Novel Wishes and NaNoWriMo Dreams

Baby Stepping Through NaNoWriMo

NaNo’s over. Time to Party!

National Novel Writing Month is over for 2012.

Whether you rocketed past the finish line or were miles away, you wrote words that didn’t exist before November 1.

Even if you never got past the first sentence, you made something happen. Seriously. Pat yourself on the back.

Celebrating even a tiny success can motivate you to succeed further.

I’m a huge believer in baby steps. Some people get jazzed by lofty goals. The mere idea makes me want to puke in my mouth a little.

Sure, I have lots of lofty goals (*cough* NYT Bestselling Author *cough*) but I get along only with lots of constructive denial.

Me staring down a big goal.

Constructive Denial: Willfully ignoring how far you have left to go and just seeing the next tiny step ahead of you.

When writing a novel, that means setting any goal that seems truly doable to you. 10 words or 1000+. 5 minutes or 15. The key is to set a non-threatening goal so that you can tell yourself “I only have to write __.”

You may end up writing more. Once your butt is in the seat, it’s easier to just keep going.

However, if you just do the minimum, you’ve still reached a goal. You’ve kept a promise to yourself. When you keep your promises to yourself, you gain confidence in your ability to do it again and again.

If you fail, don’t beat yourself up. Use those failures to motivate your future success.

Once you’re comfortable with that pace, bump it up another notch. Every time you do, tell yourself, “Just a little further.”

You may find yourself zooming along at finger-breaking speed in no time.

Then again, maybe you won’t. Maybe you (like me) will take a little longer to start busting out word counts in the thousands. Maybe you’ll take a lot longer.

The KT Bomber at Mach Fur.

In any case, know that, if you keep putting one word after the other, you will get to your lofty goal. Once you’re there, it doesn’t really matter how long it took you.

So what does this have to do with NaNoWriMo?

When I first heard about NaNo a couple of years ago, it scared the stuffing out of me. I had all sorts of reasons why I couldn’t join (I’m in the middle of a novel, in the middle of moving, in the middle of watching a Lost marathon). While some of those reason were certainly good ones, the deeper reason was fear.

50k in 30 days seemed like too much when my cruising speed was around 500, a horrible affront to my baby steps philosophy.

When NaNo rolled around again this year, I put on my big girl panties and joined up (as a rebel because I planned to add to my work-in-progress).

Going in, I had hopes and doubts. Lots of doubts.

I hoped to add 50k words and finish the first draft but I didn’t think I really would. I had a family vacation coming up after Thanksgiving and would not have internet during the last week of November.  And I still couldn’t fathom writing 1667 words every single day, let alone the 2000 I’d need to finish before I went internet free.

But…the writing nearly every day, regardless of my “slow” pace had worked some kinda magic deep in my brain.

When NaNo kicked off, I sat down at the computer and told myself I only had to write 500 at a time. Just 500. Then I could take a break and have a cookie. Once I started, 500 words didn’t seem like such a big deal. Even 1000 didn’t seem so bad (okay, so I used a few “tricks” to keep my word count up…mostly in the beginning).

That’s right. I’m a NaNo superstar.

At the end of the first day, when I’d actually passed 2K, I was stunned. I wasn’t convinced I could do it again.

But I did.

I marched my way to the 50k mark on last night before I left for vacation. I did it. I won NaNoWriMo (rebel status be darned). And not because I’m a turbo writer but only because all those itty bitty baby steps I’d been taking finally added up to something big.

So what if it took me a couple of years to get around to it.

Now, I’d like to say I got to type “The End” on my first draft at the end of NaNo. I didn’t. I’ve still a few miles to go but I now know that I can. I can reach my lofty goals and without freaking out over how far I still have to go.

I just have to keep going.

Wherever you ended up when the curtain fell November 30th and however far you have to go, you will get there if you just keep putting one word after the other.

I think I can…I think I can…

How did NaNo go for you? For those of you who didn’t join NaNo, are you going to give it a try next year?

Image Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
Upside-down yawn by twolittlemoos, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Scary Pepper by zane.hollingsworth, on Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0
Jump! by ehisforadam (Adam Minter), on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
funny animal by didbygraham, on Flickr CC BY 2.0
Acrobat by Vicki & Chuck Rogers, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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• After NaNoWriMo – Editing Part 2 (the-view-outside.com)
• NaNoWriMo Novel is Done! (rachelleharp.com)
• You Survived NaNoWriMo….Now What? (diamondpublicationz.wordpress.com)
• Post NaNoWriMo: Day 3 – WINNER!!! (thegrownupya.wordpress.com)
• What Comes After NaNoWriMo? (fulltimewritermom.com)
• NaNoWriMo 2012: How’d I Do? (jabwriter.com)

Are You Stuck in the Squishy Middle?

