NaNoWrMo 2013 - Some (hopefully) Helpful Tips!

This is my third year taking part in NaNoWriMo. The first year was hard, with lots of complaining on my part and vows never to do this thing again. The result was a woman's fiction novel with a difference, which is still sitting unedited and untouched on my laptop. Year two was much better. I wrote the vast majority of the third book in my Serenity series, Captured. That book was finished, edited and published by March the following year and has now sold several thousand copies! Happy days!

This year, I've been looking forward to getting started since the summer! I've had my novel planned (at least the first few chapters - I don't plan out whole storylines as I don't like the ruin the surprise). It's the start of what I hope will be another five book series and is coming along great. I have to be honest though, if I didn't have the writing experience I have, I would probably still be in the swearing, cursing, vows to never do this again, early days.

So here are some of my tips to keep that word count going:

• Set aside time each day. If you normally watch tv in the evening, switch off the box and spend that hour writing instead. Working a day job? Take a notepad to work and scribble in your lunch hour.
• Plan at least a chapter ahead so you know where you need to go when you sit down for your writing time.
• Don't think too far ahead or you will get overwhelmed. Break the challenge down into measurable chunks. Remember this is not a race. The people who have written 20K in the first three days may end up blocked and struggling by the end. Slow and steady will get you to the end!
• Break down the words you need to get. 500 words during the day, and just over a 1000 in the evening will mean you'll hit your goal.
• Get involved in some word wars. Focus, uninterrupted, for twenty minutes at a time.and see how many words you can write. I can generally manage around 500 in that twenty minute period which means I can pretty much get my word count in an hour.
• If you start to get stuck, jump ahead and write a scene which is playing in your head, or that you really want to write -- a great conversation between your characters, a revelation in your plot, or a seriously spicy sex scene!
• Again, if you're blocked, switch mediums or locations. If I loose track of where I'm going with a story, a piece of paper and a pen will often see me through. I create spider charts with all the different characters and elements and try to see where the story is heading.
• And if you're REALLY stuck, kill off a character. That will always give you something to write about, even if it doesn't happen until later in the book!

I hope that helps somewhat. And remember that it doesn't matter if you fall behind early on. There is plenty of time to catch up!

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Tips to Writing a Novel in 90 Days.

We all have our different strengths when it comes to writing. Some of us are amazing at the promotional side of it, others create spectacular prose. My strength is simply getting things written. To this date, I have four novels published, plus numerous short stories. I have three other novels which are written and just waiting for the editing process, and two WIPs. And that's all just in my Marissa Farrar name!

From start to finish, I give myself three months to write the first draft of a novel. This is a pretty reasonable time frame as a full length novel (for me) is anywhere from 70 - 95K, which means I really only need to write 1K a day in order to have a first draft completed within a 90 day time frame.

So if you're struggling to get your novel finished, take a look at some of my tips for getting words on the page.

1.) Set yourself a realistic goal. If you aim too high, you'll end up failing. If you feel like you're failing at something, then you won't go back to it. I think 1000 words a day is pretty do-able for most people and can be written in about an hour or so. If you don't manage your 1000 words for the day and only do 500, well then you need to be aware that you'll need to catch up the next day.

Break down your novel into 10K chunks. I never think OMG, I've got to write 80K on this book. How the hell am I ever going to get there. I write 10K first and then my goal is to get to 20K. When I hit 20K I'm heading toward 30K, and so on. Again this helps to make the goal of writing a whole novel feel more achievable and less overwhelming.

2.) Sit down with some idea of where you're going. I don't plan my novels from start to finish, but I'll know what's going to happen at least a couple of chapters ahead. If you have no idea what you're writing, you'll sit and stare at the screen.

3.) If you get really stuck, jump ahead! I often write scenes as they come to me and then have to piece them all together at a later date. By doing this, I'm always able to stay motivated about what I'm writing and I get my word count done for the day.

4.) Switch to a notepad. I find scribbling notes and ideas about problems I have in my novel really helps me work them out in my head. The change in medium allows a different thought process and things spring to mind that I wouldn't have thought of if I were sitting at my computer.

5.) Don't worry about the technical side of writing on the first draft. Leave all that worrying about over-used words, grammar and sentence structure to the editing process. Just concentrate on getting the story out!

6.) Above all, be hard on yourself. You're tired? So what? Imagine this were your actual job. If you went in complaining you were tired and you really didn't want to do any work today, what would your boss's reaction be? I bet they'd tell you to suck it up and get on with the job you're paid to do. That's exactly what you've got to do to yourself. Quit making excuses. If you sit and watch tv for an hour in the evening, but then complain you've not got time to write, you have to start asking yourself if you're serious about your writing. If you work a day job every hour God sends, take in a notepad and write during your lunch break.

Follow all these tips (especially the 1k a day) and there is no reason why you shouldn't have completed your first draft in 90 days. Then starts the hard part - the editing - because after all, if you want to be a writer, the actual writing of the book should be the fun part!

Have you got any great tips? I'd love to hear them!