Author R.A. Gasparac

Hello again everyone!  Today we are talking about the Dragon that is NanoWriMo.  I will assume you have just had one of three reactions :

1. Horrified
2. Confused ( Whut is Nano? )
3. Explosivley cheerful

I am personally a mix of one and two.  First of all, NaNoWriMo is an abreviation of ‘National Novel Writing Month’, A.K.A Novemver.  Every year millions of people around the world sit down in front of thier computers and comit to themselves and the novel inside of them to become a reality.

While it is in fact exciting, and adventurous to comit to fleshing out a story it is impossible to achive unless you put in the work.  Thats where most people ( including myself) fall short.  In 2014 I won NaNo with ‘Di Inferi and Those Who Dwel Below’ ( my most beloved work in progress).  I achived my 50,000 word count goal five days early, and by the end I had a 73,000 word manuscript to show for my time.

There were a few factors that helped me get to that point:

JOIN A WRITING GROUP

I was shocked to discover this was most likely the main reason I was able to win NaNo.  Everyday I logged in my words, and kept other people in my writing group accountable.  Writing groups are a fantastic way to share your feelings and advice. Be sure to include other writers in various stages of thier writing career.  This will help build a community to help pull you out of funks that inevitably will come.

ENGAGE PEOPLE IN YOUR WRITING GROUP

You may be surprised who might step into your writing life.  I, myself befriended a fellow writing in one of these groups that unbeknowest to me was an Indie Comic Book Publisher.  I am also happy to say he is in my inner circle of trusted friends I know I can rely on, and open up to about my personal life.

You will be surprised how adding people in your friend pool with the same goals as you will actually help slighshot you further in your writing life.  Thier presence reminds me I am on the right path.

SHARE YOUR GOALS PUBLICLY

This goes back to accountability.  When you have other people checking up on you ( think of how a Boss will check in with you and how you are doing with a task), because mentally it drives you.  If you surround yourself with friends who are writers as well, that will bump up your accountability because you dont want to let them down.

When sharing your writing goals this november have everyone in your group ‘pitch’ thier story idea.  This will make the story seem real to you, and have others care to find out what exactly happens.

Another side effect is that as you are writing you can comment on what happened in your story, what was difficult – or a Rogue character that hyjacked a storyline.  This will have other people invested in you as a writer, and your story – your future reader base.

COMMIT TO YOURSELF

This NaNoWriMo 2016 is a great time to take out a clendar and in each day write 1,667.  Why that number? Because 50k broken up to everyday is a measly 1,667 words.  Thats all you have to commit to.  The average person can write 250 words in about fifteen minutes. You can do that math.

If you can carve out an hour of writing time, you can have a completed first draft.

WRITING TIME IS SACRED

Everyday of 2014 Nano, the first thing I did for the day was sit down at my computer and check my online writers group.  Instead of social media sucking me in, checking up on my friends progress gave me the fire to get my writing done for the day, otherwise I would have no room to talk when others didnt complete thier daily goals.  Do whatever you have to to get those words down, be it waking up early, going to bed late, or even locking yourself in a small room with only your work in Progress.

Pitfalls that contributed to my falling flat on my face in the 2015 Nano Challenge:

BALANCING WORK AND WRITING TIME

So, what caused me to fail miserably in 2015? I didnt prioritize my writing.  At that time I started a new day job to support my writing career.  Wanting to impress my new co workers I focused on learning that trade, and my writing became less important.  I moved writing to “if I get to it during the day”, instead of “before I do anything today.”

When I wrote Di Inferi, I was a stay at home housewife.  I had all the time in the world to complete my manuscript.  Now, I found myself juggling more balls than I could have imagined, and kept letting myself drop the one ball I wanted to balance.

PUTTING OFF THE WORK (COMPLETING DAILY GOALS)

Procrastination.  We always think there is enough time.  We have l;oads of it during the day.  The trouble is that we dont notice its passing.  We are on this earth for a finite time.  I calculated how many project ideas I have versus the average time it takes for me to complete a project and realized, I need three more lifetimes.  Let that sink in.

That means some of my stories will nevr be shared with anyone.  No one will benefit from them.  When I die, they will die with me.  They won’t enrich anyones lives unless I double down and do the work and not put it off another minute.

LACK OF INCENTIVES

Another thing that works everytime is incentives.  In 2014 I chose to reward myself with my favorite chocolate Ferro Rocher.  Every time I wrote 1667 words I popped one in my mouth.  If I didnt attain the goal, no chocolate.  That also meant if I didnt reach a goal, I couldnt have the chocolate until the day after, and the chocolates did not stack.  However they did stack when goals were achived in one day.

For instance, the 25th day I wrote 5000 words.  I surprised and amazed myself.  I accomplished half of Stephen Kings daily writing goal ( no lie – his daily goal is 10k!).  I broke my own rules to reward my accomplishment and for every 1000, I had a chocolate.

In 2015 I had no such incentive.  I had no reason to accomplish my goals, so I didnt.  Incentives are POWERFUL.

NO PREPARATION

Nano 2015 I also tried something new to see if I could do it.  In Nano you are either a Planner or a Pantster ( fly by the seat of your pants.)  This is where I learned I am hopeless without a roadmap.  Trying to write a story where I didnt know where it was going only brought on writers block.  If you can write without a road map, more power to you – but thankfully I learnd from this.  This is why my planning started this July (2016).  Pre Write as much as you possibly can if you need a roadmap.  It is the best way to prevent writers blocks.

So, what now?

So, why/how does this help you, the reader of this amazingly awesome blog?  It helps you to know that as an amateur novelist I was able to attain my goals, and even as a professional author I have failed miserably.  There will be high times, and there will be some REALLY LOW times.  As long as we look at out work objectivley and choose to learn from our good and bad habits, we can create beautiful things for people out there.  Remember- the Novel you are writing will some day be SOMEONES favorite book.

It may take years to get to that point, but this isnt a timed race ( okay, maybe Nano is, but in the grand sceme of life I mean.), because this is about the journey.  Just keep clacking at the keayboard until you reach your goal.

So, tell me how things have worked for you and not worked for you in the past.  Any pearls of wisdom for the other readers out there?