#nanowrimo 2022

[writers-hq]

WHY IS WRITING IS SO FUCKING HARD?

Ten types of fuckery that stop you from writing the thing:

1. Imposter syndrome

You think you're not good enough or everyone else is better than you and you're just winging it AKA ye olde imposter syndrome bullshit. Yeah nah you're fine. No really, you're exactly where you need to be right now, and you'll keep getting better and better so long as you don't stop. Chances are, if you're filled with doubt about your abilities it means you've actually improved to the point where you can really start to understand what makes good writing. It means you know where you wanna end up and goshdarn it you're gonna get there.

Read this: 4 tips to kick imposter syndrome in the face and also genitals

And also this: How to silence the inner critic

2. Fear of rejection and/or failure

Yeah, us too. It fuckin sucks. BUT. Not all rejections are equal. And rejection is a necessary part of the process. Sometimes it takes a rejection to realise that a story isn't ready. Sometimes a rejection is entirely subjective and has ZERO reflection on the quality of your work. But shying away from the very idea of possibly maybe hypothetically getting rejected is only going to hold you back from even trying. And knowing why you got rejected and how to learn from it is one of the most valuable writing skills.

Read this: The different types of rejection (and how to deal with 'em)

Then read this: How to cope with rejection

And also this: Writing lessons from Groundhog Day

3. Not enough planning / too much planning

Leaping into a new story with nothing but a glimmer of an idea is exciting as heck (and can sometimes be a great way to begin) but at some point you're gonna need some sort of outline or plan to keep you on track. HOWEVER. Planning your story to within an inch of its life can also sometimes be a hindrance - leaving you stuck in the hypothetical stage of the process where your story doesn't quite exist yet (and therefore avoiding the prospect of it sucking). The sweet spot is in the middle. Having just enough of a plan to know where tf you're going, but enough freedom and flexibility to let the story lead the way...

Read this: Planning vs pantsing

Then read this: Five plotting techniques

And also this: The perils of overplanning

4. Your WIP just isn't working

Sometimes things just fall flat. Sometimes you work on the same story for yeeeeears and then it just kinda... dies. Sometimes you have the best plans (see above) and the best intentions and things still don't work out. Sometimes it's just time to move on. And sometimes it's not! Sometimes a story can be revived, fixed or changed. Sometimes you just need time. Sometimes YOU'RE the one that's changed and this isn't the story you need to be writing right now. Many variables. Muchly personal. Read the things below for more advice cos this is a big question:

Read this: What to do when your WIP isn't working

And also this: Give it space - how to grow a story in your head

Or how about this? Editing 101

5. You keep deprioritising it

Ah the irony of writing being the thing you love/want to do most of all AND YET the thing you procrastinate over and avoid and shove to the very bottom of your to-do list all the freakin' time. Maybe it's the comodification of art destroying our freedom to create without pressure. Maybe it's late capitalism sucking up all our available time and energy. Maybe it's a lack of self-belief subconsciously telling us our 'little hobby' doesn't really matter. Maybe it's maybelline. Whatever it is, you have the power to reclaim and revalue your writing. To say, "I'm a fucking writer, goddamnit!" and mean it. To ringfence your creative time so nothing and nobody gets to interrupt it. To do that thing you love.

Read this: Prioritise your writing

Read this: How to write in 30 second bursts

6. Shiny Thing Syndrome

You know that feeling when you're just getting stuck into a writing project and then — SQUIRREL! — you get distracted by another, better, more shiny writing project? Or maybe you're deep in the editing phase and your current WIP just isn't feeling very shiny at all and pretty much ANYTHING seems more exciting? Or you simply can't decide which of the many squirrelly writing ideas to actually start? You, fine writerperson, may be suffering from Shiny Thing Syndrome (STS). But fear not! There are a few ways to combat it, depending on the cause, and most of them involve embracing the squirrel-brain and injecting a bit of fun into your writing, like so:

Read this: Shiny thing syndrome - a writer's malady

Aaaand read this: Get excited about your writing again

And also this: Write like a kid

7. Perfectionism/self-sabotage

Look. Writing is scary as shit. What if someone READS it? What if they don't like it? What if they see into your soul and gain a deeper understanding of you through your words? Writing your truth, being vulnerable, smearing your heart juice all over the page? No thank you. But also, that's where the good shit is, so actually yes please. Just make sure you smear responsibly. And rest assured, even the most 'successful' and experienced writers ALSO feel like this sometimes, so you're in good company. It's just part of the art, bruh.

