Day 10 – Who's On the Other Side?

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)
It’s Day 10 and you’re halfway through your second week. Can you believe you’ve made it this far?  You’re 30% of the way there!
Today I’d like you to think about the person you ultimately imagine reading your novel.  This person can be someone you really know [...]

Day 9 – Keep Tabs On 'Em

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)
You may notice at this point that your plot is thickening, along with your cast.  Avoid getting things too tangled up (and thus the need to go back and check on things) by keeping a system of notes about who’s who and what’s what.  Character names [...]

Day 8 – Stop Counting

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)
Today’s tip is something you probably won’t agree with, but I’m going to say it anyway:  Stop obsessing over your word count.
What? Isn’t NaNoWriMo ALL ABOUT THE WORD COUNT?
Well, yes and no. Yes, the idea is to write 50,000 words, but no, it isn’t productive [...]

Day 7 – Set the Soundtrack

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)
I don’t know about you, but I need to be in the right “mood” to write certain types of things. By now, you probably have a good feel for the type of mood your novel needs, so why not have some fun with it?
Make a couple [...]

Day 6 – Spruce Up Your Space

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)
Happy Saturday!  Hopefully, today has provided you with some extra time to catch up if you’re behind, and maybe get a little ahead of the target word count in preparation for a busy week.
The weekend is a great chance to take a look at your at-home [...]

Day 5 – Shut Out Distractions

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)
If you’re using a computer to work on your novel, as I imagine most of you are,  I’m sure you’ve been distracted during writing sessions by the siren call of Google Reader, Twitter, news feeds, or Facebook by now.   I’m guilty of checking Facebook six hundred [...]

Day 4 – Use the Buddy System

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30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)

Believe it or not, some folks have an easier time keeping up with a writing schedule during the week because their schedule is fairly structured.  Juggling weekly work and responsibilities requires that writing time be scheduled and kept up with if you want to meet your [...]

Day 3 – Resist the Urge

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)
Right about now, you may be starting to feel it.  It starts as a tickle at the back of your mind, then perhaps a twitch in your left eye.  You get up for a cup of tea and find that the feeling isn’t going away. [...]

Day 2 – Establish your habits

30 Days of Encouragement for NaNoWriMo (and other writers, too!)

Congratulations on beginning this project!  You’ve taken a step that, whether driven by a plan or by sudden impulse, is often the hardest for people.  You’ve started and managed to churn out a few (or a lot) of words onto the screen.
I want to encourage you [...]

In Solidarity

 
I’m not a novelist, and don’t really have any current plans to be one.  Songs and poems are my preferred (very short) forms. I am, however, someone who loves writing and writers and I admire the spirit of everyone who chooses to spend November slaving over a keyboard.  As such, I always get a little [...]