Category: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is Over — Now What?

Amy Allen-MacLeod1 Comment

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Well, well. Another year of NaNoWriMo is over. For some of you, it may have dragged by. For others, it probably passed in the blink of an eye. And some of you will have completed manuscripts, while others, not so much…

If you managed to hit 50,000 words, congratulations! Completing such a lengthy work is a huge achievement. You deserve a pat on the back. As for those who didn’t hit 50,000? You deserve kudos, too. Even if you didn’t hit your goals, you still parked your butt in the chair and gave it your best shot. A lot of people can’t say the same.

So, now that December 1 has rolled around, the question becomes, “What do I do with this manuscript?” The answer depends on where you are in the writing process.

If your story is incomplete, keep writing

NaNo may be over, but that doesn’t mean your work is done. Keep writing until your story is finished. If you have it in you, stick to your NaNoWriMo writing schedule. It will help you stay motivated and on course. Do this through December, January, February — as long as it takes, until you can finally type “THE END” on the last page of your masterpiece!

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NaNoWriMo

16 Practical Tips for Surviving NaNoWriMo

Amy Allen-MacLeod2 Comments

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Friends, NaNoWriMo is upon us. Cue your excitement. Cue your panic. But don’t panic too much, because you’ve got this. You are a fighter, and 50,000 words is a walk in the park. That said, our bad habits sometimes sabotage our best efforts to be productive. Perfectionism plaguing you? Post-work fatigue dragging you down? These are issues that every writer faces. So without further ado, here are my best tips for surviving NaNoWriMo.

Get up an hour early. This gets the bulk (or all) of your writing done before the workday even begins, so you can’t use post-work fatigue as an excuse not to write! Plus, knowing you’ve already cranked out a good chunk of words before 9 a.m. will lift your spirits for the rest of the day.

Put a piece of cardboard over your monitor. If you have a problem with editing as you go, this is a good way to put a stop to it. If you can’t see what you’re writing, you can’t mull over the same sentence for three hours.

Make a playlist. As Georgia Cates said, “Music is what feelings sound like out loud.” If you need inspiration for a character, a scene, a chapter, or the entire book, prepping a playlist before you get working is a solid way to keep the inspiration flowing.

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