NaNoWriMo: Lookout Here I Come

Yes, it’s almost here. In 12 more days—or in my case 11 days, since I live in the land down under—everyone who has signed up for this year’s National Novel Writing Month will be punching out words like crazy to meet their word count goals, drinking over-sized cups of coffee (that will be me), and loosing copious amounts of sleep.

This will be my third year participating in NaNoWriMo and I will be tackling it a little differently this year. I’ve planned, plotted, and outlined until I was blue in the face (not literally of course) because the last two years I dived in head first, completely unprepared, and had no idea what I was doing. I started a new novel from scratch in 2009 (my first year) and even though I made it to the end and reached 50,000 words, I still had no idea what my story was really about or why I was writing it. I started revising what I had and couldn’t believe how much work it was going to need. For starters, the point of view I thought I wanted, didn’t work. So, I change it, tweaked the story a little and then put it away. Needless to say, I haven’t touched it since.

As for my second year, well that was a disaster from the start. I had planned on using NaNoWriMo as an incentive to help me finish my first MS (which I probably should have done in the first year *sigh*). But, that year I barely made it to 20,000 words. Instead I put all my efforts into supporting my daughter doing her first year of NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program. It was worth it though . . . she won, YAY!

I felt like such a failure that year, and I was very disappointed with myself so much that I’ve spent an entire year working to get back to where I am now—enjoying writing, and doing it every day no matter how small or big the word count is. 

This year I’m so excited to get started, but still kind of freaking out at the same time. I’m going to do what I should have done all along and finish my MS. But this time I’m so prepared that I know exactly where the story is going and I have plenty of backup ideas if I need them. And when I get to the end of the 30 days and I have 50,000 words, I will be doing the biggest happy dance to celebrate.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? Tell me: Do you plot and outline ahead of time or do you just pants it from day one and enjoy the ride all the way to the end?  

Easy Reads: Eternal Exile

Easy Reads is a place I will share any of my short writing works that occur whilst taking a break from working on my novels. 

I can’t promise it will turn into a weekly thing, or that I will even have something monthly. Nonetheless, when I do post, I hope that you enjoy them. Who knows, some of them might  develop into a novel or a novella of their own one day. 

Hey, who put that wall there?

You know the wall I’m talking about, right? Yep, you guessed it ... ‘writer’s block’.

I know, I know, writers block is a forever ongoing topic up for discussion and, there are tips posted all over the place you can easily find from other writers or authors. But let’s be honest. What works for them, might not work for you. So what can you do to keep that wall at bay?

Sorry, I don’t have the answer. Because personally, I don’t think there is one solid method that can break the wall ... that works for everyone. All you can do is try different techniques until you find the right one. Plus, it helps to know the reason behind why you are hitting that wall. Is it a plot problem, an underdeveloped character, or you simply can’t quiet work out where to go next and feel like giving up.

Been there done that.

It happens to me when I’m getting to the half way mark of my MS and I completely freak out. That freak out moment lasted almost two years. Seriously, I’m not kidding. Now I write everyday no matter how big or small the word count is. I’m just happy to be writing and no longer have that wall standing in my way.

So how did I break through the wall after so long? Easy, I worked out the reason for my ‘writers block’ and went back to the beginning.  

I re-read my entire MS (what I had of it), my notes, everything. I soon learned that I had no idea where my story was going. To some degree I knew what I wanted to happen at the end of the story, I just didn’t know how to get there and what should happen in between. Therefore I was plot less mess.   

So, problem identified ... now what?

I read everything and anything to do with plotting until I found what works for me. And the book that turned on that switch inside my brain and brought the flicker of ideas back to life was Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell.

This book covers everything from Plot Patterns, Common Plot Problems and Cures to Tips and Tools for Plot and Structure. I love this book, but what I love more is the exercises after each chapter that you can do over and over again. Your given a number of different ways to help you stir the plot pot, not just one sure fire way. This book is a keeper. And now I have plots running out of my ears on a daily basis, and index cards quickly being filled with all kinds of possibilities for my story. 

But don’t take my word for it, read it for yourself. Okay, come on; tell me how you fought off the dreaded writers block wall. Was it with a sledge hammer?