Today is my official first day attempting NaNoWriMo. Yes, it began a couple days ago. As some of you may have read in my apprehension post, I had some insurmountable obstacles with beginning on the first. Sometimes, real life responsibilities that propel a career are more important than writing in a story. As a writer, it is a compulsion to write in our stories, and as such t should be blasphemous to say that the real world gets in the way of writing, especially if novel writing is my career of choice. But copyediting for an award-winning magazine is a great resume builder and keeps me in the writing field. So, after a late night Thursday because of copyediting, and watching Wreck it Ralph after a hopelessly bad day at work yesterday, I'm ready to begin this novel.
Because of the word count I already have in the story, apparently I only need about 1,000 words to complete the word count max for today. With that said, I can do better.
There are a couple things people should try when attempting a challenge like this. These are things I've learned while writing my thesis.
1) Sketch
I'm not talking about jotting down notes in an outline, or just details and spots of dialogue. I'm talking about jotting down the scene itself. Get all the words out, all the dialogue and details and necessities for a proper scene. It's like a rough draft of a rough draft. When I get hit by my muse, I tend to write at least 500 words at one time. Often, I'm able to expand that. Bear in mind that one double-spaced page is 600 words.
2) Don't follow a set timeline
You don't have to write each scene as they occur. If you have an idea for a scene that comes later, then sketch it. Get it down on paper. Then, when you're able to fill in the gaps, you can alter that later scene as necessary. Yes, your story will change as you write it. Yes, that later scene could be drastically altered by the time you get to it, or it could be erased. But that doesn't matter. It allows you to get the idea out of your head so you can concentrate on other things.
3) Keep a pad of paper wherever you go.
Anything can spark an idea for your story. Anything, anywhere. Standing in line at the grocery store, in the bathroom, right before bed (when we're more likely to forget things the next morning), eating dinner, getting the mail. You can get little notepads and small pencils or foldable pens to carry in your pocket or bag. Keep a notebook beside your bed, on the floor or on a nightstand. Keep one on the dinner table and drop it to the floor when you eat (just remember to replace it when you're done). Keep one on an end table or coffee table. And, most importantly, keep one in the shower.
For those of you who don't know, there is such a thing as waterproof paper. Environmental geologists and other scientists use it all the time. It can be written on with a pencil underwater and won't smear or drip. Amazon.com sells a small pad that you can suction to your shower wall. It's called Aqua Notes (http://www.amazon.com/Aquanotes-Aqua-Notes-Waterproof-Notepad/dp/B003W09LTQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1351972217&sr=8-7&keywords=waterproof+paper). I cannot count how many times I've used it and then expanded what I had jotted down. This is for general ideas or dialogue that you need to get down before you forget it, especially when voice or word choice is specific.
So these are my beginning tactics for NaNoWriMo. Not sure how long they're going to work, but they worked extremely well for my thesis.
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