Thinking of NaNoWriMo

Just for fun. My picture of “Nemo” from the Boston Aquarium.

I said in my last post that October was a busy month at my house, and that I was thinking of signing up for NaNoWriMo again. I’ve started twice.

The first time, I began a romantic suspense novel that was lots of fun to write—but I got about 23,000 words in and realized that, if I could make time to write for fun, I could write the book that matched my real passion, instead. The finished product didn’t have nearly the excitement or any exotic locations, but that’s when Writing Fiction: A Hands-On Guide for Teens was born. (My son carried on and finished his 50,000+ words on deadline. He was 13.) The next time we sat down to try NaNo, my mother-in-law became gravely ill, and creativity, and a lot of other things, went on hold for a long time as we coped with our loss.

So, it’s been a while since I thought about a 50,000-word November. And thinking about it has made me start looking for resources and NaNo tips that I can pass along, whether you’re thinking of a November marathon or just getting your writing on track.

1)      Here’s a link to Kristen Lamb’ Blog that I recommend you visit soon. For the past 5 Mondays, she’s been writing about structure, which in her words is “critical. Why? Because structure is for the reader. The farther an author deviates from structure, the less likely the story will connect to a reader.” Her weekly tips will keep your story on track and help you make that essential connection to your reader.

2)      Some writing starters might be handy. These are ones that I’ve created. There are some links to other writers with great writing tips and prompts in my blog roll, too.

3)      And to get you started a link to Lucienne Diver’s post on beginnings.

So have I made my decision about NaNo? Not yet. But the more I think about it … Well, I’ll keep you posted. What are your writing plans for November? Do you have a system that keeps you accountable for a daily word or page count? I’d love to know how you meet your writing goals.

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