Many outside incidents can interfere with your plans for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and you may have limited or no control over them. But what about problems within your manuscript? How do you keep writing? Check out my tips below on how to overcome obstacles during NaNoWriMo.
Don’t linger.
In my first drafts, my writing is usually dialogue heavy. That’s because dialogue is the main way my amateur detective Rae Riley discovers clues. The dialogue is the point of the scene, and I want to get that down first. But as I write down the most important aspect of the scene, I know I need to put in dialogue tags, action tags, and descriptions. That’s where I can bog down.
I’ll write a very effective two-person conversation, and then move Rae out of that scene into another. In the new scene, I have to describe the setting and my flow comes to a grinding halt as I decide what I must describe, the mood I’m trying to set, and many other details. I’ve learned that if I want to keep going, I just need to jot down a few notes that I will attend to when I edit.
If Rae moves from the library where she works to the Main Street of her small town, I’ll write in all caps and highlight (DESCRIBE WEATHER) and then dive into the meat of the next scene. If I stop writing because I can’t think of a good action tag to go with the dialogue, I just use “he said” and “she said” and know I’ll replace them later.
Sometimes, I realize I need to do some research in an area. For example, in A Shadow on the Snow, I knew a character would pawn a stolen item and the police had to find it. It was a small point, so I could just make a note that I needed to research that one fact and go on to the next scene.
You should only stop writing if you realize your obstacle is so big that it must be dealt with before you can continue because the whole story will change if you don’t. Let’s say your main character’s uncle is a cop. His profession is a key plot point in your story, but you know nothing about law enforcement. This is when you stop writing and do some research. You may do the research and realize that you will have to change your story completely to fit with reality. Or you may find you only have to make a few tweaks. But once you’ve decided you have to stop writing, work as quickly as you can to get back to the manuscript.
What advice do you have on how to overcome obstacles during NaNoWriMo?
I also like to make notes (but usually I highlight the text in a bright color) to remind myself to come back and add detail later so I don’t lose momentum!