NaNo Prep, Day 6-Have Fun
Today’s tips are designed to help you have fun with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
Forget the Rules
Participating in NaNo can be a great rush. You are free from all the conventions of good writing. Want to include backstory? Go ahead. Want to write the entire thing in as action with no dialogue? Why not? What about including flashbacks or a prologue? Do it. NaNo requires you to write swiftly and regularly to meet the goal of 50,000 words. You can’t do that if you are constrained by how you are “supposed” to write. Allow yourself to write any way you want to and just get the words down.
Still bothered by writing bad prose? Remember, a written piece can always be improved, but not if you never get around to writing it. NaNo helps you finish your story in a very short time period. You can then edit at your leisure and refine it into a saleable piece of work. Focus on finishing the novel first. And enjoy the tremendous feeling of accomplishment at the end of November when you can proudly say, “I wrote 50,000 words in just 30 days.”
Bring in the Plot Ninjas
What if you get stuck while writing? Writer’s block can strike at the strangest times and November is a BAD time to get writer’s block. If you get stuck, just bring in the Plot Ninjas. Literally. Have a group of ninjas in full regalia drop from the ceiling into the middle of your story and start attacking people. What would your characters do? Maybe they fight back, maybe they run away, maybe they break out snacks and invite the ninjas to watch a movie. No matter what they do in response to the ninjas, they will give you something to write about and no more writer’s block.
If ninjas don’t fit in your story, have a different unexpected event happen. Maybe the doorbell rings and a rodeo clown busts into the room and starts twisting up mutant balloon animals. If you’re writing a historical novel, maybe a rival clan, outlaw gang or raiding party suddenly starts shooting, slashing or pillaging. A thriller? Have something explode and kill a major character. Make the event unexpected, shocking, even ridiculous, and your writer’s block doesn’t stand a chance.
Go Local
NaNo is infinitely more fun when done with other people. Check the NaNo forums for your region and see if there is a kickoff party planned and write-ins through the month. Communal novel writing is a blast as you type along with 3, 8 or 20 other people. If there isn’t a local group in your area, get together with your writing friends or group or hang out with other WriMos online. Forward Motion, an online writing community, usually has a NaNo chat room going for write-ins. There are a large number of WriMos on Twitter who will be reporting their progress as they write. (Check out the Followers list.)
Tomorrow we’ll talk about some of the tools that you can use for NaNo.
Have writer friends who might enjoy this post? Send it to them with my compliments! And add me as a writing buddy at nanowrimo.org so I can follow your progress in November!
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