Category: writing exercises

Plotting: Relationship Arcs

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I generally find it bad taste to summarize someone else’s words on my own blog, especially if I have less experience in the matter and have nothing to add. So head on over to Bestsellerology and read “Building a Plot, One Step at a Time” by Suzanne Johnson.

I hope y’all are getting in more words than I have been. Let’s get motivated, brainstorm little rewards after so many words written (one of mine is painting my toenails, another is eating OREO-topped pudding), turn off distractions, and write now.

NaNoWriMo—Motivation?

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(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!

50,000 Words!

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No, I haven’t written 50,000 words yet. NaNoWriMo hasn’t even started (it starts TOMORROW)!

But if you are a fellow NaNo, you might be wondering how on earth you can write 50,000 words in 30 days. I know I am.

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo suggests writing 1,667 words per day for 30 days.

If you are a human being, like myself, and not a machine, it might be difficult to have a daily goal. That’s why I’m going with a weekly goal, with two days off for Thanksgiving. Here’s my plan:

Write 50,000 words in 4 weeks.

November 1–7, write 12,500 words.

November 8–14, write 12,500 more words (total 25,000 words)

November 15-21, write 12,500 more words (total 37,500 words)

November 22-23, celebrate Thanksgiving and maybe even hit the shops on Black Friday (or wake up at 3 am and write, making up for a low word count)

November 24-30, write your final 12,500 words (total 50,000 words)

If you want to take weekends off, write 2,500 words per day, 5 times per week.

Since the NaNoWriMo week starts on Thursdays this year, here’s my ambitious plan that will likely not come into fruition.

The unlikely-to-happen Plan

November 1,2, 3: Write 5,000-7,500 words total

November 4: Take day off

November 5, 6, 7: Write 5,000-7,500 words to bring weekly total to 12,500

November 8-14, 15-21: Repeat pattern above 2x

November 22-23: Take Thanksgiving off from writing (but maybe do some final plotting and planning)

November 24: 2,500 words

November 25: See if I’m up to writing 2,500 words.

November 26-30: Write up to the 50,000 words.

Deep breath before the plunge

Take a few moments today to completely forget about what you signed up for and are getting yourself into.

Didn’t work? Okay, then distract yourself by creating a desktop wallpaper for your computer with your own wordcount goals, including some images that will inspire you as you work. I’m thinking of creating one with all my “cast members” (famous or interesting-looking people that fit my mind’s image of the characters). Though I won’t likely do it today—I’ll probably do it one of the days I am experiencing some writer’s fog.

The last year I did NaNo, I took a pastoral picture of a castle and pasted my word count goals on to that for my wallpaper. If you are doing a historical novel like me, perhaps you can make a wallpaper collage of historically-accurate source images, like costumes of the era. Be creative!

See you on the other side—in November!

Lara

Motivation like Pavlov

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Hanna Pylväinen, author of We Sinners, has an interesting approach for training herself to get into a writing mood, rather than just wait until that feeling she should write.

Read her quote and find her secret here on Poets & Writers. Then check out the pw.org writing exercises page for writing prompts in fiction, poetry, and creative non-fic.

I’m definitely guilty of writing when I feel like writing or when inspiration comes, rather than sitting down and staring at that terrifying blank page. Training myself with something portable might be the trick. I’ve heard you shouldn’t limit yourself to writing at one certain time of day, or with one particular type of music, or in complete silence, or only in one location, because then it will be harder to be spontaneous. Writers should be able to write anywhere at anytime.

What are your tricks for getting to work?