(If you are reading this and aren’t participating in NaNoWriMo, but could still use motivation to get writing, read on anyway!)

It’s the first Monday of NaNoWriMo. Are you needing some motivation? Are you online when you should be writing? Hmmmmm?

I added a secret little page to my graphic design website a few years back and made it my browser homepage. You know, in case I need a little guilt trip to motivate me to GET OFF THE INTERNET.

Because let’s face it, what is more distracting than the entire online universe?

Well, here’s the webpage. I’m not sure what browser you use, so I’m not going to give you instructions on how to make it your home page. But I do suggest considering making it your homepage if you consistently find yourself online when you should be writing.

Of course, the better plan would be to turn off your internet for a few hours every day when you have your writing time. Turn off your wireless, disconnect the router, or…if you are really ambitious and live with someone with a twisted hunger for power, you can have someone randomly change the password for your wireless every day, every week, or every couple of hours.

Do your research in chunks, when you aren’t writing. If you need to look something up, write that on a sticky note or in a different document on your computer, and then KEEP WRITING. Look up all that stuff later (if it’s absolutely necessary), or else leave it as a few gibberish words in all caps and bright red, and fix it during your revision time.

NaNoWriMo is not for revising, it’s for writing. Write as much as you can. Turn off the internal editor for the rest of 2012—visualize its demise, and then resurrect it in January. If your internal editor just WILL NOT SHUT UP (like mine), do what I do.

Also, to mix a few metaphors, you need to let your cake cool before you can frost it, so give your novel a month or two to cool off before you come at it with a scalpel of revision.

Write now, dear ones! Write NOW!