Read this: Why writing is scary (and why that's a good thing)

Read this: Beginning a story - what stops us starting?

And also this: Get out of your own way

8. The dreaded blank page

Oh godddd the blank page. It should be an exciting palimseset of possibility but is somehow also the most terrifying thing known to humankind. You wanna write something but where to start? HOW to start? You type that first line and immediately delete it. You watch the cursor blinking at you—taunting you—until you just give up and shut your laptop again. It's probably tied up with a bunch of things we've already covered so far: perfectionism, imposter syndrome, fear of failure, maybe a lack of planning or faith in your story or whatever. But it doesn't have to be this way. A blank page IS exciting and full of possibility. We just have to get over ourselves and learn to embrace the unknown...

Read this: Don't fear the blank page

And also this: The moaning method

9. Not enough time/energy/motivation/gnuuuughh

Dude, same x 1000. But you don't have to get up at 5am, do hot yoga, drink a kale smoothie and write a thousand words before sunrise to be a Proper Writer. You don't even have to write every day. But what you can do is hack your writing brain and figure out when, where, how, and why you write most effectively. Then tweak your schedule, your habits, and your attitude to ensure you're making the most of your time. Productivity is a big ol' lie but finding the secret to getting in your own personal writing zone is actual MAGIC.

Read this: Maximise your writing time

And also this: Get in the writing zone

And also unto this: The Writers' HQ Guide to Productivity

10. You're just fucken stuck

Got the writing morbs? In need of some literary sudafed? Stuck as a pig in a poke? Writing is a whole puzzle of a process—and to be honest that's what makes it so fun and exciting and addictive, because your writing brain is hardwired to both create AND solve the wordy puzzles within your story. Sometimes the answer is time. Sometimes it's a second opinion or a fresh eye. Sometimes a totally different approach or just a hefty kick up the bum. But whatever the problem, there IS a solution. You just gotta keep going and trust that you'll find it...

Read this: Troubleshoot your writing - why are you stuck?

And also this: Break through the writing blockage

And also also this: Write yourself into a pit (and then dig your way out again)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, that's it for today. Now go write, you flithy animals.

(And if we missed anything, stick a question in our ask box or check out the rest of our shit here)

[antique-symbolism]

Here's a little secret about NaNoWriMo: it isn't 50k or bust.

Take it from someone who's done it for 14 years. We love our 50k, yeah! Nice big, round number, has a good ring to it. It's traditional.

But listen, if 50k is too much for you? If you're finding yourself already wanting to drop out on Day 5 because you realized writing 1,667 words a day is kind of a lot actually? Stop trying to write that much!!

But don't stop writing.

(unless you need/want to do that too, in which case halt! go no further! take your rest!)

Otherwise, just simplify the goal. Or, don't even give yourself a goal if that sounds better. Just write how much you want to write, whenever you want to write it, and enjoy being surrounded by other writers doing the same.

No Wrimo with half an ounce of decency is gonna try to kick you out of the community because you decided not to go for the big 5-0. We're just happy to see you here. Check out the NaNo forums, the writeblr tags, your local in-person events, the discord servers, or just connect with a couple of creative friends and do NaNoWriMo the only way it's meant to be done: with joy for the craft, support for your fellow writers, and most importantly celebration for your work.

Forget 50k. You're just here to write, and the rest of us are here to cheer you on.

[battlecriesandroses]

good luck everyone!!

[its-a-writer-thing]

Shout out to writers not doing NaNoWriMo

You are valid, you are still a writer - you do not need to participate to join in the chats and fun. 

You are doing just fine, and we all believe in you! 

[writey-unicorn]

39 days until NaNoWriMo

[isabelcanasauthor]

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

—Ira Glass

[icy-writes]

A reminder to everyone writing for NaNoWriMo this year: You do not, under any circumstance, have to complete NaNoWriMo. If you do not reach the 50k word goal, that is perfectly fine. If you only write 25k, 2k, 250, or 2 words, that’s fine. You wrote something, and that is the important part.

