Note: If you are participating in or are considering participating in NaNoWriMo, than you may be interested in my previous articles on how to plan a novel and some reasons for participating in NaNoWriMo.
For those of you participating in NaNoWriMo, you likely found week one to be either an inspiring success fueled by excitement and deadly doses of caffeine or you found yourself struggling to develop a routine and to reach those 1,667 words. Either way, you probably felt pretty optimistic about your promising and fresh ideas.
Today, however, marks the first day of the infamous week two which is known to take every little sliver of confidence and optimism and put it through the metaphorical shredder. Your novel isn't so fresh anymore, and after having written almost 2,000 words every single day for a week, you're starting to get a bit tired of it. In fact, tired is an understatement given that most NaNoWriMo quitters end up quitting during this very week. Once you reach week three, you begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and your end goals begin to seem reachable.
But we're not quite there yet.
No, this is week two. We're too late in the month for things to seem fresh and joyous, but we're too early in the month to see how close we are to finishing. We're stuck in an awkward place where our novels are our worst enemies and the idea of writing a single word ever again is enough to make us nauseous.
However, week two isn't a futile struggle (just ask the hundreds of winners every year). In fact, unlike my past two articles on the subject of NaNoWriMo which contained three points, there's only one piece of advice I can give to help you survive the week. It's simple, but so long as you abide by it you'll be able to make your way through the week with minimal to no struggle.
My advice to you, faithful novelist is:
Remember why you're doing this.
No one forced you to do NaNoWriMo. You, like all others, have a very distinct reason for deciding to take on the task of writing a novel in one month, and you cannot allow yourself to forget why. Are you doing this to see how far you can push your limits? Push them all the way. Are you doing this to prove to your peers that you can do it? Show them you can. Are you doing this for the sweet satisfaction of winning? Don't let your effort be in vain. NaNoWriMo is meant to be a challenge, and if it wasn't a challenge from the start, here's when you can experience the thrill of one. After this week, you'll find yourself halfway through your NaNo journey, and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're only two weeks away from victory.
Now that my little pep talk is over and you're feeling inspired to write, let's discuss one of my favorite ways you can get that word count higher, just as a bonus tip.
Participate in Word Sprints
Word Sprints are quick writing challenges in which you write as many words in a certain amount of time as you can. These can be a personal challenge, a challenge between friends or even between the public. To do them personally or in a group, NaNoWriMo has a program designed to count down your time as you write, accessible here. As a bonus, you can generate a dare which is a neat prompt that will get your plot developing, and, even better, your word count soaring. If you'd like to do them with hundreds of others, there's a Twitter account specifically for public word sprints here. Remember, you're vowing to write an entire novel in a single month. Don't be focused on quality, focus on quantity. Save quality for your final draft.
