It’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and I’m working on a new book in a new series which is all very exciting!
This month, thousands of people will write 50,000 words, but these will not be fully formed books, for this is an outpouring of first draft creative material and that is a hugely important distinction.
First draft material is allowed to be crap, and often is and it’s meant to be so.
So don’t worry! A perfect sentence does not appear fully formed on the page, and it is not followed by another one, and another, to create a perfect story in one go. That’s not how writing works – but it is the myth of writing which we must dispel.
“Writing is rewriting,” as the great Michael Crichton said. Remember that, and then go write 50,000 words of first draft material that you can shape into something marvelous later.
So how do you get your first draft material from your head onto the page? Here are some of my tips.
(1) Set a word count goal
This is why NaNoWriMo works so well for people, as you have to write around 1700 words per day in order to ‘win’. Many pro-authors, like Stephen King, have a goal of 2000 per day, even birthdays and Christmas.
If you don’t have some kind of goal, you won’t achieve anything. I really believe that. It also breaks the work down into manageable chunks.
For a full length novel, say 80,000 words @2000 words per day = 40 days of consistent writing
For a novella, say 30,000 words @2000 words per day = 15 days of consistent writing
Of course, you have the editing process after that, but you can’t edit a blank page. So set your word count goal, and get writing.
[Personally, I always use word count goals in the first draft writing phase, but I don't do that many fiction words every day of the year.]
(2) Write Or Die
This awesome software at WriteOrDie.com is a way to burst through the internal editor that snipes at you as you write a load of crap in your first draft phase.
The software allows you to set a goal in time or word count. I started with 20 minutes, and then you have to keep typing or it will play some psycho violin music, or the screen will start turning red, or in kamikaze mode, your words start disappearing. At the end of the session when you reach your goal, trumpets sound and you can save the text.
I highly recommend this if you are struggling. This is how I wrote 20,000 words in my first NaNoWriMo and created the core of Pentecost. Maybe 2000 words survived the culling/editing but you have to write a lot of crap to shape it into something good (at least when you’re starting out anyway!)
(3) Scrivener
Scrivener Project Targets
I wax lyrical about Scrivener all the time, but it has some cool productivity tools. You can set Project Targets, so 50,000 words for example, and you can also set Session Targets, so mine is set at 2000 words. Every time you sit down to write, you can have those targets floating by your work and the progress bar moves so you can see how its going. Very motivating.
I also like to put as many scenes in as possible before I start writing, so I have somewhere to start each day. So right now, I have 11 one-line scene descriptions that I can fill in as I go along. I will change them, add to them etc but it means that whenever I sit down for a writing session, I can start filling in the blanks if I don’t know what else to do.
There’s also a Compose mode so you can fill the whole screen with a blank piece of paper. Keeps you focused 
(4) Set a timer for focus sessions, and use Freedom or other software to turn the internet off
As part of my daily productivity tools, I set my (iphone) timer for 90 minutes and then I write, or edit, or work on a specific project for that long. But you can start with 10 mins or 15 or whatever you can manage.
The important thing is not to get distracted in that time, and DO NOT check the internet or twitter or your email or make a cup of tea or anything. You can use software like Freedom to stop you accessing the ‘net if you really can’t resist without help.
(5) Get up really early and work while your brain is still half asleep
When I wrote my first novel, Pentecost, while working full time, I used to get up at 5am and write for an hour before work.
Johnny B. Truant recently did this to write 2 novellas in 2 months (although he started at 4am some days – ouch.)
I think the early morning helps because your brain isn’t polluted by everything that has happened in the day, and your internal editor is still asleep. However, this totally depends on whether you’re a night-owl and your family situation etc etc … so find your own groove, but the point is, you need to schedule some time that you don’t have normally to get stuff done.
[Here's another productivity tip. I got rid of the TV nearly 5 years ago, about the time that I started writing, blogging and changing my life - there's some correlation there!]
Trust the process of emergence
I heard this in an interview with Brene Brown on Jonathan Fields’ Goodlife Project, and it is totally true.
Even if you plot your books, sometimes you won’t know what is coming until the words appear on the page. Something happens when you commit to the page, to the word count goal and you write through the frustration and the annoyance and the self-criticism.
