NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #4

T-minus eight days until the end of this year's NaNoWriMo! For some people, we're getting into the hardest part of this month. Maybe your outline has run out, or your stuck as to where to go next, or you realize that there's eight days left and you're only at 30% of your word count goal (like me...).

I know that one of my personal issues right now is keeping up my own interest in my story. I think that sometimes we have those projects that we know are sort of passion projects; the ones we are absolutely determined to see the end, no matter what. I've had two of those in the past, but my NaNo novel for this year isn't one of them. Sure, I'd like to see it finished, but it isn't one that inspires me as much as my passion projects did. However, whatever happens after this month, I still want to reach my word count goal in the next eight days (hey, it's still possible) and that leads me to my fourth NaNoWriMo Survival Tip, for all of you who are in the same boat as me at this stage in the game.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #3

To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to write this post on when I started it. I have a feeling that now, exactly halfway through NaNoWriMo 2016, many of you are feeling the same way. The third week in, writer's block is rearing its ugly head and keeping you from putting those much needed words down on paper, just as I stared at the blinking curser for about thirty minutes before beginning this post.

I've had my fair experience with writer's block, and I know just how frustrating it can be, especially when you have a very specific goal, such as 20 to 50 thousand words in a month. As it is with my own NaNo novel, I'm only at 27% of my goal, while I should be at 50% (I blame the six minute speech I have to give in History class tomorrow...). However, while writer's block might seem like something impossible to push past, there are ways to get writing again.

So here is my third NaNoWriMo tip for you.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #2

We're now into the second week of National Novel Writing Month--congrats! You're over the first hill. At this point, you've probably gotten a decent amount written of your novel, even if you have had to rethink certain aspects or even change your idea entirely. (I'm currently at 15% of my total goal... not exactly where I want to be, but I have time to play catch up!)

As it is now the second week, here is your second survival tip.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #1

For most people, November brings thoughts of Thanksgiving and fall leaves, approaching midterms, the first snow (and for my fellow Coloradoans, even more schizophrenic weather than we had in October). But for writers, November means NaNoWriMo.

What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month, an exercise in brain dumping and word vomiting and silencing your inner editor for an entire 30 days with the intent of writing a rough draft of a novel in a month. (For more information and to participate, you can find the Young Writers Program here and the more challenging NaNoWriMo site here.)

I have participated in National Novel Writing Month for a few years now--my first time led to my now completed novel. So in an effort to help other young writers trying to get through NaNoWriMo, or who don't want the pressure of writing a novel in a month and simply want tips for getting through that rough draft, I will be posting a NaNoWriMo survival tip each week during this November.

Here is the first.

Halloween Story

In honor of Halloween yesterday, here is a short story by one of our members! Enjoy!

Only Stories in the End

by Tessa Lapointe

            I was eight years old when I first touched a tombstone. At that moment, I knew that I was… different. I was visiting my cousins in London for a week while my father conducted business in the city. After the long train ride, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a warm bed and fall asleep, but my cousins had other plans for the night. I remember how the air was deathly still and so cold that not even my fur coat could stop me from freezing, and the darkness of the night pressed around me. My eldest cousin, Elizabeth, had brought along a single candle to light the way, but I wished we had carried an entire candelabra, nay a whole army of candelabras, to chase away the night.