NaNoWriMo Tips: An Ongoing List of Writing Tips & Links to Helpful Articles

Whether you’re writing your first novel this month during NaNoWriMo, or maybe writing your tenth, I’m reserving this space to gather helpful tips and ideas I’m gathering from across the net. If you have a helpful tip or link, please add it in the comments. :-) I’ll keep adding to this over the month.

Having trouble kickstarting your creativity? I found this post quite encouraging. It helped me understand why the daily writing habit (which I'm out of at the moment but hoping NaNo will change that) is so important. 

Creative Flow and Brain Wave States by Suzanne Murry

Incidentally, I’ve been using music with embedded brain wave stimulation for years. If you’re interested in trying it, I recommend Solfeggio Harmonics by Source Vibrations (link takes you to iTunes (not an affiliate link).

Ready, Set, Write! NaNoWriMo 2018

Photos via Green Chameleon, Thought Catalog & Raw Pixel

It’s no secret.

I’ve had a wicked-bad case of writer’s block for the better part of a year now.

Or perhaps “writing block” isn't the best way to describe it. Maybe it's more of a “finishing block.”

I’ve started over a dozen short stories and three separate novels in the past twelve months.

I’ve finished a grand total of 0.

I’ve completed six novels in six years. This dry spell is not typical for me.

The good news is that I have identified some of the gremlins gunking up my works. I’m got a plan on how to eradicate the little buggers (at least for now).

One of the best ways I know to get back into anything—exercise, healthy eating, writing—is to just get back on the horse and ride every single day.

Last week my post was about how to get and keep fans. One of the three points was about consistency (you can see the full post here). I have failed at my goal of greater writing consistency this year, but I'M NOT GIVING UP!!

Over the past ten years of my writing journey, I’ve learned that there aren’t many hard and fast rules in the world of writing. But there is one, and I’ll state here as black letter law:

There is no limit to the amount of editing you can do to a draft, but you absolutely cannot edit a draft that does not exist.

And this is where NaNoWriMo comes in. I “won” NaNoWriMo (I’ll use WriMo from here on) in both 2011 and 2012. I produced two finished novels from my work in those two WriMo years (Emily’s Trial was published in 2012 and Emily’s Heart in February 2014).

One of the great benefits of WriMo is the commitment the writer makes to herself to write every day (or nearly so) for a month. I recall feeling that it was easier to stay focused on the story because I was firmly planted in it by writing every day.

For me, stopping and starting while working on a novel can cause stall outs that turn into long-term parking. Perhaps you can relate to this.

My writing is rusty right now. I’ve been out of the daily writing habit for over nine months. Every day, I’m staring at a blank screen. I’ve full on planned three different novels (one of them I have outlined five different times!). Talk about a stall out! I’ve talked myself into assuming the story would suck before I’ve even written it.

The thing is, I know better. I talk with writers at comic cons and book festivals frequently, and the advice I give is to keep pushing through. Don’t read back over what you’ve written because you’ll talk yourself into thinking it sucks and not worth continuing. 

I know this because I’ve done it, but learned not to. That’s how I produced six novels (rather than giving up on the first and never writing again, something I know lots of people have done).

I know that I’m not alone; that the fear of the blank page affects most writers, even capable and experienced ones. (Check out this bit of advice from one of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver.)

The bottom line: I refuse to give up on the stories cawing at me like crows from pillars in my mind. This year I’ll use WriMo as a tool to get back on the horse and ride.

Are you with me?

Who else is doing NaNoWriMo this year? 

Drop a line in the comments if you've done NaNo before and let us know how it went? Any hints or tips?

And if you're a WriMo "virgin", shout out your intention to give it a try this year.

