Dear O'Abby: How do I get unstuck?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm doing NaNo and I started really strongly.  I flew through those first 10,000 words!  Then this week, I've hit a wall.  I know where the story needs to go, but I can't seem to get there.  Nothing seems to get my characters to the next place they need to be.  

Do you have any advice for me?  

Kind regards,

Stuck

Dear Stuck,

I think we've all had periods like that, where you just can't figure out how to transition from one part of the story to another.

When I'm writing and find myself in a place like that, I just skip that bit.  Especially when the pressure is on like it is when you're doing NaNo.  You can come back to it later.  Just move on and write the next part of the book, the part you are trying to get to.  Often I find that by writing the next scenes, I find whatever it is I need to make the transition smooth.

And sometimes you realise that the issue isn't with the transition at all, but with whatever happened beforehand.  

All of this can be fixed later, when you revise.  Always keep in mind that perfection is not the goal during NaNo.  You're never going to come out on December 1 with a perfect manuscript.  This is a draft and a very rough one at that. NaNo isn't about perfection.  It's about getting that story in your head on the page.  That's it.

Perfection can come later.

So skip the transition that's holding you back and write the rest of the book.  You'll probably find you come up against this same problem again somewhere else in the story, but don't let it be the reason you quit.  Just move on and fill in the holes later.

Best of luck with the next 21 days!  I'm rooting for you.

X O'Abby

NaNo Tip of the Week--Week 5 of NaNo 2022

  

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Welcome to week 5 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! The focus for today is celebration. The goal for today is 1,667 words for the day with a total of 48,343 words. For Reverse NaNo folks, the goal is 116 words for the day with a total of 49,999 words.

Completing NaNo always feels like graduation to me. Congratulations!! Throw your mortar board and tassel in the air!!

With less than 48 hours left, what are you going to do to celebrate once you hit the win button? 

NaNo Tip of the Week--Week 4 of NaNo 2022

  

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Welcome to week 4 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Today I will focus on what to do when something comes up and you're not currently making your goals. The goal for today is 1,667 words for the day with a total of 36,674, words. For Reverse NaNo folks, the daily goal is 1,840 words for the day with a total of 46,774 words.

I'm kinda bummed that my grand plans for doing 100K in 30 days will not occur this month.

• Getting sick. 
• Traveling for work. 
• Changing work schedule. 
• Finding beetle larvae in the kitchen. 

Regardless of the circumstances that hindered me from writing my double Reverse NaNo goals, I have been able to keep up with the minimum 1,667 words per day. 

So, I made the decision to keep writing this month and finish out NaNo with 50K. Perhaps with December rolling around, I can attempt my 100K then with the handy dandy goal tracker on the NaNo site.

The most important thing though is to not be hard on yourself. It was rather pressing to clean my kitchen and do what I can to remove beetle larvae so I can actually eat. They say self-care a lot these days. 

Tips for when you're not meeting your goals:

1. State your goal.
2. What progress have you made?
1. Spend time on this step.
2. How have you celebrated your success?
3. Remind yourself of why this is your goal in the first place.
3. What barriers have you encountered?
1. Is there a pattern with any barriers?
2. How can you address the barriers right now?
3. How can you address barriers next time?
4. Celebrate the progress you have made!
5. Adapt your new goal, and/or create a new goal.

What are you planning to do this week to work toward your NaNo goal?

NaNo Tip of the Week--Week 3 of NaNo 2022

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Welcome to week 3 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)!

The goal for today is 1,667 words for the day with a total of 25,005 words. For Reverse NaNo folks, the goal is 1,724 words for the day with a total of 37,923 words.

Congratulations on making it to the halfway point! Congratulations on every word that you have written, especially if it is less than your goal and especially if it is more than your goal. Every word counts!

Pause. Take a breath.

How is NaNo really going so far? Are you where you would like to be on Day 15?

