NaNoWriMo Prep #2 // Some Questionable Advice

Now that NaNoWriMo is literally just around the corner (no, I am not freaking out—you’re freaking out), it’s time to talk about last-minute prep. Various people have asked me to share my secrets for productivity in November, and I have shared a little before, but I figured I would cover it a bit more. If this doesn’t help you, well then, at least I’ve gathered my thoughts for myself. 

Before you jump into these tips, please keep in mind that they are more geared toward those willing to throw caution and good sense to the wind in the interest of going beyond the 50K. And because this advice comes from my personal experience, what works for me may not work for you. (Translation: If your hands fall off mid-month, please don’t sue me.) 

Dedication. Whatever your goal is, reaching it has to be the thing you want more than anything else. It has to be the thing that you choose over movies and books and other distractions nine times out of ten. You have to decide ahead of time what your level of commitment is going to be, and then you need to stick to that. It’s okay to decide that you need to bow out, but try not to decide that on day three. The first week can be especially daunting, and your mind is going to be thinking of all the reasons to quit. My recommendation is to quit only if you begin experiencing health issues (both mental or physical) and are worried that pushing yourself any harder will cause you long-term damage. Most importantly, learn to enjoy the struggle and the strain, because overachieving will not be a cakewalk. 

Rewards. If you’re reward-oriented, make sure that you set up a reward system ahead of time and, if at all possible, put someone else in charge of that system so you can have a level of accountability. In all honesty, I haven’t had huge success using any reward systems in the past, because I’m not a hugely reward-oriented person. Or rather, my reward is the writing itself. But I also know that if I let myself place a massive book order for every 100,000 words I write, well dang, I’d be at 3,000,000 before you could say, “I think Liz’s laptop just burst into flames.” 

Writing Music. If you listen to music while writing, it might be a good idea to compile your playlists ahead of time. I know that, at least from my experience, it’s far too easy to spend tons of valuable writing time looking for the perfect writing song. Don’t do that. It’s secret procrastination, and you will end up hating yourself. 

Writing Cues. In a similar vein, it’s really important to have some writing cues in place before November begins—things that will let your brain know it’s time to focus on writing. If you’re an intake learner like me, it helps to have a specific drink (in my case, coffee) or a snack that you only grab when you’re ready to write. The flavors and smells will help your brain get into writing mode. If you’re an auditory person (also like me), it helps to have specific music or white noise that you only listen to while writing. And if you have a specific location where you are consistently more productive (coffee shops and church for me), try to make sure you end up there as often as possible. 

But make sure—MAKE SURE—that you only use these cues when you are intending to sit down and focus on writing. As tempting as it might be, you can’t let yourself cave and use your writing cues while procrastinating or doing chores or whatever. They will lose their golden touch if you do. But if you keep them sacred, they are likely to help even when you’re in a writing slump. Simple behavioral conditioning, folks. 

Procrastination Game Plan. Yes, I did just say that. You are going to need to take breaks, especially if you are planning to go whole hog this November. But if you don’t plan your break activities ahead of time, your quick three-minute jaunt on Twitter could turn into a three-hour full-emersion social studies experience. And valuable learning aside, you are going to hate yourself. Make sure you have some protocols in place so that doesn’t happen, because you need to make sure your breaks don’t leave your discouraged. Your breaks are there to sharpen you and prepare you for another bout of writing, so approach them accordingly. 

For those of you who write on a computer, like me, consider taking a break from anything screen-related when you take your writing breaks. Eye strain is a real problem when you’re logging the hours to get all the words written. Don’t make this harder for yourself by scrolling through your Twitter feed between word sprints. Movies and TV shows are fine, because you’re not stressing your eye muscles quite so much, but try to keep your face a couple feet away from the screen. Also, be sure to get plenty of fresh air and exercise so your brain doesn’t turn into a bag of stale potato chips. If your phone takes dictation, maybe go on a walk and talk out some of your story. 

Have a system in place. Set timers for yourself and respect them when they go off, even if you have to drag yourself kicking and screaming back to your writing seat. 