How to Get Over the Halfway Mark Hump in NaNoWriMo
(or any big writing project)

Middles.

Sometimes they’re a cause for celebration. As in: “Yeehaw! We’re halfway through!” Or: “Whew! Thank goodness that’s half over already.”

Other times, they just suck. As in: “Oh man, I’ve come all this way and I still have so far to go.” *cue self-pity montage music*

I suppose it probably depends on whether you’re glass-half-full kinda folk or if you’re stuck in that middle.

We’re heading towards the halfway mark of NaNoWriMo. Some of you may just be picking up steam after a long, slow start. For others, the creative high of the first half of NaNo may be wearing off, leaving them stuck in that mushy, soggy, squishy middle.

Me, I’m aiming for denial. I refuse to admit to being stuck. So what if the words are harder to write? So what if I’m trying to make excuses not to put my butt in the chair? So what if I find myself wanting to procrastinate more and more?

If I pretend the middle slump doesn’t exist, it won’t catch me. Right?

Weeellll, maybe.

Here’s what I’m doing to get over the hump in NaNoWriMo:

•  I’m just going to keep putting my butt in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard. I’m gonna be like my mom when I didn’t want to eat my veggies: “You sit right there, miss, until you finish every last brussels sprout.” (Okay, okay. My mom didn’t really do this. Well, probably not more than once anyway. I still hate brussels sprouts though).
• Meet every excuse not to write by sticking my fingers in my ears and yelling “Nah nah nah, I can’t hear you.” Hey. It worked when we were six, didn’t it?
•  I’m only letting myself procrastinate by writing notes about my novel. If I have to, I’ll endlessly discuss my story with myself in writing. Eventually, my muse will give in and get back to the story or I’ll hit 50K with “author commentary.” Author commentary totally counts for NaNo, right?
• Bribing myself with treats. I may or may not have a secret stash of Halloween candy. I do have a backlog of tv shows on the DVR that I really, really want to watch. And then there’s the reading. If I give myself a short break to have a little treat, maybe I can get back into the writing flow afterward.

So far, these things seem to be helping me. I feel the slow-down nipping at my heels but I am mostly not giving in.

Only time will tell.

In the mean time, enjoy this video of a cat who knows all about being stuck in the middle:

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And this compilation of funny cats:

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Do you find the middle of a writing project, like NaNoWriMo hard to get through? What do you do to get through it? 

Image Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
Lalalala.. I don’t wanna hear this! by hebedesign, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Possibly Probably Related articles

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• YEA for my NaNoWriMo outline! (crimsonleague.com)
• Confessions of a NaNoWriMo slacker (laurieanichols.wordpress.com)

Night of the Living ROW

Final ROW80 Check in for Round 2, 2012

Having reached the end of another ROW80, Mortimer decides to take a well-deserved nap.

We’ve reached the end of another round of ROW80. This round, I haven’t been as attentive as I would have liked. Of course, lots of life intervened. But all we can do is all we can do.

My plans for this round:

• Update ROW80 page, for last round and this one: I updated the page at the beginning of the round but it needs another update.
• Spend 15-30 minutes minimum 4 days a week on new novella. I’m working on expanding Postcards from Hell and its sequel, Ants in the Mailbox into a novella. My MIP is on hold for now: For the last month, I’ve tried to catch up with work projects and a big move. I put a hold on writing work until I get settled.

What Do We Do When We Miss the Mark?

Sherry Isaac is over at the Life List Club talking about what happens when we miss our goals. Head on over and check it out!

1999. The year the artist formerly known as Prince asked that we party like.

That summer, chauffeur to soccer games, school dances and babysitting jobs, a familiar beat reverberated in this mother’s minivan. ‘Steal My Sunshine’, a one-hit wonder released by Toronto-based band, Len.

Click here to read more.

Also be sure to check out Jess Witkins’s post on fast drafting and Lara Schiffbauer’s post on not wasting energy on negativity (I know I need to be reminded of that over and over again).

Stay tuned. The Life List Club Milestone Party is coming up in two weeks! And it’s gonna be a whopper because the Life List Club is turning one year old.