• Yes, I am ahead of my goals: 
• Keep it up! Don't forget to take some breaks. You are making wonderful progress!
• Yes, I am halfway through my goals:
• Excellent! Great work making it to the halfway point. Take a break. Keep it up!
• No, I'm Behind: 
• That's ok! There are 15 days left to write more words. Can you write for an extra 10 minutes every day? Make a new small goal if you'd like to get back on your daily word count goals for the month. Take a break. Take a breath. You can do this! Keep writing!
• No, it's not going to happen this month: 
• That's perfectly acceptable and totally okay. Sometimes Life happens. Take care of yourself and do what you have to do this month. Your project will be ready when you are. Good luck!

What are your writing goals for the next week?

 

NaNo Tip of the Week--Week 2 of NaNo 2022

   

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Welcome to week 2 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! Today we will focus on reward systems. The goal for today is 1,667 words for the day with a total of 13,336 words. For Reverse NaNo folks, the goal is 2,527 words for the day with a total of 23,447 words.

Congratulations on making it to the quarter point! Eight days down, 22 days to go. Every word is a winner in this amazing goal of yours!

Now, week 2 may not be the best time to talk about rewards, but bear with me. This week tends to be my historic worst in my (yikes!) 14 years of NaNo participation due to the week 1 energy wearing off. I usually encounter at least one (if not several) issues that pop up with my story. I didn't do enough research. I didn't do enough planning. I don't like the story anymore. I don't like so and so character. In general, I encounter problems and my motivation tends to wane. Or I didn't make my word count goal for the day and I'm bummed.

Enter Rewards on Stage Right.

I have experimented the last couple of years with making a reward box for a friend who prepared a reward box for me. We exchange the reward boxes and then either take pictures and send to each other or we open the cards/presents on video chat or in person. I usually combine cards and small gifts for milestones (5k, 10k, 20k, 25k, 35k, 45k, and 50k). This year my friend and I are going to the dollar store and buying 30 gifts that are each $1 and then we will have something to open each day. 

I like to start with candy and then move up to higher level rewards for the higher word counts, depending on the person's preferences. I am very happy with lemon drops, Reeses, some new markers or colored pencils. You get the idea.

Regardless if I have a reward exchange with a friend, I always buy myself a little something (usually a book I really want) and celebrate when NaNo is over with a nice meal at one of my favorite restaurants.

I have also noticed that I work harder when I get the reward first. Then I have to earn it. But this varies, and sometimes it is exciting to work for the reward and then get it. Feel free to experiment!

How are you motivated? What rewards have you earned so far? What rewards are you going to earn for reaching your goals?

NaNo Tip of the Week--Week 1 of NaNo 2022

  

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Welcome to week 1 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! Today we will focus on writing sprints. The goal for today is 1,667 words for the day with a total of 1,667 words. For Reverse NaNo folks, the goal is 3,346 words for the day with a total of 3,346 words.

Congratulations on starting your NaNo project! I am so excited to see where your project takes you.

Week 1 energy is amazing. I highly recommend attending a write-in virtually (or in person this year, from NaNo HQ) and meeting fellow Wrimos. Find people in your region, or who live in your area, by going to Community and selecting Find a Region. When you find a region and make it your home, you will be able to see where the region congregates on the web on the NaNo forums and elsewhere online (Discord, Facebook, etc.).

Go to a write in, virtually or in person. Participate in a word sprint, where the goal is to write as many words as you can in a specific time frame. My favorite (and current goal) is to consistently write 1,000 words in 15 minutes. I did it once last year, and whew, it was hard and it was great to know it was possible for me! I can't wait to do it again.

As for length, I do sprints as small as 5 minutes and as long as 45 or 50 minutes. I tend to favor the 15, 20, or 25 minutes with a break, and then divide these into an hour with breaks in between. I find it is easier to focus for the sprint length if I know that a break is coming in the near future.