If you’re having trouble thinking of non-social-media-related breaks, here is a handy dandy list of suggestions: 

Read. Mosey on over to the kitchen and make coffee. And because moderation is not a thing we embrace during NaNoWriMo, just give in and drink straight from the coffee pot. You know you want to. Pick flowers. Pet an animal. Talk to the animal. When I had rats, I would discuss major plot points with them and verbally untangle my story issues. (But maybe choose a kinder animal, like a puppy or a lizard. Rats can be harsh critics. They require perfection and thus are better to consult during the editing stages.) Clean up the disemboweled mouse the cat left on the patio….again. Climb a tree. Fall out of said tree. Enjoy your first ambulance ride and hospital stay. Make sure to take notes and incorporate this into your story. Go out to eat, or better yet, try a challenging, new recipe at home. Braid your cat’s hair. Treat the thousands of scratches on your arms. Clean things. Play with mud. Get into the spirit of autumn. Eat a leaf and put pumpkins on your hands. Terrorize the neighbors. Enjoy learning firsthand about police procedure and holding cells. Have fun. 

Most Importantly—Log the Hours. I know this seems obvious, but it’s the one that gets short-changed the most. When you’re writing large chunks of words, it’s so easy to get overexcited and take more breaks than you should. It’s also too easy to assume that you will always be writing at peak speed. Don’t. Set yourself a schedule, and when the schedule says write, you write. (You can find my schedule for last year in this post.) Those who wrote 3,000,000 last year logged about 19-23 hours a day. In other words, you have to put in the time. The words will not magically appear on your document overnight.

I don’t know—I feel like I give the wrong impression that this is easy, and I know that I type quickly, but like I said, this is not a cakewalk. I repeat, this is not a cakewalk. So please don’t come into this expecting a cakewalk, because if you do, you will end up quitting. (And by all means, if you hit a wall and you need someone to light a fire under your butt, shoot me a message, and I will yell at you—nicely—until you start writing again. You can find my contact form on the sidebar.) 

Some Final Words. Now that you’ve read all my extremely serious advice, please keep a couple caveats in mind. If you aim to overachieve as much as I do, and if you’re like me, you will experience guilt about making Wrimos who are writing less feel bad. You will want to share you successes with people, because you are excited, but keep in mind that people won’t always be nice about it. You will sometimes inadvertently discourage people or make them jealous.

With regards to my word count, please keep in mind that I have a high pain tolerance and a relatively low regard for my own health when it comes to competition. I will write until I can’t physically move my fingers well enough to type. I will be using wrist braces this year, but I haven’t in the past, and I am paying for that now. Don’t always do as I do unless you are willing to accept the health consequences that come with. 

In Summary. If you’re planning to overachieve this year, ready yourself for the worst and hope for the best. (And take all my advice with a grain of salt.) Remember that this is a marathon. If you lose sight of the finish line, the race will become grueling and unbearable. You will spend most of the time feeling like you’re about to vomit up your lungs. But if you don’t quit halfway through, you will thank yourself come December. So run. 

Because I’m coming for you.

What?

Well, that’s it for today, my little coffee beans. What are some pieces of writing/NaNoWriMo advice that you’ve benefited from? Are you planning to participate in NaNoWriMo this month? What are your favorite ways to procrastinate? Do you also struggle with avoiding the fascinating productivity-black-hole that is Twitter?

Knocking that Word Count Dead

Ah, welcome to the third week of NaNoWriMo, where everything gets just a little bit more interesting. At this point, you’re probably tired, and, if you’re like me, you’re running behind on your goal (whether it’s the official 50K or whatever goal you’ve set for yourself). Others of you may be breezing ahead, throwing your cares to the wind, and having the time of your life. Wherever you’re at, it doesn’t hurt to think about getting some extra words written in case you find yourself unable to make significant progress over Thanksgiving.

Let me just say, as a disclaimer, that everyone’s brain is different. So the advice I’m about to give won’t necessarily work for all of you, and that’s perfectly okay. Remember what I said last week? The ultimate goal is to write the story. Your final word count at the end of the month will not be a meter by which you should measure your self-worth, or even your successfulness. Some people write slowly, and they need to write slowly, and that’s totally cool. Writing slowly doesn’t make you a failure. That being said, if you’re as numbers oriented as I am, here are some tips that might help you beef up your word count.

First of all, it’s important to keep in mind that writing, like a professional sport, requires a lot of practice and training. If you’re just coming out of the gate, you probably don’t want to count on pulling a 30,000 word day. Push yourself, yes, but don’t be angry if you fall short. Those just beginning training for a marathon shouldn’t expect themselves to be able to finish the whole race on the first try. If you’re new to writing, or new to writing thousands of words in a month, please don’t make this a miserable experience by forcing yourself to produce more than you’re able to. And don’t expect it to be fun all the time. Like long-distance running, it takes a lot of sweat and effort and focus, but the end result will be worth it.