[astronomical-bagel]

fellow writers i am twirling you into a dramatic dip and kissing you sweetly and passionately. go do your nano

[writeouswriter]

Yeah, I’m prepping* for Nano

*I have thought about my WIP vaguely at least once

[rags-writes]

Always at 3 am

[penny-anna]

Ppl are so impressed by OAers but they aren't the most powerful type of WriMo. The most powerful types include:

- people who start a new novel on November 1st

- people who start a new novel on November 1st, write approx 50k, and the finish the story on November 30th (this is the single most powerful category. May not actually exist in reality. Unclear.)

- people who write exactly to par every day & are never behind OR ahead

- people who?? Handwrite?? Their NaNos? How

[lord-fallen]

ALL-IN-ONE NANOWRIMO TRACKER: “NOVEMBER EVE” 

a highly customizable, automated but simple googlesheets for writers - especially for those participating in NANOWRIMO. perfect for tracking your progress with minimal effort while keeping your ideas in one place and keeping it aesthetically-pleasing with a dark-mode. to download / copy, go to file and click “make copy” to copy it to your gdrive. 

features: 

overview page for your wip incl. a refinement tracker for your chapters/excerpts

automated writing stats based on your progress

automated graph for tracking your word count

kanban board for your to-dos and tropes you want to feature

wall of fame for your favorite daily line

detailed writing session and word count tracker for every day with automated perks

fun achievements page incl. automated calendar that ticks off the days you've written on

please like / reblog if you’re using or interested in using it!

+ novel preparation doc for gDocs here.

[nanowrimo]

The Unfunny Person’s Guide to Writing Humor

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. First Draft Pro, a 2022 NaNoWriMo sponsor, is a collaborative writing app built for story-nerds. Today, they’ve partnered with novelist and screenwriter Sam Beckbessinger to share some tips on writing humor. Don’t forget to check out the offer to NaNoWriMo writers to try out First Draft Pro for free this month!

Here’s the problem: you love a joke. You’re perfectly able to get into a good banter with your buddies. You’re hilarious in a DnD game. You’re the comedian of your group chats. But put you in front of a blank page and suddenly you’re about as funny as a statistics textbook*. Your manuscripts are full of notes like << INSERT JOKE HERE??? >>. You wouldn’t actually want to sit next to any of your characters at a dinner party.

* There is a marginal likelihood that a funny statistics textbook exists somewhere, but it would be a real outlier.

Well, I have good news for you! Writing humor is a skill that can be learned like any other.

How comedy works

If you’re going to try to write humor, it helps to understand how comedy works. It’s very simple: the logic of humor is surprise.

Fundamentally, here’s how most jokes work: you create an expectation, and then you do something wildly unexpected. Take standup comedian Mitch Hedberg: “This shirt is dry-clean only, which means it’s dirty.” The first sentence by itself isn’t funny; it becomes funny when the second sentence subverts it. A joke is a story, and a punchline is a mini plot-twist.

You’ve got to build up to the subversion. Humor has a specific rhythm to it. You start off slower and more detailed, establishing the pattern, painting the picture, ratcheting up the tension… then BAM, you come in with the twist. Take this exchange from Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

“You know,” said Arthur, “it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.”

“Why, what did she tell you?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t listen.”

Notice the rhythm of this exchange. The first paragraph is slow, with long sentences and dry multisyllabic words, then the writing speeds up to deliver the punchline. You build the tension, then you break the tension. A lot of humour is in the timing.

So if you’re trying to be funny, the trick is to pull off this little tension > surprise dance on every level of granularity in your prose. There are funny words, funny individual sentences, funny situations, and entire characters who are hilarious (usually, the ones who take themselves very very seriously).

And there are specific tricks to help you do this, like:

The rule of three

Double meanings

Exaggeration & absurd comparisons

Callbacks

Come join us over on the First Draft Pro blog, where I’ll show you how they work!

Sam Beckbessinger writes weird horror stories and kids tv shows, and helps people learn to adult better (she's still figuring it out herself).

[cannon-writes]

october into november — midterms, midnight walks, and writing a novel

[ellesliterarycorner]

Tips for NaNoWriMo 2022

NaNoWriMo 2022 is 12 hours away! I will not be staying up to midnight to start writing cause your girl needs her sleep, but I am still so excited to write tomorrow! Last year, NaNoWriMo went extremely well for me, and I’m trying not to hold myself to the same standards this year cause I’m in the middle of college apps now. Still, I am so in love with the story I’m going to be writing, and I cannot wait to dive into this new world with all these new characters. NaNoWriMo can be extremely intimidating, especially if it’s your first time trying it out. 50,000 words in 30 days is a whole lot of words in not a whole lot of days. Don’t worry! Here are a few tips to keep NaNo 2022 as stress free and fun as possible.

