How To Win NaNoWriMo in 15 Days

     Last year, I won NaNoWriMo with a couple days to spare, and I was pretty proud of myself.
     THIS year I won NaNoWriMo in HALF the allotted time, and I felt pretty darn great, I tell you what.  Unfortunately I didn't finish my novel in time (I'm too damn long-winded), but I walked away with a certificate and a smile and a good portion of a first draft for a story that I'm really into.
     Of course, if I kept the secrets to my success a secret, it wouldn't exactly behoove all of you writers out there, wondering how you can get not just your NaNo Novel, but ANY of your fast drafting on even faster, so I'm here to spill the beans and teach YOU how to blow the fishes out of the water with the power of your magic writey-downer abilitations.*
     Here's eight tactics YOU can use to win big fast!

*not a word.

  

1.  Cheat

     Okay, so not cheat, exactly, but sort of???
     See, what allowed me to win so quickly was the fact that on the first day of NaNo I was able to log 11,518 words.  No, it's not because I'm some sort of superhuman (I mean, I am totally some sort of superhuman, but that's not how I was able to write so much).  My secret?  I took NaNoPlotMo VERY seriously; I outlined like hell and scribbled down every note and spare thought I had, fleshing out the first half of my novel so vividly that half my job on day one was essentially copy-paste-expound-upon.
     This also meant that, for the first half of my novel at least, I had a clear idea about where I was going, who my players were, etc, so once I hit the ground I hit it rolling, fullspeed downhill with a fire on my ass.
     This is sort of cheating, yes, because all the WRITING is supposed to be done during November, but taking extensive notes is just an expected part of October for us NaNoers, and no one is looking over your shoulder raising their eyebrow at you for "thinking too much," so you do you and take as many notes as you want, comrade, it's your journey and can't no one tell you how to climb that mountain but you!
     (Also, no one can tell you not to write tons of run-ons in your first draft.  NO ONE.)

2.  Don't Look Back

    This is just one of those old classics of the NaNo experience, but still SUPER helpful.  Like, so helpful oh my God, I spent most of last year's NaNo just LEARNING this one, and it's helped in all my drafting since; don't go back and reread.
     It's tempting, I know!  But you must resist the urge.  Go back a chapter or maybe two if you need to at the start of the writing day, to try to kickstart your creativity, remember where you left, etc., but don't go any further back and do not, I repeat, DO NOT, I REPEAT AGAIN FOR FURTHER EMPHASIS, DO.  NOT.  EDIT.  
     I know those words are being real shitlords--they're screaming at you, begging you to come fix your mistakes, taunting you with your imperfections, but don't do it!  It will only slow you down, it could lessen your word count (which is all well and good during editing season, but not when you're drafting, ESPECIALLY not with NaNoWriMo), and you'll lose all your momentum.  Even if you're suffering from a block, you'd be better off getting up and going for a walk, or reading, or watching an hour of TV than risking a trip into the bog of edit hell.
     Don't even look back for details--if you forget a detail, make it up, you can always fix it in post.  And hey, who knows, maybe you'll like the new way better!
     Just, in general, if you can possibly help it, don't look back.  The time for looking back is not while your chainsaw is half-way through the lonely housewife's torso; the time for looking back doesn't come until the last grudge match has been settled and your bloody trail of carnage and slaughter finally matches the tale of woe and revenge set down in the notebook you made to look like that one from Deathnote.  That's when you bust out the bleach and start checking IDs.

3.  Don't worry about POV

     This year, I couldn't decide if I was writing from multiple third person limited or from third person omniscient.  Last year, during Camp NaNo I kept slipping into second person POV, too, and randomly switching tenses.
     This is pretty normal, we all do it to some degree, some more than others--our brain will just randomly switch gear and suddenly a third person story has six paragraphs of "I went to the store today" slapped in the middle.  Don't sweat it.
     This is another thing that can be fixed in post.  If you're not sure what POV you even want the story to be in, just write.  Write whatever comes to mind and deal with the aftermath later.
     That goes for tenses and shit, too.  Just don't worry; again, it can all be fixed in post.  Right now, the most important thing is to get that story out of your goddamn body before it has the chance to escape in a less palpable form, or takes hold of your brain and drives you MAD.

4.  Big casts help

     I'm not saying that big casts are the answer, or that they're right for your particular story, and I'm DEFINITELY not saying that every story needs to be an ensemble.
     What I AM saying is, I had a big cast this year (both years.  I'm a fan of large casts.  Sue me) and it really helped keep my juices flowing--I had a lot to work with, a lot of subplots to dive into, and any time I couldn't figure out what my MC's next move was, I could cut to some of the more minor characters and talk about a subplot for a chapter or two, which allowed me the time to let my MC ruminate on his options and decide what to do next--and, sometimes, for new characters to invent themselves.
     And of course, while writing my MC's scenes, I was able to work out what my side characters were doing, etc., etc., which makes for a good process most of the time.


5.  Set a big word count and follow that shit

     After my eleven thousand word victory I was like HELL FUCKING YES
     But I knew I had to keep working--I told myself that I would write at least three thousand words a day.  I didn't, of course, but I tried to; some days I went over, some days I went under, but because I was so far ahead, it wasn't any problem--even if you don't get off on the huge side of the bed the first morning of NaNoWriMo, exceeding the normal goal is a good thing to shoot for--maybe you write two thousand words a day instead of 1667, maybe three thousand, maybe five thousand!  Whatever you can handle, do that and do it consistently; that way if something happens and you're under one day, it's no big deal.  If you do it enough and for some reason you have to skip a day, again, you have some room under you, no big deal.
     BUUUUUTTTT.....

