Don’t Panic - (Sometimes Hypocritical) Tips For NaNoWriMo Participants
So, sometime in recent memory, perhaps egged on by friends or in a fit of madness that seemed reasonable at 2 a.m., you signed up to write 50,000 words of fiction in the month of November. Right about now, with the calendar moving way too fast and pumpkins on all your neighbors’ doorsteps, you might be wondering what the hell you were actually thinking. It’s cool, though. You’ve got this. And here’s a few tips to hopefully help get you there.
Plan and freeze meals now - If you’re anything like me, food prep takes up a lot of your otherwise free time so do it before November hits. Make and freeze hamburgers, chili, spaghetti sauce, lasagna and quiches. Have fast things like ravioli, frozen pizza and rotisserie chicken on hand.
Do all your laundry (yes, all of it) - By the end of November you’ll probably be swearing your ex-boyfriend’s oversized sweatpants and a shirt with ancient coffee stains on it while you mumble incoherently at your screen. The bottom of your drawers, that stuff that hasn’t seen the light of day in ages, will all get worn. Just clean everything now. This is doubly true if you have kids.
Prep your space - What kind of environment do you write best in? Is it at home or elsewhere? Do you need more light? Another cushion on that chair? A good set of noise canceling headphones? Do you write on paper and need more pens and notebooks? Do it now.
Daydream - Whether you plot extensively ahead of time or not, keep those characters you plan to use in your head while you do all that cooking and laundry we talked about. Know them inside and out, even the minor details you’ll never wind up writing about. It’ll make your job a hundred times easier once you sit down to write.
Feed your inspiration - Do you listen to music when you write? Great! Make a playlist that feels like your story. Have graphics skills? Create a bookcover. Use models for character inspiration? Pick them now and make a Pinterest board. Whatever drives your imagination and fuels your passion for your story can only help.
Don’t forget to eat - Those meals we talked about? Eat them. A hungry writer is a pissy writer and your characters will suffer for it. (And so will you which is more important anyhow)
Hydrate - Hand-in-hand with this, if you’re a caffeine drinker, then also caffeinate. Caffeine headaches can derail anyone from their daily tasks. Also, if you’re a migraine sufferer like me, avoid red wine and other triggers. But really… definitely hydrate.
Take breaks - Take a walk. Take a shower. Go for a drive. Call a friend. Watch a TV show. Sometimes powering through is the right move but other times your brain is gonna need a break.
Share the burden - Prep all you want, housework still happens. If you have roommates or kids or a spouse, consider talking to them ahead of time about needing to rely on them more for mundane chores during the month.
Forgive yourself for setbacks - We all have bad days, days where the words just don’t come. One day with nothing written isn’t gonna break you. A week of being beneath your daily goal won’t either. But letting that drag you down? Telling yourself it means you can’t do it? That’s where it gets near impossible to finish. And, hey, if you don’t, that’s okay, too! Attempting this is already more than most people will ever do. And, you’re pretty badass for trying.
Celebrate your wins - Whether you finish or not, just attempting NaNoWriMo deserves a solid pat on the back. Let yourself be proud of what you do, whatever that may be.
Do not compare yourself to others - Someone will churn out their novel in a week and a half. You don’t have to be them. Be you. That’s better anyhow.
Turn off your notifications - Social media is the best distraction there is. Don’t give in to it. Checking in a few times a day or tweeting about your progress is a far cry from watching every like and retweet you get roll in.
Delete time-waster games from your phone - Farmville isn’t going to help you finish your novel and it’s (for me) way, way to easy to get sucked into these kinds of things for far longer than you expect.
Schedule - Budget your time and stick to it. Whether your goal is in hours spent or word count, do your best to follow through.
Power through the hard parts - Sometimes you hate the part you’re writing. Write it anyhow. Get past it so you can move on. Editing will come later and maybe you’ll hate it less as a reader than as the writer. The key is to keep putting one word in front of the other. It’s the only way to finish.
Don’t sweat the small stuff - If a scene is really hard, write *insert fight scene here* or *somehow he gets to the airport here* or *aliens do alien things, IDK, figure this out later.* You can come back to it. If you have momentum, just keep moving forward.
Ultimately, all of these things are what help me write so much day in and day out. It comes down to consistently choosing to write over other things in my life, even when it’s hard and I’d rather not bother. Everyone has their own methods and tricks, but these things help me (when I’m not being a big old hypocrite) and hopefully they’ll help some of you, too. Remember that you can do this, even if you never have before, even if it seems daunting. Every single person who has ever written a novel had to figure out their own way of navigating that process and I suspect it has never once been easy for any of us. I’m sure someone out there will disagree with some of my advice. That’s cool. Everyone has their own way of doing things. But these things help me and, since I’ve been asked a lot how I manage to write so much, it seemed as good a time as any to share.
Happy writing, all! See you when we all come up for air in December!
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