{"id":1725,"date":"2013-11-17T11:50:18","date_gmt":"2013-11-17T18:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lindacollison.com\/?p=1725"},"modified":"2013-11-17T11:50:18","modified_gmt":"2013-11-17T18:50:18","slug":"nanowrimo-doldrums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/nanowrimo-doldrums\/","title":{"rendered":"NaNoWriMo – Writing your way out of the doldrums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the 17th day of National Novel Writing Month.\u00a0 If you’ve entered this year’s challenge to write the first draft of a 50,000 word\u00a0novel in 3o days, this is the place where you might predictably enter the doldrums.\u00a0 The wind has died and you’re wallowing on a vast, empty sea.\u00a0 Here’s the geographic point where many writers lose their way.\u00a0 Their muse, like the wind, has deserted them.\u00a0 They start to think their story isn’t very good.\u00a0 Really, what’s the point?\u00a0 Might as well abandon ship.<\/p>\n

All writers have novels they haven’t finished.\u00a0 It’s easy to start a novel, much harder to see it through\u00a0to completion.\u00a0 The doldrums, writer’s block, the, I-got-nothin’-more-to-say, have trapped many\u00a0novelists – sometimes for hours, days, weeks, or years.\u00a0 It’s where most\u00a0manuscripts wind up,\u00a0adrift in oblivion.\u00a0 I’ve got a few floating out there, myself.<\/p>\n

NaNoWriMo\u00a0is the auxiliary\u00a0engine that drives you out of the doldrums, to a latitude where once again the Muse blows.\u00a0 Just knowing that thousands of writers all over the world are writing their stories this month might be enough to start that engine.\u00a0 Send a Mayday\u00a0to your support group (you do have a support group, don’t you?)\u00a0 Sometimes a little encouragement from a fellow sailor is all you need.\u00a0 Here are some other ways to fuel your auxiliary engine.<\/p>\n

1. Don’t be afraid to write garbage.\u00a0 Later, you can pick through the trash heap and find some gems.\u00a0 The main thing is to keep writing.\u00a0 Anything.\u00a0 Trust me, it will lead to something.\u00a0 It might actually lead to a different story altogether and you’ll find yourself heading in a different direction, toward a new landfall.\u00a0 Go with it.\u00a0 If you run hard aground, write these related sentences, and answer them: What I really want to write\u00a0is __________.\u00a0\u00a0 What I’m really trying to say is ___________.\u00a0 I’m writing this story because ___________.\u00a0 And yes, include this in your word count!\u00a0 It’s part of discovering the theme of your novel, and recapturing the drive that made you want to write it in the first place.<\/p>\n

2. Try exploring a subplot or supporting character more fully.\u00a0 This can enrich your story, or maybe lead you in new directions.\u00a0 Describe your characters fully and write out their biographies in order to discover their motivations.\u00a0 Even though you’ll need to cut some of this in the rewrite, the layers of complexity will remain, supporting your story like the deep blue sea beneath your boat.<\/p>\n

3. If you haven’t already done so, skip ahead and write the ending.\u00a0 The last page.\u00a0 Write multiple endings.\u00a0 This gives you something to write toward.<\/p>\n

4. Use your right brain.\u00a0 Get a piece of paper and chart your story.\u00a0 Be creative!\u00a0 There are no rules to drawing this map, but a visual of your story as a whole\u00a0might help generate wind.<\/p>\n

5. Just do it!\u00a0 Follow through with your committment and finish the damn thing!\u00a0 Hammer out your 50,000 words by the end of the month.\u00a0 If nothing else, you have met your deadline, which is a huge part of being a writer.\u00a0 Trust the process and allow the words to tumble out of your brain, down your arms, out your fingers and onto the screen or the page.\u00a0 If your inner editor tells you, you suck, you need to gag her and lock her in the hold until your reach landfall with your cargo of 50k.\u00a0 Then, after celebrating a successful voyage in a waterfront pub, you can drag your\u00a0critic\u00a0ashore and let her begin her work.\u00a0 Next time, leave her ashore until you return.<\/p>\n

There’s an enormous ocean out there, waiting to be explored.\u00a0 Fair winds, writers!<\/p>\n

\"NaNoWriMo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is the 17th day of National Novel Writing Month.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-and-publishing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1725"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725\/revisions\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}