Word Vomit and Writing Sprints 

My biggest problem when doing NaNo in past years is that I let my perfectionism get in the way of just writing! I never believe in editing as you write, but it’s especially bad when you’re writing for NaNo. December is for editing whatever mess you wrote; November is for actually getting it all down. Normally, I don’t do word writing sprints, but writing sprints during NaNo are the most helpful things on the planet. Challenging yourself to sit still and write as many words as possible for 5 minutes is so helpful in reaching your daily writing goal! I often call the product of those little writing sprints ‘word vomit.’ It’s messy, probably makes no sense, and will definitely end up getting deleted later, but it’s words and they’re on the page. That’s the most important part! I talk about this more later, but NaNo is not about writing pretty; it’s about writing fast. My favorite thing to do during NaNo is employ the trusty bracket method: if I have absolutely no clue what to write next I simply write a short description of what I want to happen in brackets and move on to the next thing that I know I can write. This is one of the times when quantity is far better than quality. You’ll have time to make it pretty later. For now, just do a writing sprint, and word vomit!

Winning Isn’t Everything!

It’s the only thing! Jk jk. I have a complicated relationship with the “winning” and “losing” aspect of NaNoWriMo. On one hand, it is kinda a competition, but on the other hand, saying you either win or lose something puts a whole lot of pressure and stress on it, especially for young writers. I used to get so upset when I ‘lost’ NaNo even though I had written thousands of words and completely exhausted myself in the process. Now, I tend to take a much more lax approach to it, and I think that comes from having been on both sides of it. 'Winning’ and ‘losing’ Nano has been pretty much equally beneficial to me as writer and as a person. It helps you grow and learn what works for you and what doesn’t work! Now, I’m not saying all this to say that I’m just going to relax and not even going to try to write 50,000 words in November. I definitely am going to try, but at the same time, writing something is better than writing nothing, so I count that as a win either way. If you are completely committed to doing whatever you can to reach your NaNo goal, though, make sure to be kind to yourself. We’re only human!

Playlist? Check! Tea? Check! Chocolate? Check!

Some people jump straight into NaNo without an outline and with only a vague idea of what they’re writing. Some people (me included) have a full detailed outline ready to go at 12AM. It doesn’t matter which side you’re on. But, I do recommend no matter what, take at least five minutes to decide where you're going to write! It doesn’t have to be the same place every time even though I do love me a good little routine. Maybe you carve out a little space in your room, or you have your favorite writing nook in your local library! Whatever works for you and your writing process! I also recommend having a little writer bag. I take mine with me to school every day. It has my headphones, my planning notebook, my laptop charger, a bottle of CrystalLite iced tea, and some Hershey Kisses: all the things that bring me joy and prepare me to get in my writing headspace. Having all those things nearby and easily accessible helps cut down on prep time and decreases procrastination or my worst enemy. 

NaNo Your Way!

This is probably my biggest tip. I didn’t start actually winning and enjoying myself until I realized that it really didn’t matter what anyone else was doing. It was me against me. My own self-doubt was my own worst enemy. That means that during NaNo do whatever you want! If you want to write 50,000 words of poetry instead of a novel, do that! That is still 50,000 words of writing, and that is a major accomplishment, and tbh, slightly more impressive. The beauty of NaNo is how every person does it differently, but we all come together to create something at the end of it! Don’t worry about finding the perfect word or filling all of those plot hole! Like I said earlier, all of that will come later! Take full advantage of the absolute messiness of NaNo! You don't have to write anything to please anybody but yourself. If you do happen to be writing something that you want to edit later and publish, then whatever you write in a first draft is for those future versions of you to edit and rewrite. Right now, it’s worthy just as it is, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  

[insomniac-dot-ink]

NaNoWriMo 2022

Hey all, as is tradition, I am doing National Novel Writing Month! I was think I’ll just post for every 10k. And guess what? First 10k, yay!

The novel is called Fool’s Errand and is about a court jester that is beheaded by her court, kept together by a green ribbon, and then has to go beg a Thread Witch to sew it back on properly for her. It’s a dark comedy fantasy romance, as you do.