surviving nanowrimo, or there and back again: a wrimo's tale

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After my Thirty Days and Nights of Literary Abandon post I was thrilled to discover that a few of my fellow bloggers are also partaking in the annual writing challenge that is NaNoWriMo - and that many of you who may not be participating still find the endeavor rather interesting. Being in the throws of NaNo frenzy as I am, I thought I'd compose a little survival guide for those of you who are participating. Is this presumptuous for such a young Wrimo with only one year under her belt? Probably. But it was one winning year, and I learned an awful lot! So we can call this There And Back Again: A Wrimo's Tale. Here are some things I've discovered, tricks I've acquired and links that might prove useful to other writers.

• Listen to music. - Finding the music that best suits your story is quite important, I think. (Also, investing in a pair of noise-canceling headphones is one of the best decisions you could make.) Sites like Pandora offer customizable radio stations that are perfect for finding your story's ideal soundtrack. Film scores are also very handy; last year I wrote my story entirely to the score from Lars and the Real Girl. It perfectly suited the melancholy tone of my novel. This year I've been listening to classical music compilations, everything from Mozart to Baroque. For me, music is the best way to transport myself into the world of my story.
  
• Don't stop writing. - Numerous times I've caught myself doing that thing where you lean back from the computer, put your hands behind your head and stare mindlessly at your screen. Don't. You'll waste precious words and valuable time. NaNoWriMo isn't about creating a book primed for the Best Sellers list, it's about reaching a goal - good, bad or ugly. Editing can be done later; NaNo takes you over the threshold to novel writing, which is incredibly liberating.
  
• Stop writing. - Yes, really. I think it's important to knock out those first couple of thousand words in as collective an amount of time as you can, but in my experience, once you feel properly involved in your novel's setting it's also important to have a bit of strategically placed distance. You need to give yourself time to miss your characters. Being obsessed with and getting invested in what you're writing is the best feeling. If I really love my story I'll be doing some menial thing like eating dinner with the most insatiable need to get back to my fictional world. That drive is obviously instrumental in making the word count go quickly.
  
• Seek inspiration. Setting a desktop wallpaper that reminds you of your story, pinning up some of your favorite quotes or your general plot storyline somewhere in your house - keeping your story where you can see it even when you're not writing will keep you interested. Especially if you have a lot of other things that occupy your mind, being constantly reminded and inspired by your story is wonderful motivation.
  
• Don't spend time re-reading. If you feel your interest slipping away from your story I think re-reading what you've already written can help you find your groove again, but otherwise re-reading will lead to editing. And editing is a time-eater.
  
• Get motivated. The NaNoWriMo web site offers plenty of motivational tools for when you're stuck or simply need inspiration. Their Pep Talks by published authors are great help. This year's contributing authors include such greats as Lemony Snicket and Mercedes Lackey, but you can also browse their Pep Talk Archives for past contributions like this one by Neil Gaiman. Checking out the blogs of other Wrimos is also helpful - Britta of Forelsket has been posting daily motivational bits for the aspiring novelista.
  

I hope this list has been in some way useful to any of you Wrimos out there. Also, you can feel free to add me as a Writing Buddy on the site if you've joined up. Happy writing!

thirty days and nights of literary abandon

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It's November 1st, and that means NaNoWriMo has officially begun! I mentioned in an older post that I became an official novelist last year after taking part in the event known to many as NaNoWriMo, and after much deliberation I've decided to participate again this year. I thought I'd do a post to fully explain what NaNoWriMo is, just in case some of my readers haven't heard about it. (And trust me, you will be hearing about it again. I'm sure I'll be here all month complaining, panicking and basking in the passionate adventure that is novel-writing. Are you excited?)


NaNoWriMo, which is short for National Novel Writing Month, takes place every year for the full month of November. Beginning on November 1st and ending on November 30th, participants work to create a 50,000 word novel entirely from scratch. Why? Because we can! You don't have to be a published writer - you don't even have to be a writer at all - to join this challenge. In fact, there are a lot of participants who have never written a novel before. Folks with all sorts of careers, stay-at-home parents, college students, all sorts of people living all sorts of lives join together each year for the love of novel writing.

50,000 words sounds like a lot - and it is a lot, when you've only a month to write it - but in the literary world 50,000 words is just above the length of a novella. This makes the NaNoWriMo process no less special, however, because it's all about you. The novels written during NaNoWriMo are not meant to be rushed off to a publisher on December 1st, they're meant to be a very great step in the direction of a novelist's dream. People will write the most unusual, outrageous stories in the month of November simply because they can.

It's easy to join NaNoWriMo - simply sign up at NaNoWriMo.org, open up a word processor (or grab a notebook, if you prefer) and write! You can update your word count on the NaNoWriMo web site as you go along, and if you succeed in writing 50,000 words before the end of the month CreateSpace is offering all the winning participants a free published copy of their manuscript! It's not easy; last year it nearly took over my life and I told myself I would never do it again. But in retrospect, I don't know that I've ever been as passionate about anything before as I was in that month with my elusive, magical little novel. There are all manner of resources on the NaNoWriMo site to help you on your way, pep talks from such great authors as Neil Gaiman and you can even join the region where you live to find other WriMos in your area. Bookstores, libraries and coffee houses will often have Write-Ins where WriMos can meet up and write in a collective environment. (I imagine this is to get us all out of the house and to have some fresh air and social activity in the midst of the reclusive process.)

Last year I wrote a literary fiction that was something of a character study. It took place around a few city streets and in one tiny apartment strewn with twinkle lights, fine wine and deep, profound (I hope) conversations between the six characters who became my best friends and greatest enemies over that month. It was an exhausting, wonderful experience. As difficult as it might be, there's something so thrilling about being able to tell people you're a novelist! This year I wanted to write a holiday story that was quite light and cheerful, maybe a little romantic comedy, but somehow at 12:30am last night it transformed into a 19th century holiday story about a wealthy nobleman, a small village and an annual Christmas ball. Rather like something out of Jane Austen or Elizabeth Gaskell, perhaps. I'm quite excited!

Have any of my fellow writers ever participated in NaNoWriMo? I'd love to hear about your experiences. And if anyone has decided to undertake it this year, let me know!