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.


Survival Tip #2: Make Something Bad Happen

You may be getting to the point in your novel now where you're past the exposition stages and really starting to get into the body of the story (you might not be, of course, but this post will focus on that stage). Now, as you're entering the body of the story, it's possible that you'll find yourself stalling out. The middle of a story can be treacherous, often because most people have a good idea of what happens at the beginning of the story and what happens at the end, but not always a clear idea of how to get from point A to B. Going back to the map analogy from Survival Tip #1 (but don't worry, we won't stay in that one for long), the middle can often feel like you're stuck in the middle of Kansas without a road map and with no clear ending in sight, just a lot of wheat fields.

If you feel like you're not entirely sure where you're going with the middle of your story, or else just don't know how to get there, try this: Take the current situation your characters are in, and think of the worst possible thing that can happen to them at this moment. Here's a few examples to illustrate what I mean.

Example 1:

Your main characters have to go to school (because it's a middle grade novel and school is important). However, school itself isn't necessarily that interesting, and just having them sit through a day of classes isn't going to move the story along very well, leading to the stalling out. So what's the worst that could happen?

-What everyone thinks is just an ordinary fire drill turns out to be an actual fire in the school?
-An enemy of one of the MCs corners them before lunch?
-A mysterious letter is slipped into the MC's backpack, threatening them if they don't hand over something strange?
-A friend of the MCs disappears from school?
-A friend of one of the MCs stops being their friend for no apparent reason?
-A monster destroys the school in the middle of Algebra?

Example 2:

Maybe you're a little further than the beginning of the middle--maybe you're towards the end of the middle, and bad things have already been happening to your character, but now you need one final push to get into the climax of the story. Take this example from the classic novel The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. (Caution: Spoilers!)

The main character has been recruited by the antagonist to try and find the mysterious hero of the story. While the MC doesn't necessarily want to do this for countless moral reasons, her brother is being threatened by the antagonist for her compliance. That's issue one. Issue two: the MC, desperate to save her brother, obtains a small clue as to the identity of the hero and passes it to the antagonist, and it soon becomes clear that the antagonist successfully uses it. Now the climax needs to be reached, with one final issue to push the MC to that point. So what's the worst that can happen?

-The MC's fool of a husband and last hope abandons her?
-The MC giving away the information means that innocents are now in great danger?
-It is revealed that the hero the MC betrayed is actually the husband she thought had abandoned her?
-A great big storm approaches so the MC is unable to sail to France to warn the hero of the danger she has put him in?
-All of the above???


This can be an excellent exercise if you need to quickly up the pace of your story and get yourself out of a rut. When in doubt, up the stakes. Come up with at least four or five different possibilities, and choose the one with the best potential for character growth and plot development. Put your characters in the worst position they could be in and then find a way to get them out of it, or else have it so that they don't get out of it, and instead have to work around the conflict that has arisen and change their plans accordingly. You may find as you do this that the original plan you had for your story changes a bit; this isn't a bad thing! Play with the possibilities, and if you find that it doesn't work the way you had hoped, it can always be changed after NaNoWriMo, in your editing stages. For now, just worry about getting the words down, and moving your story forward to the finish line!

Good luck everyone, and check back next week for Survival Tip #3!