Strategies for Week Two of NaNoWriMo

Most of us writers who have been doing this for a while discovered a phenomenon that happens during the second week of NaNoWriMo. It is the dreaded second week and it can stop a newby in his or her tracks if he or she is not prepared for it.
During these second week it becomes extremely difficult to make word count. Sometimes, it feels as though we have hit a wall and we just can’t progress. Sometimes we just don’t even want to convince ourselves that we really didn’t want to write a novel after all.
It reminds me of when I was a kid out blackberrying. I remember that when I would start picking the berries, the berries seemed to fill the bottom of the bucket quickly, but filling the bucket past the middle seemed to take forever.
The secret to both is to simply push through it. Remember, this too shall pass. Keep on writing and you’ll be there at 50 K by the end of the month. It doesn’t need to be good, it just needs to be done at this point.

A Strategy for Completing the First Draft of my Novel

There are different components to novel writing and rather than sticking with one scene and doing everything for that scene, I have learned to work on each individual component throughout the story line. I know I have said it before, and here in week two, it is especially important to write what you know. Begin developing Many Multi-facets within the book. Go through and write down all that you have figured out regarding the basic story line, then go back and add action, add subplots, then add dialog to the various scenes, next add pictures of what your characters see in each scene. Describe the room, describe someone’s hand as it is doing something. Can’t think of a scene to describe? Go online and find pictures and write what you see there. Once you have it done, paste it somewhere your story where you can use it. If you run out of something to describe in one scene, go to the next and the next until you get to the end of the story. Keep going with each element until you reach your word count for the day. The next day start with where you left off and continue with the scene and continue through the story elements. I guarantee that if you work though the story elements scene by scene, word by word and average 1667 words per day you will win by the end of the month. I am usually done by Thanksgiving.

Donna Brown is pastor at Faith in God Church in Brandsville, Missouri.. As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga.For more information about Cygnet Brown and her book, check out her website at http://www.cygnetbrow.com .