NaNoWriMo Advice Roundup: 9 Authors Reveal How to Rock Your Daily Wordcount
DUCK! NANOWRIMO DEAD AHEADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!
*splat*
Hey there. I see you’ve plowed face first into National Novel Writing Month. I myself have never gotten past the huge boulder blocking the entrance, mostly because I’m really bad at guessing passwords, but I hear it’s like a roomful of frantic hamster wheels hooked up to coffee I.V.s, with trumpet fanfares and confetti showers at odd intervals.
If it’s your first time in the NaNo cave, maybe you’re already feeling the burn of cranking out 1,667 words a day on a wheel that won’t stop spinning until November 30. So I asked 9 writers–many of ’em seasoned NaNo vets—to answer this question:
What’s the most important thing you plan to do to stick to your daily word count? Can you share a tip or strategy that helps you stay on track?
Here’s what they had to say (and how to connect with them on Twitter, where you can commiserate/share triumphs/procrastinate together):
John Oakes, author of Angry Elf
Do you think you’re just going to “find the time” to write a novel? Maybe for the first time in your life? Think about it. Your entire daily routine right now is carefully designed to NOT write a novel. All the elements of your life are geared to the other things you usually have to prioritize, and chances are, it took your routines a lot of time to develop. As humans, it is very hard to turn those routines on a dime. Sadly, all the prep and imagination in the world won’t make one bit of difference if you don’t have at minimum 1.5-2 hours a day alone with your keyboard. Point is you must pry your time from your day’s talons. First step to giving yourself a fighting chance at NaNo? Get out a pen and paper and schedule your writing time, every day for the whole month, taking all your responsibilities into consideration, and making sure every day has a block, no matter the size.
Shae Connor, author of the Sons series (Nobody’s Son releases November 16)
For me, the most important thing is to get out in front and build up some words right out of the gate. The years I’ve reached 50,000 words, I started off the month by dragging myself out of bed early in the morning (which I haaaaaate) and writing for an hour or so before work. I can only keep that up for a few days, but it gives me a sense of accomplishment that helps propel me through the rest of the month.
Sam Schooler, co-author of Dead Ringer
I’m a filthy cheater, so I’m naming two things. One is tracking my wordcount. For me, it’s a huge productivity booster. I started tracking my wordcount every month back in January, because seeing the actual physical numbers is hugely gratifying. Also, it’s like physical proof I did something, as opposed to me wrapping up the year, like I did last year, and going, “Um, I know I did…some stuff.”
So yeah—I track my wordcount obsessively. Aside from using NaNo’s tracker, which adjusts to you, you can use sites like Pacemaker or, like I do, just make your own spreadsheet. The Mac version of Scrivener has some pretty great daily trackers, too.
My second thing: I make hefty use of the magic brackets. Every year, I see the NaNo forums clogged with people asking research questions. Some of them are totally legit and need to be answered before writers begin their stories. But some of them are things that could be Googled or are things that aren’t immediately necessary. Like, “Is there more than one gas station in Marblehead, Ohio?” or “What kinds of ducks hang out in Central Park?”
Those questions are procrastination enablers. Don’t go to the forums. Google it and get it over with or just write on without the answer, because when you ask those questions, you’re doing it so you can stall your writing till you get the answer. Trust me, I’ve done this. And I solved this problem thanks to a piece of advice from L.A. Witt.
USE BRACKETS. If you don’t know something, put brackets in instead.
e.g., “Max shimmied down the ventilation shaft, popped a vent cover loose, and dropped into an empty office. He pulled his [idk some gun] from his holster and held it up.”
See how easy that was? And at the end of the day, when I’m too tired to keep writing, but I still have enough brainpower to stay awake, I’ll ctrl+f “[” and do the research then! Or, for more intensive questions, I’ll crowdsearch the answer and go on writing without it until someone helps me out.
Holly Evans, indie paranormal thriller writer
The best advice I can give is to figure out your routine ahead of time. If you need music and chocolate, get that ready before you settle down to write. Then make the most of the community and use that energy and support. Wordsprints and accountability buddies are a godsend. You’re not alone—don’t be afraid to reach out, the community will carry you through.
[Holly also says Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys is her reward for a good writing day. I love the idea of using favorite comfort reads as a little treat—it’s a relaxing reward that also recharges the old writing batteries.]
Cole Watson, three-time NaNoWriMo participant
During NaNoWriMo I really like to take advantage of word wars. I shoot for 150 words at least every single time. After you do twelve word wars, you’re done. I set my timer for five minutes and write whatever comes next. I don’t even fix spelling errors until the five minutes is over. You can find word wars all over Twitter and Tumblr during the month of November. [You can find Cole on Tumblr here.]
JP Barnaby, author of the Little Boy Lost series
Set a realistic word count for yourself, it doesn’t have to be 50,000 words. If you set it for 30,000 then at the end of the month, you still have 30,000 more words than you had at the beginning.
Ariel Kirst, three-time NaNoWriMo participant
The most important thing I do to keep on wordcount is: Turn off the internet! Or, okay, at least plan out internet breaks. Nothing interesting or breaking will happen on Twitter for the half hour I am writing, and if I don’t put a cap on it, I write a paragraph, and then check social media for twenty minutes. Then it’s time for bed and I’ve only written a page. I am not very good at losing sleep for ANYTHING, so I need to make sure I get my wordcount done before 10:30 rolls around or I’ll give up. Cutting out distractions is my way of keeping on count every day. After that, it’s up to my imagination to fill in the rest!
Helen Boswell, author of Mythology
My best advice from doing 3 NaNos and not winning any of them (ha!) might seem counter-intuitive. But it’s not to stress about the word count. I find that I do best when I don’t obsess over the graphs and count calculator. Instead I set aside a block of dedicated time every day to escape distractions and write. If I get bogged down on one scene, I’ll skip ahead to another one. I have a hard time with NaNo because I tend to revise as I go (which is a no-no for NaNo), but I can get pretty close to a “win” if I do these things!
Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons, author of I Woke Up in Love This Morning
The most important thing for me is to not get distracted. I’m borderline ADD, so there are times when I write I think wait, I need to look up something. Someone should be nearby saying “Don’t do it!” Because one thing leads to another, and before I know it I’m watching David Bowie and Cher doing a medley that includes “Young Americans,” “Song Sung Blue,” and “Wedding Bell Blues,” and then I think, wait, how did I end up here? Plus an hour has gone by and I have nothing to show for it. So the biggest thing I recommend is if you’re easily distracted, go to a coffeehouse but don’t activate wifi. Write. Lather, rinse, repeat.
HUGE THANKS to these writers who took time out from their NaNo prep to share their best advice. Have a tip of your own on scaling Wordcount Mountain day after day? Share it in the comments below (or send it to jclillisbooks AT gmail) and I’ll add it to this post!
*dashes off to track down Bowie/Cher medley*