Well, welcome back. Or here. Or whatever. I know, I know, but NaNo has already turned my brain to mush in preparation for taking over my body for November. If some of the tips below sound weird, awkward or just plain crazy, blame the bug.

The writing bug. Get it? Get it?

*sigh* All right, I’ll reinstate the stupid pun/joke/pants rule.

Ready? Let’s get moving…

• 20. Sleep. It is your friend, embrace it. There is no way your brain is going to continue to work without getting some sleep in between writing scenes, changing diapers, feeding the cat and getting the kids off to school before you start that hour-long commute to work. Give yourself at least six hours. Okay, if that doesn’t work for you, try four.
• 19. When your inner-editor comes knocking (again), give her a word-search book and send her away until December. Seriously, you don’t need to listen to her nagging about that dangle participle or whether or not the American English should be mixed with the British. Chris Baty says so.
• 18. Queue your favorite TV series on Netflix. Spend at least one evening a week mindlessly following the lives of those weirdos on screen. It gives your brain (and therefore your muse/fornit/nasal gnomes) an active rest.
• 17. Word wars! Find a buddy, set a word goal, and go for it. First one to the goal wins… something. Bragging rights at the very least!
• 16. Also, word sprints. This goes back to the last post where I listed the groups on Twitter that really spur the words into shape. #WriteClub is every Friday, @VirtualWriters’ #WordScrim is every Wednesday, and others run other times during the week, plus there will be @NaNoPals busy keeping everyone on track. Even if you don’t want to hop on Twitter, there are word sprints through the NaNo forums, or just challenge yourself to write as many words as you can within a set time. Need an alarm? Check out SpaceJock’s yTimer II.
• 15. You’ve come to that spot that says “Hey, you need a love scene.” We all get to them eventually, and let me tell you, they are FANTASTIC for the word count. Go into detail… every dirty, scandalous, twisted detail… Embarrass yourself, get out of your comfort zone, think outside the box (unless boxes are your thing) and worry about whether or not you’ll keep the scene later. After the final count.
• 14. Don’t just leave your scene breaks blank. Use asterisks. You’ll figure out why later… and yes, it IS a cheat. But damn it, it’s the last hour before verification and we NEED those ‘words’!!!
• 13. Minutia is your friend. Is there a fly on the wall? Describe him, in fine, fine details. Elaborate. A lot.
• 12. I can hear rumbling again… you hungry? I’m hungry. It’s not time for the end of the week ice cream yet, and coffee just isn’t doing it. Wait, there’s chili in the crock-pot! Plan your meals to be quick, filling, and inspirationally delicious. Tomorrow I’ll have some crock-pot lovelies for you.
• 11. Time to switch it up. Spend one or two chapters writing in the secondary character’s point of view. If you’re already using multi-POV, try writing in first person omniscient for a while. You can go back and fix it later, meanwhile, it’s words down.
• 10. Prompts are always handy. So many websites out there will generate a weird phrase, name, scene or even title that can inspire you to give another few thousand words. Anything can be worked into your story, even if the genres clash.
• 9. Speaking of genres, take a step back and peek over the back of your chair. Does your genre still match what you’d started out with? If it’s switched, go with it. If not, and you’re at a standstill, try it. Come on, you know you want to send your Sherlock fan-fic into orbit.
• 8. You know what? You’re starting to smell a bit. I mean, dude…I can smell ya from here. Go shower. It’ll help.
• 7. It’s probably time you stretched your legs a bit, huh? That’s right, get out of that chair, and do some callisthenics, go for a walk, grab your spouse or S/O and… well, you see where I’m going. Get some exercise! It’ll motivate you, trust me.
• 6. Take fifteen minutes each day to do something totally, absurdly, absolutely mundane. Laundry, dishes, sweeping. Like watching your favorite series on Netflix, it gives your brain an active rest. I bet the words flow pretty quickly afterwards!
• 5. It’s time to talk the talk. If you get stuck in a scene, open a new dialogue. If there isn’t a break for dialogue in the scene you’re writing, open a new page, and write it there. You can find a spot for it later.
• 4. Adjust the knick knacks on your desk. Remember when I said I had stuff and things on my desk, little bits of past NaNos to help encourage me with this year? I move ‘em around once a week or more, that way I spot ‘em out of the corner of my eye in new places, and sometimes, it sparks a new idea.
• 3. Plan a family meal for mid-month. Something big and splashy. Okay, well the Americans can already do that, three-quarters of the way through November when they have their Thanksgiving. If you’re somewhere else on this blue marble, plan something spectacular. Invite friends, too!
• 2. NaNoWriYe. Because the people are great, the support is second-to-none, and once the NaNo bug has bitten, it’s kinda hard to stop.
• 1. Butt. In. Chair. For as much time as you can, for as long as you can, for as many words as you can. You’ll be glad you did.

And that’s that. I wish you luck on the crazy journey you’re about to embark on!

<3 JL