Creativity emerges. Ideas emerge. Original thought emerges.
Something happens – but only if you trust emergence.
You can see the process work itself through by checking out the journey of my first novel. It starts in NaNoWriMo 2009 with my first draft material and ends with 40,000 books sold nearly 2 years later. The core idea completely changed but I hope it will encourage you to see that first drafts are just the beginning.
If you don’t force yourself to get the first draft material down, you will never have anything to work with. So fight resistance and get it done.
How do you get your first draft material written? Please leave a comment below.
Image top: Bigstock Shakespeare, Flickr CC Sunrise by Pilottage
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Hi Joanna
I cannot understand where my thoughts for writing has gone. For the first half of this year after many years of writing nothing I had some fantastic ideas and dreams for stories but in the last few months my thoughts and ideas seem to have disappeared. I am trying to finish a book that I started writing last year and seem to have lost all hope. I work part-time and see my granddaughter three times a week. My partner works away two weeks at a time and I should have thought I would be able to get down to even scribbling notes for future but alas nothing. I have a story in my head and notes in my book for young teenagers but seem to be blocked from even doodling. I have read your piece on getting it down on paper but some how I feel not complete, hard to explain sorry. Please can you or any others help me to get a wriggle on and get going I used to love writing with a passion but the passion seems to have disappeared somewhat. Thanks for listening to an old bat dribbling on.. By the way just joined this site and very interesting it is…. I’m not a celebrity so no one can get me out of here.
I like the idea of setting a timer and working for that set time without distractions. I use that method for many things in addition to writing — it works for any task you want to get done, when you’re having a hard time getting started.
@Allison: I have run into similar troubles and it has frustrated me greatly. The only thing I can so far trace it to is that I’ve not been able to decide on what project to work on next. I have so many and what seems like so little time that I do nothing instead.
I have narrowed it down and next I need to set some realistic goals and just get started. I hope this helps. Good luck.
Thanks Brian. The problem with me like trying to get to the gym I never seem to have a lot of time. I work part-time at my local library where I seem to get roped into doing arts and crafts for all kinds of things. You would think that I could come up with some ideas from this but to no avail. I have tried walking, singing driving for miles in the car through beautiful country roads but nothing. Do you think now that I am a granny, first time), I may have lost that youngster kind of spark??? I also think since moving back to the UK from a hot destination I have lost my writing mojo, oh woe is me.
Anyway, will sit here in my local cafe and try to listen to some gossip and see what happens. Would love to know what you like to read and write about. What is your genre?
Have a good day now
All the best.
There is an interesting TED talk I just watched on the Paradox of Choice. http://goo.gl/B0or
In a nutshell, when we have so many choices, we often choose nothing or are unhappy with the choices we do end up making. I think that is currently a big part of my problem.
I’m across the board in my reading and writing interests and genres. Again, too many choices
Joanna–I just recently discovered this blog, and I’m thrilled with it. You have some great info here.
Allison–(If you’re reading this…) You said you used to be in a hot climate, and now you’ve lost your writing mojo… Boy, I can relate. I moved from a sunny (not necessarily hot) climate to a gray and overcast one about 10 years ago, and I’m STILL trying to get my mojo back. I think the gray skies really affect me. I recently got a light box (I call it my happy light) and try to sit in front of it every morning for at least 30 minutes. It’s really helping. You might give it a shot. Good luck!
Just came across this link, even though I am an avid fan of yours—thank you. My first book, Hiding in a Cave of Trunks, is doing phenomenally well. Because of calls for a sequel I started writing again, without too much initial enthusiasm. I discovered a site, 750 Words, (reminiscent of The Artist’s Way) and started using it in conjunction with Dragon Dictation. What a win! After chuckling over the funny mistakes I discovered it improved when sentences were short and playback was done more frequently. It was also easier to repair mistakes in real time. I had 782+ words done in just 27 minutes, for three straight days! Top of the charts, without any real effort. I will try other word counting sites, and will shortly purchase Scrivener—all the good reports are hard to ignore.
Keep up the good work and wonderful tips. Best wishes.
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