NaNoWriMo Update – Week 3 Already!

If you’re anything like me, you will have spent the last two weeks happily slapping down words like wet mortar to hold up the bricks of your story. Ironic, really, that this is the point at which you may feel you have hit “the wall”. It happens to all of us at some point. The story you were so passionate about stalls and sputters as it runs out of steam. The characters you fell in love with stop talking and refuse to help. The plot feels stilted and contrived. You’d rather declog the gutters or repave the driveway than do any writing. You consider just giving up. Well, you’ve got two realistic options.

Give Up

You could quit. Seriously, no one will think any the worse of you. Those around you will probably feel relieved that you’ve finally regained your senses and decided to give up on the idea of writing a novel in a month. The other writers you know will understand, and they may even feel envious that you’ve had the gumption to walk away, especially if they feel chained to their WIP. There’s no shame in quitting.

Or Keep Going?

I see. So “quit” isn’t in your dictionary? That’s alright too. If you don’t want to quit but you’re not sure what to do next, there are still things you can do. You can always check last week’s tips to see if they’ll help you demolish that wall and sail to victory. If they’re not helping then try these instead:

Double-Check That Outline

If you wrote an outline, take a long, hard look at it. Is it incredibly rigid, or have you left some wiggle room? A rigid outline should allow you to continue, even with hesitation, because you know what is intended to come next. If you haven’t got an outline, then sit and look at what you have written so far. If you’ve literally been writing as you go, then try and think about the plot strands you have already. Where would they take you if you followed them to their logical conclusion? If you have no outline, but you do have a rough idea how it will all end, then brainstorm around what you have now and see if something appears that can bridge the gap between “now” and “the end”.

Prompt Yourself

Don’t ignore story prompts just because you’re in the middle of a novel. There are plenty of sites and writers who offer weekly story prompts, and while you’re not using them to actually write a new story, browse them anyway. They might spark off some inspiration – you might end up writing your novel’s next episode based on a prompt. You can even try doing a random search on Flickr and see what the photos inspire in you.

Connection

Last of all, don’t cut yourself off from other people. Connect with other writers on Twitter, or the NaNoWriMo forums, or hook up with some in real life for one of the NaNo write-a-longs. There’s nothing like discussion with other writers to see new ways to develop a plotline, or ways to strengthen a character to give them their own subplot. If nothing else, the encouragement and support you can get from other writers, particularly those who are also battling their own NaNos, can really spur you along to get those words down.

Give them a go and report to me in week 4!