We’re well past the half point of Nanowrimo and I know this is crunch time. You’re probably sick of your manuscript and think you should just give up on writing and become a monk. But don’t do that just yet, not until you’ve read this tips that should help you keep going. A sidenote: for those who have decided to not continue with Nano, don’t feel like you failed. You wrote more words than you had before November. You wrote something and that’s a whole lot better than nothing. Be gentle with yourself :) Onto the tips!
1. Switch to a new project. I’m pretty sure this will earn you the title of ‘Nanorebel’. But I did this last year and I can confidently tell you that it is the only reason why I won. I had 35, 000 words of The Island and those last 5,000 words were rough. I had too many conflicting thoughts about the characters and the voice so I just dropped it and picked up a fanfiction I hadn’t updated in awhile. I can’t tell you how happy I was to be writing that fanfiction, like I was at a point where I’d rather an academic essay than my nano novel. I ended up writing 20,000 words of that fanfic and combined with The Island’s wordcount, I won. If you really want to focus on writing your nano project but are kind of tired of it, then work on something else temporarily. Maybe you need to re write a scene for another WIP. Do that even if it’s only 500 words then head back to your nano novel. Switching projects temporarily may give you a break but you’re still doing something to bump up your word count.
2. Use cheats. You didn’t hear it from me, but sometimes you have to cheat. No, I don’t mean plagiarize someone’s and copy and paste their paragraphs onto your manuscript to bump up the word count. I’m talking about short cuts. A lot of writer’s use contractions in their writing. Now, don’t use the full word like cannot as opposed to can’t because those are both still one word. Instead, use the contraction like this ‘can ‘ t’ Put a space between the apostrophe and it’s technically two words. Then, when you go back and edit, Ctrl/Command Find all the apostrophes and put them back together. Seems like a lot of work but hey, at least you’re writing!
My last cheat is more for when you update your wordcount on nanowrimo’s website. I know sometimes I just needed an hour to finish the daily wordcount but it was already 11:55 and nano would mark it below the word count. So what I’d do is go in the settings (Or wherever the website asked for what time zone you were in) and I’d change it to another time zone where it’d be 2 pm or something. I’d finish up my wordcount at my leisure and presto, I wasn’t behind on my wordcount.
3. Take a break. Seriously, take a day-long break and don’t write anything. Just relax so you can come back to the manuscript with an open mind. Try to get a head the daily word count goal so that way you don’t have to worry about making up the word count for that break day. If not, then spread the word count over the next few days. Hang out with some animals, do a mask, and try not to think about nano for a day.
4. Talk to yourself. Sounds a little wild, but if you’re having problems with your manuscript. Whether it be the pacing, the character’s aren’t acting like you want them to, etc. Whenever I have the house to myself, I talk about my characters like I’m explaining their personality to someone. And sometimes, I find out stuff I didn’t know about them which later goes into my manuscript. Talk about what you need to figure out. Post it on Tumblr privately if you want. Reach out to someone. Don’t keep it in your head.
5. If all else fails, remember the prizes. Nano offers some sweet prizes for winners and participants. I was in it for the scrivner code which is funny because I haven’t used it and it’s probably expired. So keep your eye on the prize and maybe that novel will write itself!
No matter what happens, be proud of yourself for taking on this challenge. It’s not easy but will learn so much as a writer. One of the main things I got out of it is making writing a habit. I don’t write everyday but when I set a schedule, I stick to it. Nano taught me how to write even when I wasn’t inspired and that’s a good skill to have if you looking at publication. You have time to revise but that’s in December and onward. Right now, it’s time to write. So if you want, reblog this with the last sentence you’ve written for your WIP-whether you’re participating in Nano or not. Then get back to suffering--I mean, writing. You’ve got this!
First Nanowrimo Tip post here. Follow my blog for after-nano tips and pep talks!
