The time for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is upon us. I know a few of you are participating, or modifying the event to suit your project. Even if you know you won't be able to reach 50,000 words this month, a lot of people end up speed writing as much as they can.
Personally, the best way for me to write fast is to have already plotted the scene I'm working on. Or at least have a good idea of what's going to happen and how it's going to end. Otherwise I just end up sitting there thinking too much instead of writing. It also helps me to have music playing so I can block out the voice of my internal editor.
I know a lot of people do little tricks to up their word counts during NaNoWriMo. Things like not using contractions, or calling your characters by their full name. That works, but I think it depends on your goal with the project. If you're going into it to see if you can write that much, by all means do that. If you're planning to continue with the book after November, I think you're just setting yourself up for more work by having to go back and fix those things.
Other tips for writing fast are:
- prepare any materials you might need (research, reference books, paper, pens, laptop power cord)
- tell your family to leave you alone for the amount of time you need
- turn off your phone/phone ringer
- get any chores or 'to do' list items done before writing so they don't nag at you
- set out food for your animals, grab a few toys, let them do their business - so they don't bug you
- grab any drinks or snacks you need so you don't get up; once you're up it's hard to sit back down
Do you have any other tips for getting yourself to write a lot in a short amount of time?
8 comments:
Hi Lisa,
I agree it helps if you know ahead of time what direction you are headed when you sit down to write. Your list is a good start for any writer whether they are going NaNo or just trying to push out some words.
I'm not doing an official NaNo but I have a goal to have the first draft of my series book done by Thanksgiving so that's an equivalent of 50,000 words.
Today, I'm prettying up the contemporary to get it out the door and stop having it interfere with the other one. LOL
Happy writing to all. NaNo or not!
I think your suggestions are excellent, especially the one about making sure all the tasks that will nag at you are dealt with. Anything that can squelch little voices in your head and distract you is a good thing.
When I need to write a lot, I set a goal and just having that in mind helps me. If I need to write ten pages a day, it'll inspire me to keep going when I reach eight and a scene is finished and I'm tempted to quit. I've never really written words down just to have them down and agree that having to go back and fix things like no contractions would drive me nuts. It's seems pointless -- who are you fooling? But we're all different and as long as it works, I'm all for it.
After finishing the first chapter, I'm working on the
synopsis. The proposal is due by Thanksgiving and as there are people staying at the house that week, it means I need to concentrate NOW. November is a busy month for lots of us!
Fun to have a new blog up, Lisa, thanks!
I'm NaNoing, Lisa, but I can't speed write. I write kind of slow, mainly because I can't stop myself from going back to edit things. A part of my process is getting to know my characters, and my way of doing it is to expose myself over and over to what they've already done. It works for me, but it slows the writing. Meh. I don't care.
I write maybe 1000 words a day on average. I can up that on occasion, usually when I get close to the end. I'm about 1/4 way through the book so have reached the mucky middle. Yesterday I wrote myself into a corner of a subplot and will have to rewrite that part before I'm able to move forward. It's just how I write.
I think Karen brings up an excellent point. The goal is to write a good book (Im not talking NaNo here, just in general) and the process is different for everyone, first time writers and those more experienced alike. Once you understand your own process you can make it work for you like Karen does by knowing she needs to investigate back stories on paper to know her characters. There is no right or wrong way.
I'm NaNoing this year because I'm using it to help me reach two goals.
First, I'm using NaNo as a way to push myself to write every day. Having that publicly stated goal seems to be something I need right now. I may or may not get to 50,000 words by the end of the month, but I'll feel like a success if I get to the point where daily writing becomes the habit, rather than the exception. I don't know *why* this is so hard for me right now (and has been for several months) -- it just is.
The second goal is to get that darned internal editor to shut up. I'm telling myself while I write during NaNo, "I can fix this in the next draft," and for some reason it's working. If I can permanently silence my internal editor during the first draft process, I'll be very happy indeed.
Oooh! Very nice to see your new, cool pictures Alice and Karen! I love it when there's a picture of the actual person next to the name. *grin*
Anyway, Hi Lisa!... Yeah, I'm doing my own form of NaNo too.
I don't get to write everyday, but when I do write, I'm writing everything down and not fixing it until later. And I'm trying to do the speed writing while I'm at it so I don't stop and judge myself. I'm soooo harsh otherwise!
I know a lot of what I'm writing for NaNo will have to be cut, or REALLY fixed, but it's good to just slam through it because I'm doing it for the NaNo thingy. Very good excuse for crappy writing that I can fix later. LOL But hey, at least it's outta my head and into the computer. Right? :)
Good luck everyone!
I'm almost afraid to say this for fear I'll jinx it, but I'm unofficially doing a NaNo. I bought the book No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty, NaNo's founder. It has a schedule for how many words you should have at the end of each day for 30 days to get to 50,000 by the end of the month. I'm three days in and just a little ahead of schedule. I'm not sure it's a novel and it's not wholly fiction, but it's words on paper and that's more than I've done for a long time. I told Jim I'm committed to typing 50,000 words this month even if I have to type "write" 50,000 times. So far I haven't had to do that. Like you, Debbie, I'm hoping to establish a habit of writing daily. I'm also working on pushing forward and not going back. My usual way of writing is similar to yours, Karen, but just for this month I'm going to move forward only as much as I can. I'm typing a half hour at a time, then taking a 10 minute break to move around and get something to drink, then back at it for as many rounds as it takes to get the number of words on paper that the schedule says I need to have. Wish me luck.
I also like your new photos, Alice and Karen. I hope you'll consider replacing your photo on the home page of the blog with your new one, Alice. The one there now doesn't do you justice.
Happy writing all!
I agree: very nice to see photos of Alice and Karen in the comments. Is my photo there? Naw. But maybe I'll come up with something later on.
It's very interesting to hear what works for others and what your goals are for this month. I'm doing a modified NaNo as a motivator to complete an almost final draft of my Feb. 2010 novella (30,000 words).
It's a romantic comedy, which is a different type of story than those that are contracted and published now. It was also originally written at about 60,000 words and was done on a computer I no longer have. So I'm rekeying it and editing/ cutting/ tightening as I go. I figure I'll need to do seven pages a day to reach this goal. That's a very comfortable pace for edits and will give me wiggle room for more intense edits later on. So far I'm on target.
I'm looking forward to seeing the progress everyone makes!
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