NaNo: How to get to 50,000 words

How to get to 50,000 words

You may or may not know that I'm doing NaNo. Here's another post of my thoughts and tips for NaNo. 

This time, I'm talking about getting to that daunting 50,000 words. 

Here are my steps to getting to the 50,000 words.

1) Don't freak out

Because freaking out is the worst thing to do. You're probably freaking out, though. 

2) Candy

Candy will be good. Eat candy. Binge eat it. Who cares about weight?

3) Procrastinate

You're doing this also too. 

4) Stop procrastinating, get to work

As if. Working is for peons. Give it to your peons.

5) Watch cat videos

This is very productive. You'll be inspired. 

6) Make a wish with the NaNo gods

They may not be listening. The sacrifice requires your favorite candy bar and the first draft of your novel. And then you need to burn the candy and do the ritual dance (Gangnam Style) in front of the fire. Toss in your draft page by page. Make sure you have another copy of the draft. Digital or not. 

7) Words magically appear 

Because magic. MAGIC. 

8) Thank the gods and applaud yourself for your hard work (with food mostly)

Foods. Treats. Yay, you made it without dying. Huzzah

What are your steps for getting to 50,000 words?

Mission Impossible: Blogging During NaNo

If you are familiar with November's National Novel Writing Month (NaNo), you know about the stress and ranting that it brings. As someone who has done NaNo twice before (this is my third year), I know how stressful one month can be. (It's like taking exams but worse since you're your own cheerleader. AND NaNo is something you choose to do.)

Here's a little about NaNo if you didn't know anything:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.

Aka you madly write 50,000 words in one month. That's around a thousand plus words a day. 

This year I discovered so many different bloggers who are also participating in NaNo. 

Here are my tips to go about blogging while doing NaNo.

1) Plan ahead. 

Aka this tip is a little late, but it is useful for future NaNo endeavors. Plan your November posts. Do you want discussion posts? Reviews? Interviews?

Maybe even write these posts beforehand. 

2) Choose posts with little or no prep time.

I know that sounds bad since we bloggers dedicate hours to the perfect graphic, but you got to prioritize. Think of quick post ideas. Maybe a few discussion posts with two paragraphs. Maybe a three hundred word review. I don't know. You decide.

Doing this will make life easier for you since you don't have to do much. 

I personally suggest promo tours. Those are great since the post is sometimes already formatted for you. Just click publish. Not that I'm saying to abuse this or that I abuse it. It's just handy. 

3) Get help from other non-NaNo-er bloggers.

Aka lessen the load for yourself. Getting other people to help you out is easy. Do guest posts or interviews. If not, maybe ask a good friend to take over your blog (if they aren't busy.) 

4) Set aside time dedicated to both writing and blogging. 

If you make sure you have time to blog, you'll definitely have posts up. And you'll also have time to write! So double whammy. 

Are you doing NaNo this year? If so, are you blogging at the same time? I'd love to know!