Tag Archives: nano inspiration

Technique

Recapture your NaNoWriMo mojo

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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!)

nano-2013-Participant-Vertical-BannerI 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:
sad3pinboard

(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?

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

 
Technique

NaNo “Pinspiration”

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Hooray! It’s day two! I hope you’re going strong. Throughout the rest of the month, we’ll look at a few tools, tips and techniques to keep us going strong, including things we can do in about 20 minutes to help remind us why we started this story, and fall in love with it all over again.

One recommendation I’ve seen several places is to make yourself a collage of images that speak to you about this book. Several people say that you can look at these collages for inspiration when you find your writing lagging. I love seeing these collage posts on friends’ blogs, but today I’m talking about a different way to do this.

Have you heard of Pinterest? It’s a website where you can virtually “pin” (save) any image or video that inspires you. It also shares these pins with your friends and displays them all organized into separate “boards.” It’s pretty fun. I use it a lot for my craft blog, but every once in a while, I use it for writing.

Now, my friends’ collages are a little more abstract, it seems, but this is my interpretation: some images of character inspirations and major plot elements (okay, and at least one character quirk) in my Nano 2011 WIP:

(I edited out the pictures from the previous couple projects, but the pins are still in there if you follow the link.)

You no longer need an invite to sign up! You can also use your Twitter account or Facebook account to register at Pinterest.

Again, this year, I’m trying out Scrivener for Nano. I really love that you can save your research and even character and inspiration photos right in your project file. It’s also a plus for me that this is private, where Pinterest doesn’t offer private pinboards. However, I also like Pinterest’s one-click capability to add any picture to my boards. So we’ll see what I end up using long term.

How do you make collages for your WIPs? Or do you?

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

 
Technique

NaNo “Pinspiration”

2 Comments
This entry is part 6 of 16 in the series NaNoWriMo success and inspiration

It’s week three (almostish). Tomorrow the halfway point, and you might be starting to lose steam. This week, we’re looking at things we can do in about 20 minutes to help remind us why we started this story, and fall in love with it all over again.

One recommendation I’ve seen several places is to make yourself a collage of images that speak to you about this book. Several people say that you can look at these collages for inspiration when you find your writing lagging. I love seeing these collage posts on friends’ blogs, but today I’m talking about a different way to do this.

Have you heard of Pinterest? It’s a website where you can virtually “pin” (save) any image or video that inspires you. It also shares these pins with your friends and displays them all organized into separate “boards.” It’s pretty fun. I use it a lot for my craft blog, but every once in a while, I use it for writing.

Now, my friends’ collages are a little more abstract, it seems, but this is my interpretation: some images of character inspirations and major plot elements (okay, and at least one character quirk) in my WIP:

(I edited out the pictures from my last couple projects, but the pins are still in there if you follow the link.)

You need an invite to sign up, but if you’d like one, just contact me and I’ll pass one along. (I think you also need either a Twitter account or a Facebook account to register at Pinterest.)

How do you make collages for your WIPs? Or do you?

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!