This post by Dee White originally appeared on her Dee Scribewriting Blog on 11/8/11.
Last year when I did NaNo, I got off to a flying start and had around 20,000 words written in the first week.
I was driven by the pressure of getting those words down. My mind was full of the writer’s greatest question, What if? But in this case, my “What ifs” had nothing to do with the story I was writing. I worried, What if I got sick and didn’t feel like writing for a week? What if my hands got too sore from typing and I couldn’t type anymore? What if I ran out of ideas? What if something happened to my computer?
So I felt like I needed to get it all done upfront just in case. It meant long hours, not much sleep, less family time and too much stress.
This year I decided to pace myself – to take the risk that something might come up, that I might have a bad week, that for some reason I might spend a couple of days writing nothing,
And I have to say it’s all working better for me. The ideas are flowing easier because the brain isn’t under so much stress, the body feels better because I’m not using caffeine to keep it upright. And although I’ve written way fewer words than last year I feel calmer and more positive that I will reach my goal of 50,000 words.
10 TIPS FOR NANOWRIMO
So what are my 10 tips for NaNo so far?
1. Set yourself realistic goals. Don’t go for ‘pie in the sky’. If there’s no way you can write 2000 words in a day then don’t expect it of yourself.
Read the full post on the Dee Scribewriting Blog.