Quote
Jessamyn West
Powered by Blogger.
Post Labels
- completely unrelated to writing yet satisfyingly distracting (12)
- i'm crafty too (1)
- nanowrimo (31)
- on writing (14)
- random thoughts (11)
Popular Posts
-
It's been two whole months since finishing NaNoWriMo and I have spent that entire time struggling through a novel I've been writing ...
-
Hurrah! Hurray! It's Day 1 of NaNoWriMo! I was reading through blog posts of previous years I had attempted NaNoWriMo, and for the recor...
-
Nine days in and I've only just now fallen behind in my word count. That's not so bad, considering it's Friday and I have all we...
-
So here I am on Day One of NaNoWriMo and I'm writing a blog post. But guess what, bitches? This girl has reached her target word count f...
-
I have come to the sad yet realistic realization that my first nanowrimo shall not be the glorious victory I envisioned it to be. I have jus...
-
So I went for it and purchased a brand new laptop...it happened by accident (or fate) really. I went window shopping for one a couple of da...
-
I consider myself a raving cynic. I analyze sayings that most people just take at face value. For instance, I recently used the phrase, ...
-
Eeekers! I guess I've been slightly neglecting this blog ever since I bought lappy...not that anybody other than Melanie reads it (Holla...
-
So I'm back to working on my story "C.A.T.S."...a project I started god knows how long ago. Three years? Five years? Man, I sh...
-
I managed to work my way from Point A to Point B (re: my last post) and now I'm working on getting from B to C. In the meantime, I decid...
Blog Archive
Friday, March 1, 2013
It's been two whole months since finishing NaNoWriMo and I have spent that entire time struggling through a novel I've been writing for many, many, years. The difference in this endeavor, however, is that I've learned a few things from NaNoWriMo and have been writing fairly consistently. I wanted to share certain tricks I've learned from that month of hell that have helped not only put words on paper (so to speak) but have kept me motivated.
1. Ignore the Editor
Always easier said than done. While I do allow myself to go through what I've written and fix a few things here and there, I do not allow myself to focus on grammatical issues or wording. Instead, I change certain plot issues in order to make the story flow and seem more cohesive. Nit-picking can wait until I go through the first draft.
2. Set a Goal
This tip I only began to adhere to recently. For the past couple of months I've been fretting over how much of the story I was actually writing and felt as if I had accomplished nothing by the end of the day. Starting this week I decided to allot myself a daily word goal of 350 from Monday to Friday (thanks to Chuck Wendig and his great blog for this advice). It may not seem like a lot, but it's really easy to do and I feel like I've accomplished something each day. Can't write on a Tuesday? No problem, just write 700 words on Wednesday. Wendig's reasoning behind this goal is that within a year of following that pace you can finish a novel. Since I started this regime at 50 000+ words, I know it won't take that long. I also know that I will write more on some days and also contribute to my word count on the weekends.
3. Just Write
Stuck in your plot? Not sure where to turn next? Just write! Whether you continue on at your stopping point or work on something that happens later on in the novel, keep writing. Eventually it will all come together and instead of wasting time banging your head against a wall you will be even closer to achieving your goal.
1. Ignore the Editor
Always easier said than done. While I do allow myself to go through what I've written and fix a few things here and there, I do not allow myself to focus on grammatical issues or wording. Instead, I change certain plot issues in order to make the story flow and seem more cohesive. Nit-picking can wait until I go through the first draft.
2. Set a Goal
This tip I only began to adhere to recently. For the past couple of months I've been fretting over how much of the story I was actually writing and felt as if I had accomplished nothing by the end of the day. Starting this week I decided to allot myself a daily word goal of 350 from Monday to Friday (thanks to Chuck Wendig and his great blog for this advice). It may not seem like a lot, but it's really easy to do and I feel like I've accomplished something each day. Can't write on a Tuesday? No problem, just write 700 words on Wednesday. Wendig's reasoning behind this goal is that within a year of following that pace you can finish a novel. Since I started this regime at 50 000+ words, I know it won't take that long. I also know that I will write more on some days and also contribute to my word count on the weekends.
3. Just Write
Stuck in your plot? Not sure where to turn next? Just write! Whether you continue on at your stopping point or work on something that happens later on in the novel, keep writing. Eventually it will all come together and instead of wasting time banging your head against a wall you will be even closer to achieving your goal.
Labels:
nanowrimo,
on writing
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment