November can be a very busy month with early Christmas shopping, figuring out what to do with left over Halloween candy, family visits and trips, not to mention the day to day tasks of going to work, laundry, cleaning, cooking, and meeting with friends. Our lives are often very busy as they are and now you want to write 50,000 words as well? It’s no wonder that many non-participants and even ourselves at some points, question our sanity. But there’s a method to the madness. Writing when you’re at your busiest, you may be surprised at how often that alone can keep you going. For myself, having a limited time to write pushes me to write as much as I possibly can; needless to say that I’m looking forward to starting some word wars. :) But limiting your time might not be the only thing you need to do!
One of the hardest decisions of NaNoWriMo, besides deciding what to write of course, is deciding WHEN to write. This will depend on when you have free time, when you’re done with work or school, when your house is quiet, or when you decide to escape off to a cafe to get a few words in. It really all comes down to what works for you. I prefer to write at night, when it’s dark and quiet outside and the house is equally quiet.
But don’t wait until November 1st to find out that you can only write in a certain situation! Spend the rest of October testing out your free time. Try writing, a short story perhaps by the end of the month, to test your out your prime writing times. Could you get up early and write an hour before you start your day? Or would you do better by staying up two hours after bedtime to write? How much could you write on your lunch break? Or between classes? Take a minuet to think about when you could really sit down and write.
There are also many times during your day that I’m sure you could jot down a few words here or there; say for instance while you’re waiting to use the shower, or for the coffee to brew. While your waiting in line for lunch, or at the store. Carry a small notebook with you or if you’ve got a cell phone, type and/or text parts of your story and send it to yourself! I’ve used the Notes app on my iPhone to write chapters while I was away from my computer once, and all I had to do is email it to myself to get it on my computer. There’s really a million great ways to keep writing, even if you’re away from your ideal writing haven and really, all those few little words here and there can add up! So keep on writing!
