NaNoWriMo tip of the day: every time you sit down to the computer, make sure to open your manuscript before you open your email.
Link of the day: the INTERN gives thoughtful advice on how to tell if your manuscript is fully cooked. Please note that she is revising this month; this is not meant for anyone in the throes of a first draft. Bookmark the page for later use if need be.
Inspirational writing quotes of the day:
The work habit that underlies virtually all writing problems is the tendency to write and edit simultaneously. ~Henriette Anne Klauser
The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. ~Ray Bradbury
Run, rabbits!
Well now, I messed up the first tip already. Starting work I go.
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a blast with NaNo! :-)
ReplyDeleteNaNo Guru, I'm not doing well. Thought working with old characters would be familiar and fun. I'm finding I have nothing left to say.
ReplyDeleteI always open my email first. Yes it's distracting as is everything else. And I just can't seem to break the edit as I go habit. Still I'm making progress.
ReplyDeleteLee
Darn, I missed the first tip already. Except it wasn't my email, I was visiting blogs for the first hour.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I think you may have accidentally discovered yet another reason underlying the NaNoWriMo rules that you must start with something NEW each November. According to the website:
ReplyDelete"...bringing a half-finished manuscript into NaNoWriMo all but guarantees a miserable month. You'll care about the characters and story too much to write with the gleeful, anything-goes approach that makes NaNoWriMo such a creative rush. Give yourself the gift of a clean slate, and you'll tap into realms of imagination and intuition that are out-of-reach when working on pre-existing manuscripts."
Could it be that you're not out of things to say, but instead feel that you don't have anything to say THAT IS SUFFICIENTLY WORTHY for your beloved characters?
Spin something off. Give one character a crazy aunt and write about her, or spend some time with another character's annoying neighbors. You've got something to say, you just need more play time to find it.
I second what Eileen said. I already messed up. But since I'm having to write in increments throughout the day, I'll try to do it right next time ;D E-mail bad. Manuscript good.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Today was better, but still tough. I'm going to allow myself to let it flow anywhere it goes...even to other things, if necessary.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'll be back with more questions and in need of moral support!
Agree totally on the don't-read-email-first-thing tip. The basic rule, which I break all too often, is make your daily word count before you do anything else. If necessary, pull the plug on your internet connection.
ReplyDeleteOk, it's 6:11 a.m. First thing I did so far today was bathroom stuff.. then coffee stuff.. then crawled back in my bed (it's not time to get ready for work yet) and booted up my laptop - then opened up my novel draft in Word.
ReplyDeleteLooking at it, pondering it. Added some words.
Yay.