My first NaNoWriMo (2012), I didn’t officially participate. Instead, I just kept track of what I wrote during November, and my count came to about 36,000 words. At that point, 36,000 words was a big deal—the most I had ever written in such a short space of time. When the next November rolled round, I decided to push myself a little harder, and I came to 160,000 words at the end of the month. Last year, I went into NaNoWriMo intending to one-up myself and write 250,000 words, but after a bit of warm up, I found I was able to go above and beyond that, and I reached 404,404 words total.

Now, my point in mentioning these numbers is not to make those with lower word counts feel bad in any way whatsoever. So let me put some things into perspective for you. In all of those NaNoWriMos, as with this one, what I wrote was pretty nearly junk and I would die before I let anyone read those rough drafts. But, I would never have even reached the 50,000 word official goal had I been writing something quality. Which brings me, at long last, to my next point. If you want to beef up your word count, and you’re like me, you need to lock your inner editor up in a maximum security penitentiary for the month. Be aware that if you’re going to go for the higher word counts, you don’t have as much leeway to second guess what you’re writing. One of the biggest rules that I set for myself is that I can never go back and reword something, even if I absolutely hate what I just typed (although I may also write the alternate wording down so I don’t forget it). If I’m in the middle of a scene, and I decided it’s really not what I’m going for, I make a quick note to myself about it and then pick up wherever I left off before things went wrong. But I don’t delete anything.

One of my greatest joys in writing comes from the editing process, so the messier my first drafts get, the more fun I’ll have on the second. I try to keep this in mind as I vomit words all over the page. Remember, the official goal for November is to write 50,000 words—just 50,000 words—not 50,000 polished words, not 50,000 words of publishable manuscript. At the end of the month, no one has to read what you’ve written (or at least, I hope you’re not under that sort of pressure.) When trying to beef up your word count, type the first thing that comes to your mind, and then the next thing and the next thing. You’re allowed to stop and think, but you’re not allowed to stop and overthink, and you’re going to have a lot of trouble making headway if you spend too much time second-guessing yourself.

Another important aspect is good time management. I can be guilty of way too much procrastination—in fact, I don’t think I’d be as far behind my goal as I am if I’d spent more time holding myself to task. Part of good time management is taking advantage of every spare moment you have. Can you write on your phone? Do that when you can’t access your computer. Do you have five minutes while you’re waiting for someone to vacate the bathroom? Use that time. Are the kids napping? Write. Do you have ten minutes while the cookies are baking? Well, don’t just stand around doing nothing—TYPE. Do you feel like slacking off? Write anyway. Squeezing in five or ten minute segments whenever they crop up may not feel hugely important or helpful, but you may find you’re able to salvage more time than you think that way. Even if you only manage an extra thousand or so words, at least you’re farther along than you would have been. Remember that, like spare change, spare moments add up.

Now that I’ve talked about writing all the time, let me reverse directions and advocate taking strategic breaks. Let’s face it, your brain and your fingers are going to need rest, and if you deny them that, they won’t work for you as well as they could. Set a word count goal that you want to reach (something reasonable, maybe anywhere from 100-2,000 words), and write that amount. Don’t pause until you’ve written that. Then take a quick break to read something or visit your favorite social media sites or walk around a little. Then set another goal and make sure that you hold yourself to it. Don’t let yourself take a break until you’ve met that goal. And so on and so forth.

As for my final point, it may seem a little counterintuitive to a lot of you, and again, it might not work for everyone. But my advice would be to make sure that you get enough sleep. In fact, during NaNoWriMo, I let myself get at least an extra hour of sleep each day if I can manage it. The reason for this is that your brain will start losing some of its ability to function properly if you’re depriving it of rest. Even if you manage to snatch a few more writing hours by delaying bed time, you may not be able to accomplish much more than you would have if you had let yourself recharge. And let’s not forget that your word count won’t seem as shiny and awesome at the end if you don’t even survive NaNoWriMo.

When it comes down to it, whether you get a super high word count or a rather low count, if you have put the time into writing this month, I wholeheartedly applaud you because you are amazing.

 

So what about you, my little coffee beans? Any tips or tricks of your own that you’d like to share? What is your target word count for this month?