Hi-ROW, Hi-ROW, It’s Off to Work We Go

ROW80 Check In 5/2/12

These last two weeks have been pretty decent. I felt a little lost when I didn’t check in last week but I think I’ll adjust to an every other week check in quickly. In fact, I think the longer-term planning will help me both relax and up my productivity.

Where I’ve been since last check-in:

• Update ROW80 page: Yep.
• Open Scrivener file for Postcards (working title) novella and layout storyboard: *ahem* Not yet. But I have written tons of notes and outline points longhand.

The ROWpocalypse is Nigh

ROW80 Check In 4/18/12

At long last, I’m jumping into ROW80 Round 2. I had planned to jump in at the start and have my ROW80 page all updated. Well…the best laid plans of mice and writers and all that.

Buuuut, none of that matters.

That’s the beauty of ROW80.

Tremble in fear, mighty ROW, for I have come to conquer thee.

Without further delay, here are my plans for this round:

• Update ROW80 page, for last round *blush* and this one.

• Spend 15-30 minutes minimum 4 days a week on new novella. I’m working on expanding Postcards from Hell and its sequel, Ants in the Mailbox into a novella. My MIP is on hold for now.
• Maintain blogging schedule. Try to have all posts schedule by the night before the posting day at the latest. All posts should go out by 4:30am CA time.
• Visit Twitter 1-2 times daily
• Visit Facebook at least 6 times/week
• Continue to take Sundays off with the family
• Read at least 2 fiction novels per month.
• Exercise 3 days per week.
• Reorganize Blog Menu in light of the changes to blogging schedule.
• Revamp post tags.

Where I’m headed this week:

• Update ROW80 page.
• Open Scrivener file for Postcards (working title) novella and layout storyboard.
• Keep up social media goals.
• Start Suzanne Collins’s Mockingjay.

This is gonna be a great round, fellow ROWers. Can you feel it?

Get out your digital pom-poms and rah-rah some more ROW folk here.

What’s on your list for this round of ROW80? If you’re not a ROWer yet, what goals will you be working on for the next month or two? How’s all the goal-getting going so far?

Image Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
Squint at thee by Tomi Tapio, on Flickr CC BY 2.0

Making the ROWnds

ROW80 Check In for 10/26/11

I’m feeling good about last week. Still didn’t nail every goal but I was successful overall. The shorter blogging schedule is really working for me and I’ve fallen in love with my MIP again. Suddenly, I want to sneak off at every opportunity and dive into my story.

Here’s where I’ve been:

• Work on MIP tasks 4 days/week: Figures that when I cut back on my goal days, I’d end up doing more. I did a whopping 6 days this week. And I downloaded my free Scrivener trial 2 days ago…that’s really perking up my writing. Woohoo!
• Exercise for a minimum 5-10 minutes at a time, 5 days/week: Still hitting 4 days/week. Perhaps that’s what really fits into my rhythm and I should focus on building up the length of each workout and not trying to hit all 5 days first.

And the Writer Said, Let there be Blogs (and a ROW80 Check-In)

blog fatigue: (blawg fuh-teeg) noun

1.  the condition of being overwhelmed by one’s blog and/or the number of blogs to read, often characterized by an avoidance of blogging related activities and a loss of the pleasure previously associated with those activities

Last week, we discussed whether or not an epidemic blog fatigue was on the horizon. The consensus seemed to be that the risk of blog fatigue has indeed sky-rocketed but it doesn’t have to take any of us down.

Blogging and social media gives writers the opportunity to connect with a vast number of other writers, to see

Got Blog Fatigue?

Recently, author and blogger Nathan Bransford asked if there was an epidemic of blog fatigue on the horizon. Are blog readers having a hard time keeping up with all there is to read? Are (some) bloggers beginning to wear out from a heavy posting schedule or from balancing work, writing, and family demands with blogging?

For me, the answer is: yeah, kinda. Lately, I’ve been struggling to keep up with all the great blogs I want to read. There are so many posts that catch my eye

Do the ROWky Pokey

ROW8O Check-In 10/12/11

The first week of ROW is done! I got off to a bit of a slow start but I’ll be up to speed soon. Here’s my progress so far:

• Start exercising, minimum 5 minutes at a time, 5 days/week:
  I worked out 3 days this week for an average of 10 minutes each time. Not exactly the 5 days I’d planned for but still better than 0. I’m getting into the habit now, so hitting all 5 days next week should be no problem.
• Update ROW8O page for the new round: Haven’t updated the page yet.
• Have Friday’s Life List Club guest post ready to go by Wednesday: Got this one done!