Let me guess: you woke up this morning excited and slightly nervous. Kind of the way you feel before a first date. (Either that or you woke up feeling like death because of too much candy. Not that there is such a thing.)
Why the joyous feeling that makes you want to sing music like you are a character from The Nightmare Before Christmas? No, it is not the fact that yesterday was Halloween or all the department stores are advertising for Christmas. It is NaNoWriMo time!
In the writing world, this is the time that we wait all year for. It is the chance to finally make all our writing dreams come true (a.k.a. finally finishing that novel). Right now the month seems beautiful and full of endless possibilities. But I must warn you, my friend, it will not always be Disney birds singing. Sometimes it will be more Pinocchio (and I am talking about the stressful parts, which covers pretty much the whole movie) than Sleeping Beauty.
There are things that can help make your journey easier. First of all, invest in a lot of chocolate or coffee. This is not the month to worry about your vices. The new year is a good time to get back on the right track (and, yes, the Pippin soundtrack started playing in my head as I typed that).
Also, be really realistic about your schedule. Like winter, Thanksgiving and the holidays are coming. These take a huge amount of your time. Be sure to make sure you black out those days and recalculate your word count appropriately.
Treat. Yo. Self. There is no way in heck you are going to get through this if you completely deprive yourself. You have written 5,000 words? Watch an episode of Parks and Rec. Or get yourself a mimosa.
Steal some spare moments. Waiting in line at the grocery store? Instead of looking up iZombie spoilers, write a few lines of dialogue. Conversely, make sure you schedule some writing days. Have a free Saturday? Go to a hotel without wifi and just write. All day. This will be a great opportunity to make up for the days when you can’t write.
If you fall behind, don’t fall into despair. Just divide the missing words among the remaining days. Doesn’t feel so bad, does it? Still, on that note, try not to fall behind. A few missed days can add A LOT of extra words to your other days.
You can do it! I believe in you. 🙂
I believe in you so much that I have made a super special package just for you. For those of you participating in NaNoWriMo, I will give you a critique of your novel for $300.Yes, that’s it. I will read your whole novel and write a few pages of notes that contain information like where you have plot holes, common grammatical errors, and which characters need more development.
As if that were not enough, I will also give you a free 30 minute writer’s block buster call. Like the blue fairy, I will come in and make your manuscript into a real novel. Okay, not exactly, but I will help you get from stuck to writing in the length of time it takes you to watch an episode of New Girl.
Does that sound more drool-worthy than the candy you had last night? Then run, don’t walk, over here. Just like Willy Wonka, I am only offering five of these golden tickets (to a published book)!