As promised, some actual new content!

Since the experience of NaNoWriMo 2014 is fresh in my mind I have decided to make it today’s topic.  I have successfully completed NaNoWriMo two years in a row and by the standard set by argumentative netizens, having done something twice qualifies me as an expert.

As always with articles in this blog, what I’m outlining here is an approach that works for me.  It’s certainly not the only way to approach NaNoWriMo and it;s not the only way to find success.  What it is, though, is an approach that works for me — and possibly you if you give it a shot.

 Plan ahead

I know some people go into NaNo cold, not having a plan for what they’re going to write, sometimes not even know what their plot will be until they start typing.  Of the people I know who have taken this approach, exactly none of them have successfully completed a NaNo project.

The rules of NaNo are such that you cannot start writing your project until 12:01 AM on November 1st.  However, the rules also state that you are more than welcome to write character biographies, do some background worldbuilding or research, and even outline.  So do it.  All of it.  Seriously.

For my 2013 project — a science fiction story — I had a little notebook where I would jot down notes to myself about the characters, the political systems, the aliens we may encounter, and I started making these notes somewhere around July.  Now, when I say “jotting notes,” I meant just that.  These were brief bullets, rarely more than two sentences each, that I could write down quickly as they came to me, whether it was while watching TV or while at the day job, or just before bed.  I never tried to get too detailed because all I was trying to do was build the foundation in my head.  That was really the key for me in all of this: building the foundation in my head.  When November 1st came and went, the only part of these notes that I even looked at was the section on plot.  For the rest, the simple act of writing it all down ahead of time got me deep enough into the world I was creating that I didn’t need to refer back to the notes themselves.  And having this foundation already built pre-NaNo meant that I could hit the ground running and, aside from the usual hiccups here and there, bypassed those moments where you stare at a blank page wondering how Society X is governed or how the propulsion system in Spaceship Y works.

Outline

Let me be clear that when I say “outline” I mean just that — outline.  Some of you may remember in high school when you had to write an essay outline that included your thesis statement, three supporting arguments and your conclusion.  That’s kind of what I’m aiming for in this step, just a really basic framework with a handful of key points you need or want to hit.

A while back, I wrote an article for Starbase118.net about basic plotting (which you can read here) that is related to what I’ll be discussing here.  I’d recommend checking it out after you’ve finished this article.

Anyway, my outlines would look something like this:

• MAJOR EVENT
  • minor event
  • minor event
• MAJOR EVENT
  • minor event
  • minor event
  • minor event
• MAJOR EVENT

Which is actually how my outlines usually look for non-NaNo projects, too, but a structure like this is a godsend for me during NaNoWriMo.  The issue I think a lot of writers run into with NaNo is “oh shit, what do I write next?”  With an outline like this, you know what comes next because it’s right in front of you.  I’m not saying you need to have the entire story outlined from beginning to end or that there’s no room for deviation, but even if you outline four steps ahead you will find writing on a deadline that much easier.  Instead of sitting down at the computer with only a vague idea of where you need to take your story and the daily word count requirement of 1,667 staring you angrily in the face, you can start to write knowing that your main goal is for Linda to find the Golden iPod and then for Hank to steal the keys to Uncle Jerry’s skycar.

I have found that by using this approach, I was routinely destroying the daily word count requirement because I was more focused on tell the story and helping my characters reach their next milestone than I was in checking word count.  It can also be a huge motivating factor as you can cross off plot milestones as you reach them — not only will you see your progress in terms of your total words (which you should update daily on the NaNo website, by the way — another huge motivating factor), but you’ll be able to see how much progress your making on your plot.

Get a girlfriend like mine

First off, I hate using the term “girlfriend” — it makes me sound like I’m fifteen.  So I shall just call her what she is: Crazy.  Crazy has been such a huge part of my success in these last two NaNo events that I’m only half joking with this section title.

Get some support.  Whether that comes from someone like Crazy — someone to be part cheerleader, part counselor, part barrista — or from a writing group you attend in-person or even just by joining one of the regional groups set up on the NaNoWriMo website, get yourself connected with people who are interest in your success and who can be there for you if you hit a rough patch.  At some point during NaNo we all have those moments where we think “WHAT HAVE I DONE?! I AM GOING TO FAIL!!  I AM HAVING A BAD PROBLEM AND WILL NOT GO TO SPACE TODAY!!”

I would bet that 99% of us reach that point during November.  I can tell you as someone who has been involved in some creative endeavor or other for essentially his entire life that having one or more people who get it at your side to help you through those moments is one of the single most important assets you can have.  So, so many people have a “why bother?” approach to creative pursuits that it can be incredibly depressing for those of us who feel the absolute compulsion to engage in them.

Both years I’ve done NaNoWriMo, when people ask me what it is and I explain it, I have had some variation of these two responses:

1. What’s the point?
2. Do you make any money doing it?

And each year after winning, I have had some variation of these two responses:

1. What was the point?
2. Did you make any money from it?

You know what Crazy’s before & after responses were (paraphrasing of course)?

1. BEFORE: That sounds awesome! I’m sure you’ll be great!
2. AFTER: I’m so proud of you I might explode!

I cannot stress to you enough the importance of having someone in your life — a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a friend or even people on an internet forum you don’t really know all that well — willing and able to support your creative adventures and misadventures and to be there for you when you need to talk about how pleased you are with your progress or how down you are that you only managed 300 words or how frustrated you are about the plot hole you just discovered.

Everyone should have someone like that.  So if you don’t, try to find someone.  Browse sites like MeetUp for local writing groups, check out your regional forums on NaNoWriMo.org, join some Facebook writing groups — genre-specific or general — and start talking to like minded individuals.  And feel free to get in touch with me and I’ll do what I can to be your support.watch full Logan 2017 movie online

This is me on Facebook an this is me on Twitter.

– DW