Ready to take your writing seriously? Getting ready for NaNoWriMo and need some writing and productivity tips? 

I had a demanding day job when I did NaNoWriMo in 2009, but I was committed to the writing, so I got up every weekday at 5 am before work to get my words in.

Those words became the kernel of Stone of Fire, my first novel, and that month of writing changed my life. Now I have 15 novels and if I can do it, you can too!

Here are some tips and useful books that might help along the way.

(1) Schedule your writing time

“You need a schedule to help you manage your time, to acquire discipline, and to meet deadlines. Once you become adept at your business, you will know how many hours something will take.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Time Management

When people ask for tips on getting their book written, my number one tip is to schedule time for writing as you would schedule any other appointment.

Do you put your gym class into a calendar? Children's party? Doctor's appointment? How about your day job – does that have a clear start and finish time?

You need to take your writing time as seriously as any other appointment, so get out your calendar right now and put in the hours you need to get the writing done this month.

(2) Organize your writing

“The program is so versatile, it can be customized to work almost any way the individual can think of … Sure, there are other novel organizing software programs out there, and most of them work pretty well, but none of them I've tried (and I've tried a lot of writing software) comes close to Scrivener in terms of robustness and versatility.” Michael J. Carlson, The Unofficial Scrivener Workbook

I wrote that first novel using MS Word and it was so difficult to keep track of the story. I've never written completely in order and it was hard to move everything around in one big file.

When I learned about Scrivener, I jumped straight in and have used it for every book since. I love being able to move things around, as well as keep my research in one place, color-code and label my chapters and add notes into the Inspector about conflict, cliffhangers and more.

(3) Structure your story so you can write faster

“The problem in pantsing is, unless you're really intuitive to the direction the story is going and needs to go, the story can wander all over … This can be a problem when you get to the middle or the end of the book and you find that the book is sagging in the middle or has no clear resolution or satisfaction in plot or character.” C. Michelle Jeffries, Story Structure and Master Chapter Outline Workbook

One of my lessons learned during that first NaNoWriMo was discovering that stories had a structure, and if you understood structure, you could plot a book and write it faster. Learning about ‘scenes' was revolutionary for me and when that clicked, I was able to structure and finish the story.

(4) Write compelling characters

“Readers of fiction want one thing – a powerful emotional experience. They want and expect to be someone else temporarily. They want to feel something for the characters in whom they are investing their time and attention.” Michael J. Carlson, Hurting your Characters

Readers remember the characters they love.

They might not remember the details of plot or setting, but if a character resonates, a reader will devour everything they are in. This is why so many authors write long-running series, and why TV has some shows that go on for many years.

There are many ways to make your characters compelling – from using bonds of love with family, friends or animals, to sending them on an impossible journey, through to giving them a fatal flaw in personality, or even a physical wound. You need to dig deep into yourself and your own experience to bring your characters alive – or you can learn from other writers and do research. That's the fun part for me!

 (5) Look after your physical and mental health while you're writing

“Think about running. You don't start off running 5K the first time you get off your couch … Writing is the same way. You must train for it.” Leah Cutter, The Healthy Professional Writer

Writing is surprisingly tiring – both physically and mentally. Even if you're used to working in front of a computer for hours, pulling ideas from your brain and making decisions for your characters can be challenging.

Timed writing sprints are a great way to get your words done. Schedule your time slot as above, then set a timer for 15-20 minutes. Write for that time, and then take a physical break.

That means you need to get up, go for a walk, stretch, do some squats or press-ups or whatever floats your boat. But look away from the computer and move your body.

Yes, you can write your book while in pain … but you don't have to.

(6) Consider co-writing and collaboration

“It can be an amazing learning experience to understand the inner workings of another writer and find techniques that will benefit your own work.” Kevin J. Anderson, Writing as a Team Sport

I used to be super-protective of my writing, afraid to let anyone else see my first drafts. I thought that co-writing would somehow dilute my creative process and after all, as an introvert with my own business, I don't play well with others!

But then in 2015, I co-wrote Risen Gods with J. Thorn, and we did Sacrifice together with two other authors in early 2017, plus I have 3 other co-written books under my (secret) sweet romance pen-name, plus The Healthy Writer coming out for Jan 2018, co-written with a medical doctor. I am definitely hooked on co-writing and it will be an increasing part of my business over time.

(7) Value what you write

“When you start thinking of your writing as a business and a retail store, it really is amazing how clear some basics about writing become.” Dean Wesley Smith, The Magic Bakery

You might feel that what you write during NaNoWriMo (or any other time) is a pile of crap.

Don't worry, this is normal and almost all creatives suffer from self-doubt and imposter syndrome. (See The Successful Author Mindset for more on this topic.)

I'm plagued by it as much as any other writer and from all accounts, it doesn't stop even when you're super successful.

But if you can work through those mindset issues, produce a quality product, value your work, and repeat the process, then you can make a living with your writing – if you want to.

Please do leave any questions you might have about writing, productivity or NaNoWriMo in the comments below. Happy writing!

Back in 2009, I used NaNoWriMo to create the first 20,000 words of what eventually became STONE OF FIRE.

