Who Crossed the Finish Line?

Well, those of us who partook in NaNoWriMo this year must know: did you cross the finish line?

I didn’t. I am bringing up the rear, however (if only I could do that literally), with an added 11,000 words on my novel in progress, plus a couple thousand other words on shorter projects that I took deliberate liberties — deliberties? — to write when I felt like I’d never catch up anyway.

Second Gear

I spent yesterday with a dear friend who is also an excellent writer. We did timed writings on random topics, to get our writing muscles fired up and, afterwards, a series of twenty-minute sprints on our respective writing projects. We took one snippet of plot and wrote on that, then switched to the next snippet for the next twenty and wrote on that. Even though I felt sluggish from having a pain injection procedure and sedation the day before, I managed to hammer out another 2,000 words for NaNoWriMo.

Beat the Clock on Writer’s Block

Stuck behind writer’s block? Wanna get unstuck in a hurry? I finally hit on the quick and easy way to combat writer’s block while making big gains in NaNoWriMo. This may not work for everybody, but I’ll bet most of you will find it beneficial, even if you’re not partaking in NaNoWriMo. It’s working great for me.

Why NaNoWriMo?

My buddy Ken over at Fifthwind, a Writer’s Journey, doesn’t get NaNoWriMo. That’s okay, cuz he’s not required to get it. But I think the conversation over there (or in Ken’s words, bashing) about National Novel Writing Month is pretty interesting. NaNoWriMo is kind of like patchouli oil; you either love it or think it stinks.

Nano Progress, Day 2

Man! I am so glad I signed up for NaNoWriMo. You would not believe the amount of housework I’ve gotten done.

Let this be a lesson to you. If you really need to get some things done around the house, yard, or garage, commit yourself to a writing contest, because the first avoidance tactic is to do anything — and I mean anything — other than what you’re supposed to be doing, including something you pay someone else to do so you don’t have to.