This is the second year I have participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the second time I have won (meaning I’ve written 50,000 new words in the thirty days of November).
On a large scale I’ve learned more about the art of keeping fingers on the keyboard pounding out words, which is more difficult than it sounds.
I also learned a few new tricks:
One of the pep talk writers (Tamora Pierce) suggested – try adding something short, unexpected, frightening, painful, etc. When I was up against a blank wall, I gave myself the freedom to do this. It worked.
From another (Kami Garcia) I learned that – everyone is too busy, no one’s muse shows up for work on time, an MFA is a fine degree, but is not needed to write a great (and successful) story…bottom line, how are you going to write your story if you’re afraid to start writing? We all have doubt, give it a name and block it’s calls.
Finally, when my timeline issues were causing me to think I might have to give up on making the goal, the twitter based NaNoWriMo coach gave me this good advice: @BobTyler4 timeline at expense of narrative? It’s a tool, but it’s not NaNoTimelineMo. 🙂 just walk away. #NaNoCoach
