Greybon

We are heading into our last week of NaNo. Yay!

This is my first time participating in this. I started it to force my way through a nasty writer’s block, and wow, has it ever helped. But it’s done more than that. It’s forced me to change a lot of things.

I’m finding this mad dash approach to writing so damn odd. I’m one of those over thinkers. I write the chapters in order. Skipping around just never worked for me. I stop at points and reread everything end edit and tweak. Sometimes I will even sit back and sketch out a scene through gesture drawings just to sort things out. That sure doesn’t work with NaNo. We don’t have that kind of time. As thoughts enter the head, you really have no other choice than to just slap it on the page and run with it.

Another thing that’s had to change for me is with the music I play. I wrote my first two novels mostly listening to Coldplay. Sometimes I add in a little Iron & Wine, but that’s pretty much it. Neither of these bands are working for me this time around. To help with the pace, I’ve had to switch up the music to faster tempos. I’ve been listening to Japanese punk, some funky electronic sounds, and a dash of House remixes. I haven’t stopped to jot down band names. I just find music online, click play, then return my focus to the writing.

I’ve also had to implement sort of a reward system to keep the energy going. I’m rewarding myself with TV. Haha. Today when I get to 2k words I’m going to stop and watch an episode of DS9. Yesterday I rewarded myself by catching up on Dexter. (And a brownie too. :P) Sure, for me, X-Files would probably be a better reward. But if I start watching that, I sure as hell can’t pull myself away easily enough. :P

I’m currently a little behind on my word count, but as long as I don’t crap out now, I should make it. What’s more is that I’ll walk away with an entire new look at the writing process. Way to shake things up NaNo! Huzzah!