Guest Blogger: The Red Wolf

For this week's post, The Red Wolf from over at RedWolfsRoom is here to share some very valuable tips for when you're facing writer's block:


Solutions for Writer's Block

A lot of people are participating in NaNoWriMo which has a deadline.  Deadlines can make people stressed and consequently, become blocked in their writing.  Here are some solutions that have helped me:

Golden Rule: Don't Panic. Whether you're writing for NaNoWriMo or some other project with a deadline, do not allow the deadline to overwhelm you.  Focus on the project and get something down on paper or virtual paper.  Don't worry about what you write; you can always go back over it and edit.  

Change Your Environment. We can become restless in our usual writing spot even if we're not being interrupted.  Try to find another comfortable spot (another room in your house/apartment, library, park, forest, coffee shop, etc.) and make sure you bring everything you need.  I recommend bringing a pencil case with all your stuff (sharpener, pencils, erasers and pens) and lots of paper, preferably attached in a notebook or contained in a pocket folder.  If you're not going to write the old-fashioned way, then with your laptop/iPad, bring a cooling pad, a set of earphones and a USB key so you can save your work on a back-up device (WiFi isn't always reliable for internet connection).  Make sure you have plenty of water, snacks, and tissues if you'll be in your new spot for a long time.  

Pull a Hemingway. In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway writes in a café.  He becomes so absorbed in his writing that he is no longer aware of time and when he comes out of his writing, he feels empty.  Hemingway orders food and loses the emptiness.  I did this type of thing for several summers.  For lack of a café, I sat in a mall's food court and wrote all day, from early morning to early evening.  I would write until I had gotten all my ideas out of my head (because if I didn't, they would take up space) and then when I was "empty", I would eat, stretch my legs or read some books I had brought along.  I would then find myself "full" with ideas so I'd turn back to writing.    

Refer to Notes, Do Research or Edit.  If you can't figure out what to write next, then refer to your notes to jog your memory as to what direction you wanted your scene to take. If not, then focus on other parts of the story and do research so as to not lose time on the blocked scene.  In that same respect, edit what you have already written. This will clean up your story and make it clearer in your mind, potentially getting you past your block. 

Tip: Writing things out does not always give you a clear idea: Get a white board, a chalk board, or a poster board (whatever you're comfortable with) and make a timeline if you're struggling with chronology; sketch your character(s) if they're blurry in your mind or if they lack depth; make lists or tables so relevant information is grouped together.  All of these things should be kept in your book bible for future reference.

These are all excellent tips to have on hand as we move into the final stretch of NaNoWriMo.

Good luck to everybody also in their final few days of the challenge!
Word count: 31,027/35,700

First Post!

I'm going to start this blog by offering an explanation for why it exists. I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year as it's something I've always wanted to do but could never muster up the courage to do. However, I've finally come to terms with the fact that there's no better time than the present to try something new, so now it's happening.

NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month, is a challenge many different writers participate in where the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel within a single month. If one does the math, that's approximately 1,700 words every day. This might not seem too difficult on the surface, but a little over a week's already past, and I already find myself behind. This is also my first time having a blog. There will be at least 1-2 posts a week documenting my progress, any new hurdles that arise during my time writing this month.

So far, this challenge has had me thinking about two different things: diligence, and editing.

Diligence:
I say diligence because this challenge demands a writer's time, no matter how frustrated the writer becomes. If you give up one day, you still need to sit back down the next day. In my case, you find yourself going to bed later and later. And still, it doesn't seem to be enough, as I'm already so behind.

Editing:
This one comes up as more of a problem, specifically as a personal problem of mine. Given that the challenge demands words out of you, but not necessarily quality writing, it's easy for me to get stuck on the parts I know are badly written. So I'll go back, nitpicking and changing everything up when I know I should be churning out another 1,700 words. Realizing that there's always time to edit later, that the most important part of a first draft is just getting the ideas onto the paper, is actually such an important lesson, which is something I've only just started to learn.

By the time this post goes up, I should have already completed 13,600 words with another 1,700 on the way. Naturally, this isn't the case. I've only managed to do 8,217 words, most of which was written in two big chunks rather than cumulatively every day. It's really nerve-wracking to have this kind of expectation on how much I'm supposed to write every day because it's almost impossible to do. I've realized by schedule makes it basically impossible on some days, for example the days where I'm out from 9 am to 9 pm and the only way I'll get much writing done is to sacrifice sleep. At the same time, that also makes it more engaging.

In spite of my struggle with both of these elements, I'm committed to this challenge, even if I don't succeed. At the very least, it's definitely a good lesson in writing-to-deadline.