10 Lessons on Nano, from a Non-Winner

So, I didn't manage to 'win', which is the official parlance for reaching the designated 50,000 words that comprise the completion of the Nanowrimo challenge. My score comes in at a respectable (to me, anyway) but unfortunately not winning, 30,031. I'm actually quite proud of that, and intrigued that, weirdly, that works out as 1,001 words per day. Maybe that's my 42?

Anyway, I think, as a loser, I might be able to point out the good behaviours that might get you to the end. 

Here we go: 







Being a Writer is Perilous...

...if all these articles I've come across lately are to be believed:

Hypergraphia, Bipolar and Writer's Block:

Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin

Alcoholism in Writers, and the Accompanying Risks of Sobriety:

Intelligent Life

So, you know, hold onto your hats...

FYI, normal, slightly more elaborate, service will resume once Nanowrimo is finished on Wednesday.

Current weigh-in: God knows... 





Writer's Block is a Bitch

...here's how to manage it:

The 10 Types of Writers' Block (and How to Overcome Them)


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Whilst Searching for Wedding Poems with a Friend...

...I uttered a sentence not unlike 'I'm sure if people knew that poetry could be like this, they wouldn't walk around thinking poetry isn't for them.'

Here are some of the poems that brought me to that conclusion:







How to Create a Plot Twist

Another one aimed quite squarely at the Nano-ers: it's definitely this kind of point in the month for me, I don't know about anyone else. I found this online the other day:

10 Ways to Create a Plot Twist, by T. N. Tobias.

He's right to warn at the beginning of it that it might change the way you view stories forever. Really good advice though.

Weigh-in: 22,239... 





Nobody Tells This To Beginners...

A lot of people will know this already, but I really like it, so I thought I'd share.

 

I would also take from this the idea that you shouldn't worry if your Nanowrimo-ing is going appallingly, for whatever reason: just think of it as part of your necessary body of work :) Think how much nearer you're getting to your goal, given the logic above.

P.S. My sad, sad weigh-in: 15,188. I am now really, really behind!







For all those doing Nanowrimo

A bit cheesy perhaps, but it put me in mind of Nanowrimo, so here you are:

'You Wake Up In The Morning

You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the magic tissue of the universe of your life. No one can take it from you. No one receives either more or less than you receive. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt. You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you.'

Arnold Bennett

Now that's enough reading - go back to your WIP and write!