Sarra Cannon regularly shares documents to track your writing progress for the month. I highly recommend watching her YouTube channel for writing tips and advice, especially for the planners out there. I enjoy tracking my sprint times and word counts to try and beat my record. You can also create your own tracking system by hand, or my favorite, playing in Excel or a spreadsheet program of your choice.

What are some of your sprinting goals? Do you find a certain length of time works for you?

NaNo Tip of the Week--Week 2 of NaNo 2021

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Welcome to week 2 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)!

The goal for today is 1,667 words with a total of 16,670 words. How is your NaNo going so far?

I am on track for the traditional word count goal, but I am terribly behind on my double NaNo goal of a Reverse NaNo doubled word counts each day to reach 100,000 words in 30 days. I had a great first half of week one, then I had to do more for work than usual. Now I am playing catch up, just focusing on writing words and not letting the number of words I am behind drive me into panic mode.

Are you panicking? Is the outline not going to plan? Are characters are flat or uncooperative? Got dishes in the sink and no oomph to clean them? Such a typical week two.

Take a deep breath.

In. Hold. Out. Repeat.

Listen to a favorite song. 

You got this. Keep writing! Each word is one more than what you had before.

NaNo Tip of the Week--Week 1 of NaNo 2021

 

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Welcome to week 1 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)!

The goal for today is 3,334 words for those working toward 1,667 words every day. For Reverse NaNo, the goal is 6,562 words today. 

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How is NaNo going?

I had a good first day, and I was able to participate in several sprints on Discord with my region and attend a write in before work. 

The tip this week is to stop writing in the middle of a scene or even the middle of a sentence! 

This is helpful because when you return to write the next time, you can pick up and continue the scene or sentence. Otherwise, I tend to stare at my cursor for 5 minutes. It is easier to keep the baton moving to the next person instead of starting out cold. Think of this as a stretch and beginning the writing workout with a leg up.

How do you decide to stop writing for the day?

Week 2 of NaNo 2020

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Wow, it is day 10 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNo)! The word count total for today is 16,667 for the traditional 1,667 words a day. The Reverse NaNo goal for day 10 is 2,298 and a total of 28,157.

While I am nowhere near the end of my story, I am pleased to have hit the point of the B Story, according to Blake Snyder's Save the Cat.

If you have not written your favorite scene or most anticipated scene, now might be a good time. With the week two blues setting in this week, I recommend reminding yourself why you are writing this story in the first place. What was your inspiration? I am doing a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to study one of my favorites and make the story my own.

To help with plot, I recommend looking at the hero's journey, Story Grid, and an exemplar story. An exemplar story is an example or model story that can inspire the plot or characters or theme of your novel. While I am writing a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I am finding that my story is similar to Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Look up the plot structures of your exemplar story, read a summary, watch the film. This is all part of self-care and a working break.

There are still 20 days left in the challenge. Every word is one more than you had in October, each one a victory. 

Save your work and back it up. How are you doing with your NaNo goals? What is the inspiration for your NaNo project and what is your exemplar story?

 

Happy writing!

Week 1 of NaNo 2020

 

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Wow, it is day 3 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNo)! The word count total for today is 5,001 for the traditional 1,667 words a day. The Reverse NaNo goal for day 3 is 3,101 and a total of 9,663.

But do not stress the word count! Remember the goal is to write your story. There are still 27 days left in the challenge. However, I do recommend bulking your word count with some sprints, where there is a timer, and you write as much as you can. There will be days where it is harder to write and days where it is easier. Every word you write is a victory.

And if you need some help increasing your word count, check out some of the tips below:

1.      1. Write notes to yourself in () or @@ or ## so you can easily find these sections later and delete. But do not delete them until December 1! Every word written counts toward your goal, even if you know it will not make it to the next draft.

2.      2. Add adjectives. The typical order is quantity, opinion, size, age, color, shape, origin, material, and purpose, according to this source. I tend to not include description of everything in my first draft unless I am experiencing a brief writer’s block. Then I start describing everything!

