Writers often think of writing as a romantic, dreamy task that’s less task and more pleasurable pastime. Think: café, lattes, notebook next to laptop, the chatter of others drinking their lattes . . . you know what I mean.
And then reality sets in. The café is a bit too crowded and the table by the window is populated with four loud teens. Your latte’s grown cold and you want more, but your lunchtime break is now over.
And if you don’t think of writing as a dreamy task, but an awful plague you have to survive every time you do it, planning may help you turn your negative feelings to at least neutral.
Either way, your computer screen remains blank and mocks you. All you can think about is the last book chapter (blog post, essay, fill in the blank ____________) you wrote—it was so well written and so easy to write.
Today? Nothing comes to mind. Not a good topic, or a theme to riff on, or anything. The well is dry and you are frustrated.
Today is the eve of NaNoWriMo—the National Novel Writing Month event that has writers the world over tapping on their keyboard so they can end November with 50,000 words written.
It’s a challenge and often leads to 50,000 words of notes, not plot, but beyond that, it invites writers to write on a daily basis. Good or badly written prose, you get something written. And don’t forget that good writing is the result of great editing. And editing happens after writing.
My dear friend and client is participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Her goal? Five hundred words a day on her memoir. If she maintains that pace, by November 30th she will have written 15,000 words instead of 50,000, but here’s the kicker—SHE WILL HAVE 15,000 MORE WORDS WRITTEN THAN SHE WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE.
This is what I tell my clients—writing 500 words a day, or at least three to five days per week, is what moves the writing dial from zero words to thousands of them. It’s what gets manuscripts started, moved further along, and completed.
Don’t look at 50k as the goal. Just 500 words several days per week. If you write 500 words 6 times per week, at the end of November, you will have 12,000+ words. Not a book length amount, but a darn good start.
This is one way to get a writing plan and is as simple as it gets. Five hundred words. Concentrate on 500 words. If you write more per writing session, bravo! If not, there’s next time. Just keep going.
What is your writing plan for November? Hit Reply and let me know.
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Needing more than a 500-word goal several days a week? A plot figured out for your novel or memoir? An outline for your nonfiction book? I’m scheduling 90-minute Spotlights on Writing where you can get my one to one attention at an affordable price. Getting input could mean the difference between not writing, and meeting your writing goals. Send me an email here and we’ll get you on a path to writing success.