No current word count because I haven't written yet for today so as of right now it is the same as yesterday.
Onto todays task. I really like this task and it was very helpful for me to here OneMoreSouthernBelle's advice on this.
The task: Give us your top 3 tips on what to do when the suck embraces.
My response:
Well when I was writing in June the suck embraced me A LOT and yet some how I managed to still make it to 50,000 words which still baffles me. But when thinking about this task I tried to think back to some of the things I did to keep on writing even though I really felt like my writing was terrible.
These tips are in no particular order.
1. Use some dares/prompts/adoptables that people post in the nanowrimo forums. I always enjoy looking through these and I take the ones I like or spark an idea and I put them in a document to use at later times when I need them or I may just use them right then in my novel. These have helped me out quite a bit in keeping with my word count. Some of them have even sparked an idea where I was able to write thousands and thousands of words ^^
Here's some examples (these are taken from the book "Ready, Set, Novel!" by Chris Baty, Lindsey, and Tavia):
- Write your opening scene from the point of view of your supporting character
- Write a scene of dialogue between your main character and a younger version of himself
- Flash forward twenty years into the future and write a scene that involves at least three of your characters
- Have characters share tales of their first kisses
- Lock a few of your characters in a broken elevator
- Add a scene in which your character loses something very valuable
2. I used an activity from the book "Ready, Set, Novel!" by Chris, Lindsey, and Tavia. It goes like this: "One of the strange things that thousands of National Novel Writing Month participants discover each year is that the richest book material often pops into your head while you're doing routine things like working out, showering, driving, washing dishes, or going for a walk. It's not clear why it works but for some reason having your body engaged in a simple activity gives you access to the fertile parts of your imagination. List the top three activities that help your mind wander, then do each of them while you ponder your novel" Then it says to come back to these every time you get "lost in novel-land"
This really helped me out a lot because the majority of the time that I come up with novel ideas is when I'm supposed to be doing something else. I usually come up with tons of ideas when I'm at work or am suppose to be paying attention in class.
3. In june my story was getting really boring..writing it was putting me to sleep that is how boring it was. My characters weren't going any where and I was just dragging the story out. Then I introduced another more interesting character and took the story in a different direction. So I guess if your characters are feeling a bit dull then introduce some new more exciting characters and see where they take you or how they will influence the characters that are already in your novel.
So I hope these tips can help you out and remember just keep writing! I know you can do it!
<3 Andrea
