It’s the last few days of the National Novel Writing Month challenge. Many of you have already gotten to 50,000 words already (or blown right past it). But I haven’t. I’m still chipping away word by word. Yesterday I filled my belly with turkey and in my current state of post-food bliss I’m thinking about throwing in the towel. Who was the crazy person who decided NaNoWriMo should be in November?
But I shouldn’t give up. The fact that Thanksgiving is part of NaNoWriMo month is a lesson. I should write every day, even with a turkey coma, even when it’s a holiday.
I’m almost there. If you’re in the same boat as me and pushing these last few days to get your word count — let’s do it together! Let’s keep writing.
Here are some words of encouragement for you (and me!).
You’re almost there! Let’s do it together. I’ll see you on the other side of the finish line!
By Julie Daines
I've seen a lot of blog posts recently with writers complaining about how hard it is to find time to write, or how they've been working on the same story for YEARS and just can't quite get it right.
Here are my thoughts on that subject:
EVERY writer struggles with those same problems.
But--
SUCCESSFUL writers spend less time complaining about it, and instead, learn how to FIX IT.
The reality is that if you are serious about getting published and being successful as an author, you have to figure out what areas you struggle with, and fix them.
When an agent or editor calls, interested in your manuscript, you can bet they will be asking some probing questions. "How long did it take you to write this story?" "What else are you working on?" "Do you have other manuscripts completed?" They don't want authors that can't get the writing done.
Take a step back and look at your writing life through an objective lens. What is it that's holding you back? And how can you fix it?
No time to write? Find some. Get up earlier. Set aside a little chunk of time everyday, and, as Martine Leavitt would say, chip away, chip away, chip away. Make that time count.
Bogged down trying to get your story just right? Find a good critique group--and LISTEN to what they say. Move on. Maybe that story just doesn't work and it's time for something new. Set rules about how much time you can spend editing each day--maybe only allow yourself to re-read the one page previous to where you left off. Five minutes tops.
Plot going nowhere? Try pantsing. Try outlining.
Embarrassed by a hideous first draft. Welcome to the world of writing. That's why I prefer the term rough draft.
Discouraged by negative feedback or a lot of critique from your writers group? Step away. Let their comments percolate. They're not trying to be hurtful, they're trying to help your story. EVERY writer--no matter how good--can still improve. If you need warm fuzzies, ask your spouse to read it and have them tell you only the things they liked.
My point is, to be successful in this business, you have to be able to get the manuscripts written. Written, polished, and ready to go.
Figure out what's holding you back, and FIX IT.
DON'T compare yourself to other authors, you aren't them. Experiment, learn, and find out what works for you.
Have you said or heard others say the following:
"I'm retired and writing my book ideas is just not in the cards. I'll be dead before they see publication."
"I grew up in a time kids just don't understand anymore. My ideas are old and not of interest to the kids these days."
I'm here to tell you no matter your age (young or old) and no matter your idea (from your childhood to completely made up) writing is only about the story inside waiting to come out. It is a passion waiting to be shared with young minds and author Sands Hetherington is a true example to all of us with his debut series of books Night Buddies.
Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare by Sands Hetherington is an after lights-out adventure story that will delight young readers and middle graders who relish roller coaster fantasy and fun, filled with unforgettable characters and an astonishing and inventive collection of magical whatchamacallits.
The book is all about the nighttime adventures of a young boy named John, who is not ready to go to sleep, and his friend, a bright red crocodile named Crosley who turns up under John’s bed.
They sneak out of John’s house using Crosley’s “I-ain’t-here-doodad” which makes them invisible to John’s parents. They then embark on an adventure chasing down enemies and cleaning up one mess after another as they solve the earthshaking mystery: who stole all the pineapple cheesecakes from the only factory in the world that makes them!
Sands Hetherington credits his son John for being his principal motivator. “We always did bedtime stories, and one night John presented me with Crosley, a red crocodile he had cooked up for an after-lights-out companion. All I needed to do was figure out why Crosley was red, and then sneak the two of them out of the house on an adventure,” shared Sands.
Sands raised his son as a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him every night during those formative years. He and young John developed the Crosley crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take.
Like all authors, Sands Hetherington had his fair share of rejection let
Self-deception can be good for a writer, particularly early in his or her career. I’m not saying I’m so good I don’t need it now. I probably do, particularly in order to get first drafts done. But it's particulalry helpful when you’re getting started writing. Most everyone writes badly at first. I wrote a lot of crap, a lot of terrible and just not-very-good stories. But I didn’t know it at the time. I suppose they weren’t completely awful. Not like the deluded American Idol terrible (self-deception in small doses= good; total self-delusion like some of those American Idol singers=bad). Still, my writing was not good. But I thought it was pretty good when I was writing it, and this self-deception helped me keep writing. Even if, once I finished a manuscript and a few months passed, I realized it wasn't good, I had that wonderful feeling while creating my story. By that point I’d be on to the next story, trying to figure out how to make it a better piece of work.
Writers aren’t like musicians.A lot of musicians can be very good when they're very young. Most writers who’ve published have written a bad novel or two or three or four before they write a good novel. Of course there are exceptions. There are writers who write a great first novel. Still, it’s not so bad to struggle a while. If your first novel isn’t immediately picked up by a publisher, you should know you’re in the majority. You should know that it does not mean you won't publish.
We have to work to get better. It takes a lot of work and effort and desire to make it past writing badly. But the good feeling of creating is there even when we’re not writing well; you should allow yourself to appreciate whatever you write. Then try to make it better. The main thing, the one thing you have to do as a writer, is keep writing. You will only get where you want to go as a writer if you don’t let yourself be stopped by yourself or anyone else. It’s the old boxer story. You can be knocked down five, ten, fifteen times in a fight. It can look very bad for you. It will look very bad for you. But what you have to do is get up one more time than you were knocked down. That’s all.
Nano is about tactics and perseverance. Prepare a brief plot outline before you start, set an average target to complete in less time than the 30 days, then write to it daily, don’t ponder over words or subtleties, let the characters take over and the word count will rack up surprisingly quickly. In 3 weeks I’ve got 87K out, Nano now done, story prepared, and the work really starts, creative and forensic editing to complete for publication by Xmas. Nano is a brilliant energising experience to create that novel if you stick with the discipline.
Love the encouragement! We can do this. I am so excited. This morning I had 12,000 words to go and now a little over 4,000. I believe we can do it! :)
Good luck finishing! I didn’t do NaNo this year, but as soon as school ends, I have high hopes of being a writing machine.
I finished! It happened last night (11/29) around midnight. I wouldn’t call what I have a novel. But I do have 50,000 words on a project.