NaNoWriMo November: 1667 Words a Day by Jessica Dall

My guest today is author Jessica Dall and her post is fabulous. Jessica's advice echoes what I often say to budding writers when I'm asked how to get the novel done. Just WRITE!! And that's the beauty of NaNoWriMo. So without further ado, Jessica's post AND don't forget the Mega November Book Giveaway (Rafflecopter at end of post):

1667 Words a Day

By Jessica Dall

NaNoWriMo

To be an author is to question yourself. At least that is what I’ve always found. No matter how much I’ve written, there are still always moment where I go back and wonder just how I made writing my profession. My husband always likes to say that writers are their own worst critics—which might be true—but that is part of the brilliance that is NaNoWriMo. By focusing on writing 1667 words every single day, there isn’t enough time to go back and start second guessing the scene you just wrote.

This November marks my eighth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and I have long pointed to NaNo as the biggest single event that got me writing again after taking a long break between writing my first (rather awful) novel in high school and actually finishing a second project in college. Before NaNo, I had spent years either jumping ship in the middle of a novel when I grew bored (generally in what I now know is the “mid-story slump”) or getting frustrated that what I saw in my head wasn’t showing up properly on the page. By getting into the excitement that was NaNoWriMo—and getting into the habit of thinking “I’ll fix it in editing”—I was able to end up with a finished product, and learn what has more or less become my motto ever since: Editing can fix most things but not an empty page.

Perhaps there are some authors out there who are literary Mozarts and are able to type something that is a masterpiece on the first try, but most writers—even published ones—aren’t like that. What shows up in a rough draft may or may not look anything like when it’s placed on a bookstore shelf. If someone were to compare the draft of my most recently published book, Raining Embers, from when it was my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel to what has now been printed, the general plot and characters would be there, yes, but it has been reworked so much since then—both by me and my editors—that it would nearly seem they were two different books. With its sequel (2014’s NaNo novel) it is quite literally a different book, as I rewrote ninety-nine percent of it after November, using a few lines here and there to make the story flow better. Does the fact that I was able to keep so little from November make me question what many NaNoWriMo detractors point to as being NaNo’s push for “quantity over quality”? Not at all. If I hadn’t gotten the story down in the first place, I never would have learned what did and didn’t work—and would very likely still be struggling to get something finished at all since what I’d have wouldn’t have been “right.”

So, for anyone who is struggling to get past nerves or frustration that what is ending up on the page isn’t what’s in their head, NaNoWriMo can be a godsend. Do your best to turn off your own inner critic and just get the words down on the page. Even if you read them back and they are as bad as you thought—which I find is rare to start with—you are in a better place than you were staring at a blank page. All you have to do is give yourself permission to try without judging anything as a failure before its time.

Raining Embers by Jessica Dall

Raining Embers by Jessica Dall

Palmer Tash always follows the path of least resistance. He has an unusual disability involving his hearing. But in theocratic Latysia, being different isn’t a good thing, so he conceals his problem.

Brier Chastain’s malady is even more debilitating, and she often must take to her bed for long periods. Her days are spent in meaningless pursuits as she awaits an arranged marriage.

When Palmer and Brier are kidnapped on the same night, they meet and discover that their so-called disabilities are actually budding powers. They are the incarnations of Order and Chaos. With their country on the brink of war, the two must step into their predestined roles and learn to take control of their own destinies.

Author Jessica Dall

Jessica Dall is the author of such novels as Off Book and The Copper Witch along with a number of short stories that have appeared in both literary magazines and anthologies. When not writing, she works as an editor and creative writing teacher in Washington, DC.

Website: jessicadall.com

Twitter: @JessicaDall

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jkdall

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NaNoWriMo November: Are you Keeping up with Spielberg or Writing at the Pace of Kubrick by M.H. Vesseur

NaNoWriMo

Have you ever had to put your writing on hold? And not just for a day or two, but for months.

Last year I had a long hiatus from writing when I experienced several deaths in my family. I was frozen, unable to write even a grocery list.

I can relate to the post today by my guest, M.H. Vesseur. And like he points out, the writing hiatus, while painful to get through, can yield a better story. I call it percolation of ideas. And like with coffee, percolating can be a good thing.