But the words I wrote that month were only the start of the journey. They were first draft words that needed a lot more work to turn into book form. (You can check out the entire journey here.)

In today's article, Tania Strauss at NY Book Editors gives some tips for the first steps after NaNoWriMo. 

If you participated in NaNoWriMo, then first of all, congratulations! You followed through on a major project and are now sitting on a big pile of original pages, with which you can do… something.

So what are the next steps? Well, that kind of depends on what, exactly, that big pile of pages adds up to.

The truth is that unless you’re so practiced in novel writing that the form is programmed into your subconscious, or unless you planned out your project heavily in advance, anything you bang out in a month is likely to be semi-formed — ideas and seeds that could become a novel, but that aren’t quite working on that level.

Sometimes what we think of as a “first draft” of a novel isn’t, in fact, working like a novel yet.

But that’s ok!

Anything that interests you sufficiently to devote a month of time, and tens of thousands of words, likely has a novel hidden in it somewhere.

If you’re trying to figure out what the fruits of your NaNoWriMo labor have yielded and where to go from here, below are some questions to ask yourself:

Is your manuscript about something?

Does it focus on a character, a problem that needs to be solved / goal that needs to be reached, or a governing thematic idea?

Ideally, your manuscript will have the following elements: at least one primary protagonist and several supporting characters; emotional or psychological issues that each central character needs to work through; an external problem that need to be resolved via plotting; and some sort of broader thematic content tying these elements together. If you’ve written a series of scenes or musings that aren’t bound together by a set of central concerns, then what you have likely won’t quite qualify as a novel just yet.

Do your manuscript’s “central concerns” start out in one place and end in another?

In other words, do circumstances change as a result of the events of your narrative, and do your characters also change as a result of the things they experience?

Even if these shifts are very subtle, one of the key elements that defines a story is that it charts a “journey” or has an “arc” – we start in one place (the beginning), and then a bunch of things happen (the middle) that take us to another place (the end).

So with that in mind, do the things that occur in your manuscript serve the purpose of pushing your subject matter from its origin to its conclusion? 

Not every single scene or narrative passage needs to be doing so directly – especially in a first draft. But again, part of what makes a novel a novel is that it’s about.

If your content is wandering all over the place and bouncing from one topic to another, rather than consistently pushing your characters and their circumstances from a beginning to an end point, what you have is probably not functioning like a novel.

Is your manuscript long enough to be a novel (let’s say, at least 150 pages)?

If it’s shorter than this it’s probably more along the lines of a short story or a novella, and there’s a good chance it’s that short because you haven’t yet developed enough material to give it the facets and substance of a novel.

Did you answer “yes” to all of the questions above? If so, great! But if the answer to those questions was “no,” or if you’re just not sure, chances are you have a lot of interesting stuff on the page, but it’s not organized or developed into something that would truly qualify as a novel.

So how do you identify the most promising parts of that “interesting stuff” and turn them into a complex, focused work of fiction?

Look at what you’ve written and figure out what is most striking and compelling to you. How can you expand those key elements and ideas into something a bit more, well, novelistic? If you’re not sure how to approach such a comprehensive self-edit, here are some tips to help you take that draft in a new direction:

1)   Is there a particular character or central relationship that you find more compelling than the others?

If so, think very hard about what makes that character interesting to you. In particular, think about what they may want or need that they don’t currently have. This can be something external, like money or romance, or something more psychological, such as the desire to live a more fulfilling life, or move on from a traumatic past.

Then think about how to build a plot that will move your protagonist, step by step, towards that goal. Remember, one of the key elements of a story is that the people and circumstances in that story must change.

2)   Is there an event in your draft that could have implications much more far-reaching than you initially realized?

It’s not remotely unusual for authors to go back over their early brainstorming efforts and realize that the heart of the story they’re trying to tell is buried in a detail they initially didn’t give much thought.

In your haste to get those November pages written, you may have glossed over a plot point that could have fascinating and complex repercussions. Maybe a character got into a car accident, or lost a sibling, or got a promotion. All these events could be meaty enough to serve as an instigating event or focal point for a novel-length story.

3)   Is there a central preoccupation that keeps poking out from the situations you’ve thought up?

Maybe you’ve filled your first draft with scenes of confrontation between a mother and daughter, or with scenarios that illustrate class tensions.

If you find that to be true, there’s probably something you want to say about those issues (mother/daughter relationships, social inequality, etc.) percolating in the back of your mind. So maybe you should consider what, exactly, about those issues interests you and how you could build a story – complete with three-dimensional characters and a focused narrative – that explores this central “theme” you’re interested in.

Once you’ve identified which parts of your NaNoWriMo project actually have the potential to turn into a complex, long-form story (aka, a novel), you can get to work writing that story with a sense of purpose and direction.

I’d love to hear where your manuscript stands. Do you think your NaNoWriMo project is a working first draft of a novel? Or did it spark an idea that will become a fantastic story? Let us know in the comments.

Tania Strauss writes for NY Book Editors, a premiere affiliation of editors with extensive experience from New York’s major publishing houses.

We help authors attract agents or self-publish using the high standards of the traditional industry. We believe that every author has a unique story that can inform, inspire, and entertain readers. It just takes the right team to help you get there.