I’ve finally jumped into NaNoWriMo! Since I didn’t start until the 14th, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I hit 15,000 words Saturday and hope to keep chugging along this week. (And I’ll also be sharing my favorite Nano productivity tips!)

I hope you’re a bit farther along in your goals—in fact, maybe you’re starting to hit the 30k slump. Here are a few quick ways to recharge and reconnect with your WIP.

Write anything. When you’re really not sure what comes next, even writing the most boring, mundane scene might inspire something much better!

If you liked it, then you should’ve put a pin on it. As long as you don’t get sucked into the gaping maw of dessert recipes on Pinterest (it’s so . . . beautiful!), putting together an inspiration pinboard can help you when you make it, and when you look back in a few days.

I’ve slowly been collecting pins for my Nano project for a while, but here’s a sneak peek:

(This is about using a pinboard for your own inspiration. Pinterest is also good for author marketing, but that’s a little different.)

Sing. Sing a song. (Or just listen.). I typically have a set “writing” playlist with a mix of classic rock and movie soundtracks, but I add songs to it based on the scene or the book I’m writing.

Daydream about your cover. Okay, I’ve been known to use this to procrastinate, but I have fun making up mock covers for my books. (And for obvious reasons, I hire a professional to do mine.) But if you can take 10-20 minutes to capture the vision of your book in visual form, why not?

Make your own book trailer. Grab four or five photos and a two- to three-sentence summary of your book and make a cool-looking trailer in just a few minutes. That’s sure to help inspire you!

Reconnect on a story-level. If your problem runs a bit deeper than fatigue, take a few minutes to assess and reconnect with your WIP. Your characters will thank you for it when you don’t kill them all off in a terrible plane crash because you’re grouchy.

Take a day off. I know, it’s sacrilege to propose such a thing in Nano, especially if you’re falling behind (or starting late), but sometimes this really helps. I take every Sunday off and though sometimes it’s hard to stop when the fire is going, it always makes me even more ready to go on Monday morning. Plus, tons of my plot problems work themselves out while I’m away.

I also took a day off after my launch. I was going to plunge right in the very next day, but I wasn’t confident yet. Although I really wanted to start November 1, by November 13, the doubts had set in. I’m pushing through and not worrying about all the stuff I know is missing, because I can layer in all that later. In fact, it almost feels good, knowing exactly what I’ll need to do to fix this. You know, some of it.

You don’t have to hate writing, life and everything to make it through Nano alive!

What do you think? How do you recapture your NaNo mojo when your motivation is flagging?