InsaneJournal

Current mood:	anxious
Entry tags:	nano, writing

NaNo, MiniNaNo and Notes to Myself
Everyone on my flist is starting to talk about NaNo, whether they're signing up for mini_nanowrimo or the real thing and I'm finally starting to feel the excitement. This year, despite not really knowing what's going on with my living situation, I have been crazy enough to not only sign up for NaNo, but to also agree to co-mod mini_nanowrimo with the lovely scarlett_o. PLUS, I don't want to ENTIRELY lose momentum on A Kept Boy, so my plan (oh, Kink, I hear you laughing now) is to work on that, as well.

I may be freaking out about all of this just a little.

But no one ever said I'm an underachiever, right? *coughs*

On the one hand, I am loathe to call any of the information I want to record here "advice". I don't feel like I'm in a position to offer advice to people whom I consider my equals and peers. On the moon hand, I'd really like to record some kind of "Lessons Learned" of my experiences with NaNo…and maybe there's something here you can use, too.

1. "Training" for NaNo is very much like training for a sport.
At the point in time that I knew I wanted to sign up for my first NaNo, I also knew that I wasn't going to be able to write 1,666 words a day right off the bat from my then-current virtual standstill. And so I followed the advice of Natalie Goldberg in her superlative book Writing Down the Bones and made myself sit down and write for a minimum of fifteen minutes every day, working on gradually increasing my word count. Which leads me to my next point.

2. When it comes to increasing or making a word count, the inner editor is not your friend.
I know that sounds ridiculously obvious, but it's much harder to put into practice. It's hard not to second guess. It's hard not to delete. It's hard to push on when we don't feel suitably satisfied with what we've already put down. But that's not really the point of NaNo. NaNo is not about creating the perfect piece of literature. Don't lose sight of your goal. NaNo is about making words. They don't have to be good ones. They just need to be there.

3. Make words. Be wild with them, profligate and joyous.
In the normal run of things, my writing style is probably best described as spare. However, when I'm writing for NaNo, "spare" goes out the window. Again, this isn't a question of producing the perfect novel. It's about hitting that word count. I still have trouble with the idea of padding my (deathless) prose, but it's important to remember that a) it can be taken out later, if need be and b) the point is to make words. So get descriptive. Talk about the sunlight shining on the crystalline dewdrops on the leaves. Don't be afraid to be purple. All that editing crap can be done later. The point is to just get it all down NOW.

4. Don't stand still.
This is another one that's really hard for me. I'm a structural sort of writer. I like to know where I'm going. I'm also a very goal-oriented writer. Each scene I write HAS to further the plot in some way. And so I get bogged down in making the scenes perfect more than I get tangled up in getting the words perfect. My other problem is that I'm a plodder. Yes, I'm at a point where I can generally pull off 1500-2000 words a day (generally), but it's a struggle to write much more than that. I'm not a trollprincess or amara_m, to be able to pull off 10K in a day or two. I've succeeded at meeting my NaNo goal every year, but ever y year it's been a struggle. So when I get bogged down—and I will—I make myself go on to the next thing I can see clearly, whether it's a little further in the same scene or whether it's the next scene or a few scenes down the line. Just keep going. You can always come back and build the connections between the parts LATER. So much of the story can be done later. Don't get bogged down in the now.

5. Be forgiving.
While I have a reasonable expectation of success at this point, the fact is that writing 50K in 30 days is still HARD. And it seems like signing up for NaNo is an engraved invitation to the universe to make my life crazy. So there are days that I don't—or am unable to—make my word count for the day. There are days I can't get to the computer at all. And the impulse to think of myself as a failure in these instances is strong. To excoriate myself and give up the whole thing as a bad job. And just…don't do it. I mean, we can argue about the futility of beating ourselves up forever, of course, but in a more ruthless and practical sense…it's time consuming. And that's time you could use to be writing. So let it go and keep moving.

6. Prewriting is not cheating. Brainstorming is not cheating. Having a plan is not cheating.
I think some people go into NaNo thinking that they have to start completely cold. That they're just going to open up their document on November 1 and that a portal from heaven will open up and the words will pour out. And maybe for some people it does work like that. But not for me. La Muse is fickle and cruel. And he likes it like that. And then, too, as I said, I'm a structural writer. I feel adrift and anxious when I don't have some idea of where the story is going. Especially when working on such a tight deadline. It's much easier for me to move on to the next part or next thing when I don't have to spend time thinking about what's coming next. I mean, let's face it. NaNo is not an artiste's challenge. It's the kind of challenge that teaches you to do workman's prose. It's about sitting down and putting words on a page when you're unmotivated, when you're tired, when you just don't fricken' feel like it, when you know that you have to keep going. And don't get me wrong, that's a valuable tool in your paintbox. Not all writing is a joy and delight. I always have the scenes I delight in writing, that I'm looking forward to…and then I have the words that have to get written to GET ME THERE.

So, given that, it's much easier for me to write workman's prose when I know what is supposed to be happening next. When I know this is what happens in the next scene. And, again (and I can't emphasize it enough), you can make it pretty LATER. But you have to write it first. And for me, that means brainstorming ahead of time. Giving myself a vague outline of what I want to do. I can't outline everything—I don't work well that way, either—but I do like to have what I call a beat outline, with scribbled notes about some of the things that I'd like to see happen. And there's room for flexibility, but I find that the time goes much easier for me when I have that guide rope to grab onto when I get lost in the story and flail about where to go or what to do next.

7. When in doubt, reboot.
Sometimes, I just hit a wall. I don't know what to do next, I can't get any traction on the page, and it's all just MADE OF FAIL. First of all, step away from the keyboard. Go make some tea or a scotch-flavored drink. Make that run to the corner bodega you've been putting off. Take a shower. Whatever. Just…get away from the screen and that mocking cursor. It may feel like "wasting" time, but I'm only wasting it by sitting numb anyway and walking away and doing something else can give me the recharge I so desperately need.

Secondly, I'll go back to my writing exercises. I'll grab a word prompt (from a random word generator or from mini_nanowrimo or the like) and just jam on that word. Usually I try to relate it back to my ongoing story, whether it's something I might include later or just randomly filling in some of their back-story, an outtake scene, whatever. But it doesn't have to be that specific or oriented. Sometimes it's better to NOT write about something in your ongoing story. Just write. It doesn't have to make sense. It can be stuttering, fragmentary, and not at all your style. It doesn't have to be readable. Write about your frustration. Write about how much NaNo really sucks and OMG what were you thinking. Write about your cat's stubborn insistence of sleeping RIGHT UNDER YOUR ELBOW while you're trying to type. Just write. Get the words moving. Prime the pump.

8. Commit.
Though I don't ascribe to a lot of advice presented in most "how to write" type books, they all generally have the same absolutely true piece of advice in them: to write, you have to make time to write. Apply butt to chair, sit down and write. For me, I find it's better to schedule myself a short, intense burst of writing time than to set aside hours that I will then fill playing games on Facebook and making the EXACT RIGHT playlist on iTunes. Maybe your method is different. But none of those words are going to get written if you don't actually sit down and write them. Don't lose sight of the goal.

Oh, Gods. November is going to kill me.