Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo

Strange Habits of Writers

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This month, I’ve been making an effort to join my local NaNoWriMo group for group writing events. It’s been fun, though I do feel I’m more productive when I write on my own. Because of this experience, I would like to share a few strange habits I have observed.

Strange Habits of Writers

  1. We leave our computers for a drink of water much more often than biologically necessary.
  2. This requires us to take lots of bathroom breaks.
  3. We like the kind of snacks that make us thirsty (see numbers 1 & 2).
  4. We’re easily distracted.
  5. Sometimes we don’t accomplish as much as we hoped (see numbers 1-4).
  6. We have families, friends, and pets who don’t see our writing time as sacred (see number 4).
  7. In spite of all this, the words add up and we complete blog posts, essays, articles, novels, and pretty much any other writing project imaginable.

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Species Description: Writer

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One of my favorite writing books is Rochelle Melander’s Write-A-Thon: Write your book in 26 days (and live to tell about it). I read it earlier this year when I was doing a full court press to complete my novel, Catch a Fisherman. It’s packed with advice on how to produce good-quality writing at a breakneck pace. It’s also very encouraging and contains a few laughs. One of my favorite exercises from the book is to create a field guide to assist you in your Write-A-Thon.

Since I am now participating in NaNoWriMo, I thought I would share my modified version of the field guide. (For you legal-minded types, Rochelle does give permission for this in the book).

Species name: Working Writer

Description: Varies, but resembles a human being

Appearance: Varies. Frequently appears hunched over a computer while wearing wrinkled pajamas. Hair may be in disarray and may or may not need to be washed.

Preferred habitat: Varies, but some usual habitats are a desk at home, in coffee shops, on the couch, at the kitchen table, and sometimes in bed with the laptop.

Distinguishing habits: Rapid typing, mumbling to self, surrounded by books and magazines that writer refers to as “research materials.” Usually over-caffeinated though has been found drinking alcohol in the afternoon. Aversion to house work, phone calls, and errands that may cut into that thing Writer calls “writing time.”

Often confused with: Online gamers or the mentally unstable.

Preferred food: Varies, but usually food high in calories and low in nutrition like pizza, chips, crackers, and ice cream. Preferred beverages also vary, but many Writers enjoy coffee, tea, hot chocolate, red wine, and occasional hard liquor, depending on the status of the Writer’s “work in process.”

Thrives on: Support, encouragement, lively discussions, exposure to weird people who will later become characters in Writer’s work.

Practices that endanger the Working Writer: Interruptions, talking to Writer, looking over Writer’s shoulder, offering advice, and loudly wondering when Writer will shut off the computer and cook dinner. Writer is also endangered by accidental data loss from computer crashes or viruses.

Cautions for approaching the Working Writer: Shield and body armor recommended. May wish to offer a bribe, such as cookies. Do not approach Writer from behind as this will startle Writer and cause it to swear loudly, losing its train of thought in the process, which will likely cause it to swear again.

Have you seen one of these in your neighborhood? True home range of Writer is not yet established by science.

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A Day Without Writing

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Starting NaNoWriMo has made me realize something. I write nearly every day, but I don’t write every single day. Some days I write fiction (almost every day), and other days I work on nonfiction/freelance writing. Mixing up my projects helps keep me fresh. But there’s nothing quite like taking a day off. No writing for a 24-hour period.

The most important thing I can say is: choose your days off wisely, so they benefit you instead of keeping you from reaching your writing goals.

There are benefits and drawbacks to taking a day off from writing. I am so keenly aware of the drawbacks that I try to take only 2-3 days off per month, depending on what projects I’m working on and whether I’m more interested in my projects than having a life.

I believe in good news first, so I’ll start with the benefits:

Recharge creativity – Giving your creative mind a rest from time to time will help you keep your enthusiasm for a project. This is especially important when we think we don’t have time to take a day off. And maybe that’s true, especially if you’re working on several projects. This month I have a copywriting class, my NaNoWriMo novel, and those never ending query letters for freelance work. I have deadlines, but I need a day off.

Physically rest – Your fingers get sore from typing and your eyes need a break from staring at the string of words appearing behind the cursor. A day off gives your body a chance to recover.

Explore, have new experiences, and gather new ideas – Whether you visit the zoo or just read something interesting, new experiences spark creativity. This will make a difference when you go back to your project. Maybe during your adventure, your subconscious discovered the perfect plot point.

And the drawbacks:

A day off likes to turn into days off – You take one day off with no ill effects. You didn’t miss writing all that much, and you are tired, plus you’ve been working hard, so you take the next day off as well. This could, potentially, continue for years. Be careful!

