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This week: NaNoWri(Lessons)Mo Edited by: NickiD89  
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Belonging to a community like WDC means we get to showcase our stories and poems, exchange writing techniques and grammar tips, and encourage each other to improve in our crafts. This is also a place to share our struggles, so no one feels alone when their path takes a dip south or a blind curve looms up ahead. It's in that supportive spirit that I write this newsletter.
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NaNoWri(Lessons)Mo
NaNoWriMo has come to a close for another year. Though I don't have a badge to display, saying I "won" by reaching the contest benchmark of 50,000 words in the month of November, I DO have a 25,000-word start to a brand-new novel that I'm very excited about. What's more important, I learned a lot about penning a first draft by taking part during the NaNo insanity.
NaNo is good for a writer like me. Typically, I brood over and revise each sentence before moving on to the next. My over-enthusiastic inner editor would argue that that approach is fine. And I tend to agree, when we're talking about writing short fiction. But when staring down the dark tunnel of novel writing, when only a pinprick of light is visible at its end, I'm the first to recognize that my painstaking approach to writing won't work. NaNo promotes writing fast drafts that force your focus forward. To win NaNo, you have to embrace the absolute separation between writing and revising.
There are a couple strategies I learned during NaNo to help a writer silence her inner editor and just write -- fast and furious -- with the intention of getting the first draft, in all its messy and creative glory, down on paper. And these ideas are not necessary for barfing out a first draft in one month. I will use these strategies throughout the year, no matter how long it takes me to write a draft.
 Get outside your regular writing routine. If you write at a desk, try sitting on the floor. If you have a laptop, go outdoors to a park or a coffee house - someplace where you've never written before. I usually need quiet to write, but I tried playing Christmas music softly in the background one day. It made me feel instantly happy and relaxed, and I eked out an extra 700 words during that writing session.
 Have your writing totem with you for every writing session. A writing toten is an object which inspires you or imbues you with inspired energy. It can be a figurine, a stuffed animal, a hat you wear, a picture or photo - anything! My writing totem is a small, solid brass figurine that looks a lot like Pumba from The Lion King. I bought him at a copper and brass artisan shop in France about ten years ago. It just looks happy and reminds me of good times. "Pumba" is small enough to sit on my laptop keyboard near where the top and bottom hinges together. When I feel stumped and want to stop writing, I look at him and remember my goals for the writing session. And his jolly belly and goofy stance remind me to have fun while I'm at it!
 Challenge yourself to writing sprints. A writing sprint is a set short amount of time during which you refuse to let your fingers stop tapping those keys or your pen to lift from the paper. My favorite sprints are fifteen minutes long. (I find these are great practice for Leger~  's "15 for 15 Contest --- Closed"  ) I am also a big fan of 1K-in-1Hr sprints (1000 words in an hour).
 Find friends with which to stage write-ins. I did my first write-in a week and a half ago, and it was fabulous! Summerlee  lives a half hour from my house, and we get together every few weeks to hang out and talk writing-and-blogging shop. Since we were both doing NaNo this year, we decided to meet in a funky local coffee house for a five-hour write-in. We'd wish each other luck and hit the keys, for a while. At some point, one of us would need another cup of coffee or a bathroom break, and we'd stop for ten or fifteen minutes. We tweeted from our couches and updated our Facebook statuses, and laughed a lot. And I wrote 5000 words that day. 5000!
My inner editor feels like she's back from the spa, relaxed and muscle-knot-free. I may not have won NaNoWriMo, but the benefits I reaped from playing along this November made every minute of the crazy chaos worth it. I'll use these and other strategies while I finish my WiP, and for future drafts too.
Thanks for reading!
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Question for next time: What's your favorite strategy for powering through the first draft? Maybe you wear a certain shirt or pair of socks? Do you dangle reward-carrots in front of yourself for motivation? Something else?
Last month's question was: Do you have your own brand of "eyes" that shows up again and again in your first drafts? Maybe it's overuse of "was" or "is"? Or perhaps it's a deep-seated love for sentence fragments? Tell me about it, so I don't feel so alone. (*sniff*)  Here's what readers had to say:
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  -- Let's see: well and yeah. (Submitted item: "A Starcraft/Warcraft Story" )
I'll bet those words are often overused, especially by writers who write like they talk.
Nixieš¦  -- Hi Nicki! Awesome newsletter, and looks like some great entries to read. Only you would have the confidence to offer up your own mistakes to illustrate a point. We all have our favorite words, I just have to remember mine.
You also mentioned the method you pursued to counter-act your eye-attack. Great advice.
Almost forgot, killer title for this NL. You rock.
Thanks so much, Nixie! And another heartfelt "welcome back to WDC" to you!
bertiebrite hoping for peace -- Hi, it's me again Bertiebrite. I just wanted to say that recently a reviewer noted how often I used the "had". When looking at my work I noted eleven usages in a 900 word story. I looked at other work of mine and discovered the same. I stopped it immediately and my work improved so even I could see it. Without "had" the sentences were more immediate and to the point.
Ah yes, the dreaded past perfect tense really holds the reader at arm's length from the story. Bravo to your reviewer for helping you tighten up your work and take it to the next level!
napa_angel -- I use pronouns too much. As well as I can get overly descriptive of things that don't really matter.
I get too descriptive, as well! In fact, verbosity is perfect for the first draft. But during the revision phase I try to weed out what isn't vital to the story or what may lead the reader down the wrong path. After all, if it's in the story, it must be important to the plot, right? Great thing for all writers to remember!
Leila -- I used to overuse "however" until I read an article of an author with the same quirk. Now I try to find new ways to say things. (Leila also says: Once I reviewed an author who overused "however." I noticed then that I was guilty of the same behavior.  )
It's great that you recognized this quirk in your own writing. Finding new ways to say things in our writing is exactly when the magic happens!
atwhatcost -- My writing enemy list: was, as, smile, -ly, and -ing. The last one is particularLY mean, because my protagnist's name ends with -ing. Worse yet, my enemies have been my friends far longer than my enemies.
Eyes? That's understandable to me. I observe; therefore, I tend to fixate on what I see, which is done through eyes and are often eye expressions. Face it, if we want to show something stinks, it's a lot easier to write it smart the eyes then to describe the smell without using the word "smell."
You're so right! The eyes are the easiest, most expressive facial feature to write about. 'Show, don't tell' is a lot harder to achieve without the eyes. Good luck with your frenemies list! 
In response to Characters that Capture the Heart -- July 13, 2011} :
Thundersbeard 30DBC JULY HOST -- Hi,
I run
This months prompt includes the opportunity to cast yourself as your favorite movie drama character in that worlds setting.
Monthly prizes include 10000 gift points and inclusion in an ebook. Judges favorites will be included in the book as well.
But wait there's more! A grand champion will be chosen each year - who will win an upgrade (donations pending).
Hope you find this information relevant for your weekly newsletter, to which I am a subscriber and read every week!
Thanks for being a regular reader and best of luck with this contest!
See you all back here on December 28th. Until then, have a great month!
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Drama: November 29, 2011 Issue [#4743]
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