And don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post :-)

If you can’t keep up with Steven Spielberg, try Stanley Kubrick

by M.H. Vesseur

Snow Forest, by M.H. Vesseur

The true test of authorship is not when things are going smooth. It is when something gets in the way of you and your writing. And when it stays that way for a long time. Did that ever happen to you? It happened to me recently and I learned a valuable lesson in its wake. I’m happy to share it with you here.

“If you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it”

Because of an extremely busy time at my work I felt compelled to abandon the writing of a novel for approximately six months in a row. It is simply too painful to long for writing and see it blocked time after time, day after day. My work needed my full attention so it was better for my peace of mind to pause the spin-off novel I had just started. The thought that kept me going, is the closing line from the short story Brokeback Mountain by E.A. Proulx: “There was a large open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it.”

Henry Kissinger was right

So I pushed the novel and everything connected to it to the back of my head. Not that this was easy. Nor was I happy about it. I just kept the thing deep inside, while I attacked my work like a robot. Like Henry Kissinger said: “The urgent drives out the important.”

Then, after a month or so, something unexpected happened. Somewhere in the deep of my unconscious, the unfinished novel kept crawling around. Ideas for plot enhancements and character enhancements started to float to the surface and present themselves to me. It happened to me in a streetcar looking out the window. It happened in the shower. Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t thinking about plot enhancement or character enhancements, I swear! I thought I had the story figured out, thought I knew where I was going.

But my subconscious showed me new ways to write it. The story that was supposed to be “on hold”, had started to move around in my head. From it came ideas way beyond my normal way of working. From it came the desire to up the ante.

If you can’t be Steven Spielberg, be Stanley Kubrick

After seven months I was able to reboot my writing. It started terribly slow, but I was happy to pick up where I left off, with a new attitude. As I write this guest post, I’m reminded of the difference between filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick. While Spielberg makes movies in a dazzling tempo (frankly I’ve stopped counting), Kubrick tossed ideas and screenplays around for years and years. They were both successful in their own way. Kubrick didn’t really want to work on a movie for eight years, it just happened to him. But the slow pace surely influenced his body of work. Stuff happened that doesn’t happen to Spielberg because he works so fast. I’m sure this applies to Stephen King as well. They’re all champions in their field, I must add. It’s just that if you slow down, unexpected things might happen.

So if you’re ever in a situation where you are unable to write for a longer period of time, relax and let it happen. Letting go of your writing goals for a while can trigger underlying thoughts to surface. Stuff worth giving a chance. You’ll be writing again before you know it, and probably be better at it.

Acid Asset by M.H. Vesseur

Carl Pappas, the bizz jockey, is feeling good about the prospects of environment-friendly plastics he’s discussing on his radio show “The Boardroom”. But as he soon finds out there’s something not right with the company behind it. Can the bizz jockey protect a lonely scientist against the schemes of a large corporation that smells money? Or will he be unable to stop a revolutionary asset from becoming really acidic? Buckle up for a race against arsonists, corporate crime, dogs, bullets and a dangerous industrial zone in the middle of a blizzard, softened only by some real team spirit. Available in every Amazon store as ebook.

READ THE 1^ST PAGE of ACID ASSET ON BooksGoSocial:

http://booksgosocial.com/2014/10/28/acid-asset/?utm_content=buffer89d39&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

LISTEN TO THE 1^st CHAPTER ON BooksGoSocial:

https://soundcloud.com/booksgosocial/acid-asset

BUY ACID ASSET ON AMAZON:

http://www.amazon.com/Acid-Asset-Radio-Detective-Novel-ebook/dp/B00HDQK0HM/ref=la_B00BJNICFW_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396897374&sr=1-1

Unexpected ideas can come from the fog of a writing pause.

Author M.H. Vesseur

You can connect with M.H. Vesseur here:

AUTHOR WEBSITE:

http://www.mhvesseur.com

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:

http://www.amazon.com/author/mhvesseur

FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGE:

https://www.facebook.com/MHVesseur

YOUTUBE TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEUwRJzPgds&feature=youtu.be

TWITTER:

https://twitter.com/MHVesseur

PINTEREST:

http://www.pinterest.com/mhvesseur/

a Rafflecopter giveaway