Deadlines – I hate deadlines, but they’re a fact of life for writers. Obviously it’s best not to choose to take a day off when you have a project due. If you must, due to an emergency, don’t just blow your deadline. Call your editor and explain. Maybe he or she can work something out. After all, editors are people too.

Your inner editor wakes up – If I write a lot in a short period of time, my inner editor gets bored and wanders off because I’m clearly putting far too many words on the page to pay attention to his antics. My inner editor is named Teegan and his motto is “don’t bother.” So trust me when I say the inner editor loves it when you take days off. He will tell you not to go back to work because your writing isn’t any good anyway. I say get back to writing ASAP because that’s a slap to your inner editor’s face.

We’re not machines – we’re writers. We should never feel guilty about taking a day off. But we do need to be careful to prevent our day off from taking us from being a working writer to a wanna be writer who sits around saying “I’ll get back to that novel some day.”

And They’re Off – NaNoWriMo Begins!

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(Insert sound of Sam the Bugler playing “Call to the Post”) Don’t mind me – I just had a flashback to August in Saratoga Springs when Saratoga Race Course is open and there’s Sam in his red and white fox-hunting uniform in the winner’s circle while the horses are loaded into the starting gate… And that had nothing to do with NaNoWriMo, did it?

I think we DESERVE to have someone play “Call to the Post” to call us to our keyboards. Maybe Sam the Bugler is available?

I’m coming into NaNoWriMo already feeling burned out. I have the threat of back surgery and an appointment with a neurosurgeon hanging over my head. I just flew through more than 40,000 words on another project, plus completed a lot of revisions on my first novel. There was my 32nd birthday during October, and that wasn’t exactly a bushel of peaches for many reasons.

With all that going on, how am I going to write my novel in November?

Simple – I’m going to put all that drama on the page.

So far it’s a great cocktail of drama for a novel – I have angst about getting older combined with a less-than-stellar professional history. I have abject fear at the idea of needing surgery and the possibility that the surgery could go badly wrong. And there’s just that general crappy feeling of burnout which in a fictional character could be great – it may cause him to do something insanely unexpected.

I’m arming myself with wine, chocolate, coffee and frozen dinners (because if my fiancé thinks I’m going to miss a great opportunity to not cook for a month, he’s wrong).

Want to join me and thousands of others for a month of novel writing? It’s not too late to get started. Just visit the National Novel Writing Month website.

Finally, I have a request for everyone. Fear of public humiliation is a great motivator for me. If, on November 30, I have not completed my 50,000 words, please use social media of your choice to make fun of me. Thank you.

Please note – just in time for NaNoWriMo, I have added a “Resources” page to this blog. Check it out for links to everything from writing organizations, some helpful websites, freelance writing jobs, and even NaNoWriMo. If you would like to have a website added to this list, please contact me.

Preparing for NaNoWriMo

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I wish I had decided later in the year to participate in National Novel Writing Month. Deciding in August has left me with too much time to fill between the decision and the beginning of the event. That means I am doing far more preparation than usual.

I am fortunate to be in an area where there is a very active local NaNoWriMo group. My group is meeting on Sunday for a Plot Planning Party. Being more of a pantser, I don’t care too much about the plot planning aspect. When preparing to start a story, I will do some planning. I usually have a very sketchy outline and a small dossier of information about each character. I’m not sure I can spend three hours planning my story. But in spite of my lack of plot planning skills, I’m attending the party. Hopefully I don’t come up with a different project idea for the month (again).

I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year for the community. I’m not daunted by the word count goals required to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I’ve done that much before. On a typical day, I write 1000 to 2000 words, with most days being above 1500 words. But I don’t know that many local writers, and the ones I do know tend to talk about writing more than they actually write. This brings me back to attending the plot planning party.

My other preparations are simple. I talked my fiancé into accepting an extra 4 hour shift at work on Saturday evenings, which means I get more uninterrupted writing time. I purchased a couple big bottles of red wine. I designated a notebook and folder as my official NaNoWriMo command center. I have made a shopping list of delicious things to snack on while writing (carrots actually ARE on the list, just so you know) and budgeted for takeout pizza once a week for all of November.

There are also pre NaNoWriMo challenges posted in the message boards. This particular one was to watch or read something that we normally wouldn’t and then post our reaction to it. So I watched Dr. Zhivago – which was a bad decision that caused agonizing boredom. Next time I’ll just read the book.

Now I just have to decide on my NaNoWriMo rewards. That’s where I’m stuck. Obviously, I want the t-shirt. But if I complete something big, like a draft of a novel, I think I deserve a somewhat larger reward. Sadly, I have absolutely no idea what I want. But I’m sure I’ll think of something in the next 20 days.

In 21 days, NaNoWriMo begins!