3.      3. Do a word sprint for 5, 10, 15, 20, or however long. I like the shorter sprints because then I can focus on the story and typing as fast as I can. Then I can take justified breaks before going into the next sprint. Check out your local NaNo Region on the site and find people to do sprints with. I enjoy the bots on Discord who keep track of your word goals and counts for the day. You can earn raptors for your region!

a.       The Legend of Raptors: So, raptors are a throwback to the old IRC. Timmy is the bot over there and he is insane and spends a lot of time announcing raptor sightings. Over the years it evolved- eventually he started counting how many raptors were in each region, then the raptors would attack other regions, then they started running away and or running to your region to rehome. Then Utoxin introduced pet raptors, where you could adopt a raptor, name it, and it would track your word war totals through the month & go steal plot bunnies from other regions. It was a delightful and silly way to be reminded other places in the world were doing nano, too, and often inspired people to hop over to other regional channels and make friends. ~~ StephanieRidiculous

4.      4. The usual adding “and,” breaking down contractions, and naming characters with multiple names can also help. Watch out for hyphenated words. They may have a different count for validation near the end of the month. Do not worry about that now, of course! 

5.      5. Stop spellchecking. This is a difficult habit for me since I check it whenever I see those squiggle lines. Keep adding words instead! I am always amused by which words are my most misspelled. It changes every NaNo, and I still cannot spell “restaurant” or “apocalypse” without spellcheck. My favorite is “Yoda” instead of “yoga.”

 

Do not forgot to save your work and back it up. Comment below how you are adding words to your story this year. Feel free to tell us the genre too!

 

Happy writing!

 

 

NaNo Prep! #NaNo #NaNoPrep

Well, October continues, which means November and NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) is fast approaching! I am still reading Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder and kicking myself for not reading it earlier in my writing career. I had also intended by this point to have filled out my Story Grid by Shawn Coyne. Or even just made a final decision on a log line or one sentence summary of the novel I want to write this year.

While I was hoping to be more ahead in plotting (there is time blocked on Saturday, and four days before the first starting now), I was instantly sad to not find my copy of The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. Perhaps it is time to rearrange my bookshelves and give the search another go. While I suspect this novel may not be my usual journey story, I wanted to look at the archetypes like mentor and trickster to include as I flesh out my secondary characters.

But the good news is that even though my plotting is not ready and there is some time to take advantage of prep before I begin chapter one, I do have a clean house with meals prepped and planned. 

So that's a win, and I'll take it.

Sneaky #NaNoWriMo #WriteTip #NaNoTip

I've participated in NaNoWriMo on and off for the past five years or so, although I only won in 2018 and 2019. To be honest, I'm still not sure if I'm going to participate this year - I sure don't have a lot of time left to decide! Whether I choose to do it or not, I have a few tips to offer from my personal experience that have made NaNoWriMo easier the past few years. They're sort of sneaky tips, things that might be a little writer-unethical, but they'll get you there in the end.

1) Give yourself permission to write badly. Like, really badly.

It's something that's so hard for us as writers, but it's kind of the whole point of NaNoWriMo. Our only goal is to get the words written, no matter what they are. Let yourself write your worst manuscript without stopping to edit along the way. If you really need to change something, make a note to go back and do so after NaNoWriMo is over. Remember, words written are words written - the last thing you want is to make an edit and find out you have fewer words now. We're going for quantity over quality here. 

Take an example from my 2019 NaNoWriMo manuscript. As I was getting to the end of my MS, I was seriously running out of steam. I used the phrase "Then something bad happened" twice on the same page just as a way to transition to the next plot event. And you know what? 

Who cares?

Who cares if your first draft is messy? Who cares if you talk around that word you just can't remember in the moment? Who cares if you use the word "just" five hundred times? All you have to do is get to the end of your manuscript, regardless of how you get there. 

2) Use juicy scenes as a reward.

