out why you should sign up for the newsletter immediately… and to sign up, of course.

I’m still behind on my NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) word count. About 10,000 words behind, to be precise. The reason? I’ve chosen to do other things rather than write. Isn’t that true of every reason for missing a deadline or falling behind on a goal? To me, the important thing to remember is that it was your choice. No need for guilt or self-recrimination over your “failing”. Just acknowledge that you made other choices.

Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get caught up on NaNo and complete my 50,000 words this month. I definitely want to and I want to do most of that catching up this weekend. But knowing me, just wanting to isn’t going to get me there. I need a plan or come Monday morning, I’ll still be way behind. So here’s my strategy for getting caught up this weekend.

Short Bursts

I’ve discovered I can write about 700 words in 15 minutes if I just keep typing. So 10,000 words divided by 700 in a session equals about 14 sessions. Divide by four 15-minute sessions in an hour and it will take me about three and a half hours to get caught up. Taken all together, three and a half hours seems like a really LONG time to write. That’s why I’m breaking it up into 15-minute sessions. I plan to do eight of those today for a total of about 5600 words. I’ll do the rest tomorrow.

No TV

I have a bad habit right now of turning on the TV. Just to see what’s on, you know. Not that I’m going to watch anything. Right… Yeah, that’s not a good strategy for getting a lot of words written. So TV becomes a reward at the end of the day when I’ve completed my eight sessions.

Writing Music

While TV is a MAJOR distraction, music is not. Especially instrumental music or music with nonsense words, like Adiemus. To help me stay focused, I’m going to pop in an Adiemus CD during my short burst sessions.

Liberal Rewards

In addition to TV when I’m done with today’s sessions, I’m also giving myself some play time in Perfect World, an online MMORPG that I’m currently enjoying. I also have another business idea that I’m really excited about. After my sessions, I’m going to give myself permission to work on the idea. And lastly, I might squeeze in a trip to Fazoli’s for supper with a yummy piece of cheesecake with strawberry topping for dessert. Mmmm, now that’s a tasty incentive. Those rewards should carry me speedily through my writing sessions.

Using these strategies today and tomorrow will let me catch up so I’m back on track with NaNo. They will also keep me from arriving at Monday morning and wondering why I got so little done over the weekend. I hate that feeling.

What About You?

What strategies do you use to catch up on your writing or meet a deadline?

Have writer friends who might enjoy this post? Send it to them with my compliments!

I’ve been slacking on NaNo, I admit it. My last good day of writing was Thursday. The day I had a bad migraine, ironically enough, but I still managed to get my day’s words in before going to bed.

Friday and Saturday, nothing. Friday was a mental health day (at least that’s what I’m claiming). Saturday I did work on my novel, but not actual writing. Instead, I fleshed out a bunch of scenes. I’ve discovered that I’m a terrible seat-of-pants writer. If I don’t have a plan for where my story is going, I write very little. I think that’s what happened on Friday and Saturday.

So now I have a plan… 32 scenes, so far. I’ve made sure to include some really interesting plot developments, too. Candy bar scenes, as Holly Lisle calls them. Scenes I can’t wait to write. Those scenes pull you through your story, through the necessary, but not-so-exciting scenes to the end.

To catch up I’m shooting for 2000 words a day until I’m back to where I should be. Which should be about a week at that rate.

If you’re running behind on NaNo, you can still make it. It’s early enough in November that you can catch up. Take the total number of words you have left to write, divide by the number of days left in the month and write that many each day. I can do this, you can do this. Write on!

My output for yesterday and today hasn’t been as great as it could have been. One of the ways I relax when I get home from the day job is by watching TV… lately the forensic-type shows–CSI (original, Miami and NY), NCIS, etc. Writing lots of words is problematic when my ears and head are filled with somebody else’s words. It’s okay though. I’m still enthusiastic about my story and I won’t have any trouble picking up my output to more robust levels.

Today’s count is 6,482. A tad bit behind the day 4 goal of 6,668, but no worries.

On the non-fiction front, cranked out 1,250 words on my newsletter on Sunday for a nice start to my own little Non-Fiction in November challenge. And thanks to Nina Amir for stopping by with her encouragement on my project.

Now that elections in the US are over, for the most part tonight, we can focus more on our writing. What are you challenging yourself with in November? NaNo? A different writing project? Something in non-fiction? Share your challenge with us.

Had a great day yesterday for the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). My local writing group, the Saturday Writers, met at one of our member’s houses for our own write-in. Seven of us around the dining room table madly writing away. It was glorious. Of course, we did a lot more talking than writing, but that’s part of the fun of our group. We talk a lot about writing–about what works for each of us, what doesn’t, what each person is working on, we throw out ideas on writing questions… we have a lot of fun.

For words yesterday, I got 2466 words done. A nice start to NaNo. Could have done more, but I’m not going to burn myself out at the beginning of November. Think Tortoise and the Hare. I’m a turtle this month.

I’ve added to the count today and am up to 4696. I have six dead bodies in my story so far. Not bad for a scifi novel.

This is my fifth year doing NaNo. Squeaked in just under the deadline the first year due to family vacation to Branson, MO over Thanksgiving. The next two years I finished with no problems. Last year I got bored with the whole endeavor and just stopped writing after a couple weeks. This year, I’m looking at the 50k finish line and thinking, “This is too easy.” I already know I can write 50k in 30 days. So because that isn’t a hard enough challenge, I’m adding to it this year.

Found this post on Non-Fiction In November Challenge. It’s a group of non-fiction writers who challenge themselves to 50k of non-fiction during November. I have several projects in the works for the website here, so why not take up the challenge and work on them?

Because I still have NaNo and the day job to worry about though, I’m shooting for 25k of non-fiction writing. That should be enough of a challenge to satisfy my overachieving soul. Headed off to work on the non-fiction stuff now. I’ll let you know how I’m doing tomorrow.