NanoWriMo Late Starters
- raverinretreat
- Nov 3, 2014
- 2 min read
So, you took the plunge and signed up for your first nano. Problem is you didn’t get a chance to write in the day because you stupidly thought you could go out for your usual Friday night pint(s) at the pub and then had a hangover. Then there was that pesky distraction called work in the day time and — darn it! — Mum organised a surprise 60th birthday party for Aunt Hilda on Saturday night. Sunday started with the best of intentions, but you just had to prioritise your studies first, not helped by the cat puking up all over some very important, had to be cleaned thoroughly, paperwork. By the late afternoon you are sweaty palmed with a sick feeling in your stomach as you realise that not only do you have that day’s 1667 words to write, but yesterday’s to catch up on as well. Bile rises in your throat and your brain begins to talk you out of the whole idea: it was stupid in the first place.
Don’t panic! All is not lost. Even if you are several days down the line. The key is to start writing. NOW. Just ten minutes, or two hundred words. Go on. I’ll wait. We can talk in a minute. Sit yourself down and tap away. If you’re not sure where to start, just go with whichever scene is pushing through your consciousness the strongest. It doesn’t matter if it is the major plot twist, the climax, or the beginning. What matters is exploiting your enthusiasm, those scenes that kept rattling around in your head and made you sign up to Nanowrimo in the first place. Get those out first.
Try writing in snips — ten minutes while waiting for dinner to cook, while eating breaky, while waiting for the bus — on the bus too! Anywhere you can to bump up that word count.
Rather than sitting mulling over what you should write next and falling behind even further, try writing any old rubbish that comes into your head, until the story begins to flow again. Even if it means talking to yourself on the page. It doesn’t matter. There is such a thing as a delete button in December.
The other thing to know about Nano is that even if you started on the 1st November, everyone has days where they can barely slug out 200 words. But they also have days where 3k is a piece of piss. So don’t give yourself too hard a time about lagging or being a late starter. Also, the last week of November is like no other week in the course of Nano: suddenly there’s no stopping you. That goal is in striking distance and those fingers begin typing at hyperbolic speeds. And if you finished at 45k — what? You think you’re a loser because you didn’t make the finish line? Or have you just managed to produce something you didn’t have three weeks beforehand?
Stay focused and just go for it!
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