I usually write from an outline, so I usually write my manuscripts sequentially. Sometimes, though, I get bored of a particular section, or I lose my momentum thinking of how much I have left to write. So, I tell myself that if I hit my word count goal for the day, I can skip ahead and write a scene I'm really looking forward to. It's an excellent motivator, because it gets me three wins: I get my daily words in, I get a little extra done with the bonus scene, and I end my writing time on a high. 

Good luck to everyone who's participating this year! We hope you've picked up a new tip or trick to make your 2020 NaNoWriMo experience a little better.

Make Writing the Reward #NaNoWriMo Prep #Nanotip #Writetip

Make writing the reward.

Go ahead, play a video game for a little bit. "I'll just play for 20 minutes or until I unlock this achievement." 

Scroll on social media.

Whatever activity you do that keeps you from writing.

BUT FIRST

Write this down:

"I will (whatever activity) until (whatever time or goal). Then my REWARD will be GETTING to write (for whatever amount of time or word count)!"

Then read it to yourself. For that second sentence, use all your enthusiasm. 

It will feel silly at first.

Keep doing it. Every time. Every day. 

The goal is to trick your mind into believing that writing is your reward.

All too often we reward ourselves for stopping writing. "I hit my 1,667-word count goal for the day, so now I'm going to do something fun."

It wires our brain to treat writing, our creative gift, as work. As something we HAVE to do. Which kills the desire and passion.

So make writing the reward. Decide that it is. Say that it is. Phrase it that way. 

When you actively think about writing as a reward, it will become one. You can get yourself excited about it again.

Don't say you HAVE to write 1,667-words a day. Say you GET to write them. 

Not even that you want to, hope to, or plan to. Phrase it as a reward. "When I get this other stuff done, I'll let myself write those words."

Remember to use enthusiasm. Sound upbeat. Even if you're just saying it in your head. Strike that- ESPECIALLY when you're saying it in your head.

And after you've written your words, cheer for yourself. "I got my reward! Yay! I'm excited to get more of this reward."

If you have a bad writing session, you can say, "I wish I was able to enjoy this reward more. I hope I can sleep on it and get another chance tomorrow."

Keep that mindset. 

Sometimes we do get rewards in life that don't live up to our hopes. But it's still something we didn't have before. Every word you get on the page is one more that wasn't there before. It's one more that can be edited, be improved, and counts toward your lifetime of words. It's better than none. It's great practice, at the very least.

This costs nothing to try. You don't need to buy any special software. Give it a shot. And please share your success stories in the comments!

Suzanna's Intro to #NaNoWriMo #Nanotip #Writetip

 

Ah, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming! I cannot believe that this will be year twelve for me. Twelve! I have so many tips that I do not know where to start. But I will start with an introduction here and a couple of tips because I will be posting about NaNo every Tuesday in November with more in-depth information.

Take a deep breath.

Seriously.

I highly recommend doing all the household chores (laundry, vacuum, whatever you need to do) and maybe plan a basic food menu to survive November. I love procrastinating with cleaning and cooking, but if you can have a clean home and the first week of meals planned for November, you can take advantage of the first week excitement and get ahead in your word count.

I tend to get the second week blues very badly every year. I start to lose momentum, something goes off plan in the writing or life, and I must dig myself out of the muck. So, I take advantage of the first week excitement and double down on word count with Reverse NaNo. Instead of 1,667 words on the first day, I aim for 3,346. Check out the word count goals here.

Every NaNo I try to innovate my approach to finding a smoother way to get through NaNo. Each novel has a notebook (no more loose-leaf paper). I clean and meal plan before November. I begin to go on a social media and gaming diet to prepare myself to make more time for writing daily. I begin to look at the region schedules to find write ins to attend, which are all virtual this year. Find a buddy to create and exchange a gift box with small gifts at word count milestones. Make it fun with candy and journals and unique gifts. It is nice to open a present someone picked for you in addition to the reward of reaching a word count milestone.

Have fun with NaNo, and it may be one of the best months of the year.