In his frank Last Minute NaNoWrMo Tips essay, author and writing teacher Larry Brooks (pictured) offered National Novel Writing Month participants some unorthodox advice: “Don’t finish. Make this the start of something.”
This is our second National Novel Writing Month Tip of the Day. As writers around the country join the writing marathon this month, we will share one piece of advice or writing tool to help you cope with this daunting project. Share your frustrations and progress in the comments section.
Here’s an excerpt from the essay: “Beginning NaNoWrMo without the ambition to create something of value, to simply experience the act of writing 50,000 unstructured words, is like getting married without the intention of making the relationship work. Certainly we begin our primary relationships without knowing everything. The discovery of the unknown can be part of the bliss, because you can apply that learning toward making the future even richer.”
Here are a few NaNoWriMo comments from GalleyCat readers yesterday…
Draven Ames: There are going to be plenty of bumps in the road. Everyone has to grow, learn, fall and get back up. Hell, I’m the Dwayne Wade of writing. Sometimes I feel like I want to be knocked down, just so I can learn something–to have new motivation to overcome.”
Ann Marie Cunningham: This is my third NaNoWriMo, and I’ve learned that more is more!
Joy Weese: “I’m participating in NaNoWriMo, third time. I stayed up until midnight last night to write my first sentence. 18 words down, 49,982 to go!”
The Black Sheep Dances: “It’s my first year for Nano … nervous, second-guessing myself, and already procrastinating online. A sign of the month to come?”
jkart92: “I’m a first timer with NaNoWriMo, even though my sister is trying to convince me that I’ve participated once in the past, but she’s delusional. I love her anyways. Besides that, I have 836 words already, and plenty more words to go. 50,000 words as the default count, but I might just write more than that.”