Snow Melt

Wildcard Monday: I am NaNoWriMoing

It's Wildcard Monday! The November 4, 2013 prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  is
Are you competing in NaNoWriMo this month? Have you ever participated in the past? Tell us about your experience.
If you have not competed, do you ever want to? How do you combat writer's block?

Yes, I am NaNoWriMoing! I have participated in the past, I am participating in the present, and I intend to participate in the future. The title of my 2013 NaNoWriMo novel is "Midnight in Suburbia"  and my word counts as of Sunday, November 3, is 5,389.

How do I combat writer's block? Writer's block is just another obstacle to overcome. This year, I am doing the sprint exercises which helps because I don't have time to think or worry about writer's block. Another way is to view each day's writing as a chapter in the life of the novel. I take one chapter at a time and focus on the action in that chapter. This year, I'm writing the name of a character as part of the chapter title and then under the character name I write an action or theme for that chapter. Those are the titles of my chapters. For an example of this see "NaNoWriMo Day 3: Chapter 3 - Daniella's Sense of Humor"  and please excuse the misspelled words in this chapter because I have not yet completed a spell check on it.

Another way I combat writer's block is simply to start writing. When I begin my first sentence I know where my characters are located in the setting, but usually that is about it. I start writing and let the words flow. I guess you could say I get into the zone and once I am in the zone then I can write. This method works well for me during NaNoWriMo because that is when I am writing the rough draft of the novel and I don't have to worry about anything except getting the conversations and plot moving. When I begin rewriting the novel in December is when I will look closer at what I've written and pray most of it makes sense.

Thought of the Day: “A novel rough draft is like bread dough; you need to beat the crap out of it for it to rise.” - Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days