6.  Don't skip a day

     If you can help it, don't skip.  I know you have those pretty little days' worth of word credits saved up from all your SUPER DUPER WRITE-TASTICNESS, but do your best not to let them get to you.  If you take that day off, it's going to seriously screw with your momentum, which is what fast-drafting is all about.  You gotta go hard bro, 'cause in this game, there's no goin' home.  *Insert Murder Eyes*
     Plus, by skipping a day, your manuscript becomes a little less clear in your mind, details become a little more hazy--if you knew what you were going to do in the next scene, maybe you lose it, or lose part of it, and you risk the dreaded need to (DUN DUN DUUUUN) TURN BACK.  *LOUD MELODRAMATIC GASPING*

7.  Set up a routine that works for you

     I like to work in chunks of several hours at a time, when I can, so I try to get up early and write for a few solid hours before school, before I've expended my creative energy for the day, and then I do my best to squeeze in whatever extra time I can between classes--maybe you work best at night, though, or for fifteen minute intervals throughout the day; maybe the only time you can squeeze it in is while hastily shoveling bologna sandwiches into your chomping maw at the midday hour.
     Whatever works for you, set a time and try to stick to it--then grab whatever extra time you can get your grubby little hands on.  Try to set up a workstation if you can, leave your computer on sleep instead of off so it takes less time to boot up when you feel the desire for a pyre!

8.  Throw shit in there

     Obviously, you don't want to just slam a random thing down for the words, but don't censor or limit yourself.  Use those adverbs and adjectives you're not sure you'll need, you can cut 'em later!; write that introspective diatribe, you can change it later!; give a flashback that explains the entire character that you're pretty sure you'll end up using like four sentences from in the end; you can cut the rest of it later, but at least now you know, and this is a part of fast drafting that, as more of a pantser than a plotter, I love, because now I have all this information about my characters and their lives that I can use later, or not use at all, but at least I can write the character with all this shit in mind!
    And my wordcount is boosted, and no one got hurt**, and all is well.

**Except for all those people you murdered on number 2.

To Swear or Not To Swear

     I missed a lot of updates because blah blah blah life happens, nobody cares, let's move on.  Hopefully I'll be able to make that up to you all, so here's an "I'm sorry" article that ends with almost everyone already in the right!  Excellent job, you beautiful readers and writers, jolly good form!

     So, should you swear in your book?  Should you not swear?

     The answer is yes.

     We live in a world in which cursing is the norm--whether you yourself swear or not, you know people who do, and many of the people who don't typically condone swearing will swear from time to time--when their kid gets themselves arrested, when they stub their toe, when they mindlessly repeat whatever their parents just said without thinking.  And it sells!  People care less and less about vulgar language these days; my generation (and those before and after mine, naturally) is casting aside the stigma as the words lose their power, and we'll probably be seeing brand new curse words coming in to take their place in the future.  People swear, and that's realistic.

     But if you aren't comfortable with cursing?  Don't curse.  There's still a large population that dislikes vulgarity, and unless the dialogue is written poorly, no one who does swear is going to care that the F-bomb hasn't been dropped.  They probably won't even notice!

     So ultimately, it's up to you!  Find what you're comfortable with and stick to it.

     If you're torn up about it, though, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Your Characters.     If you're on the fence, this might be the most important question of all.  What kind of person is your character?  Are they rough, tough, tumble?  Crass?  Do they delight in offending others?  Or are they sweet, demure, easily embarrassed or overprotected?  Or somewhere in between?  Maybe the latter fits Clarissa to a T--but she loves watching the look on others' faces when they hear a high-voiced little darling call her teacher a cunt.  Or perhaps the former more accurately describes Thomas--but his mother died when he was young, and since she never cared for foul language, he pays homage to her by trying not to cuss.  At the end of the day, who your character is will best determine whether they'll swear.  Try to analyze each of your characters closely and determine the best lingual choice for each.  When in doubt, let the characters talk it out.                                                                                                     
2. Your Audience.     This is one I personally pay less attention to, but if you're writing for a specific audience it could be important to consider.  I mean, nine times out of ten you wouldn't write a picture book where every fifth word was fuck (although the exception is a masterpiece), and a devout elderly Christian probably wouldn't care for something like Stephen King's Firestarter (true story--I borrowed the book from the library a couple years ago only to find that someone had run through every curse word with black sharpie).  If you're writing for an intended audience, you might want to analyze what that audience wants and make your decisions based on that.                                             
3. Levels and Balance.     There are levels to cursing.  You have things like My Little Pony, without a curse word in sight, or books like Harry Potter, where only one curse word was ever really used.  Then there's Stephen King, sowing and reaping casual cusses as far as the eye can see, and Homestuck, where nothing would be the same if it weren't for Andrew Hussie's famed flagrancy.  My Little Pony and similar shows find ways around swearing that seem organic and realistic for the age group appealed to; same thing with Harry Potter.  None of the dialogue seems tacky or unintentionally hilarious/infuriating, and the one use of obscenities is, without a doubt, grand.  

                My mother and I listened to The Deathly Hollows on CD a few months after the book came out, and when Molly finally cut loose at the end and cried, "Get away from my daughter, you bitch!" it had us standing and cheering.  It was a superb use of powerful language, made all the more powerful by its absence in the rest of the story.  If Molly had been known to curse like a sailor, the line would have fallen a little flat due to common exposure--you probably don't go outside and ogle every tree you see, because trees are pretty commonplace in this world.  It's the same for cursing--most people don't jump when a teenager swears, but when a seven-year-old tells someone to go fuck themselves, holding about their person all the vicious malice they're capable of, it can take a few minutes for the words to settle in.  Exposure causes expectation.  Keep that in mind.

                At these levels, it's a delicate balancing act for people who are typically exposed to cursing.  For those who aren't--well, I've never really been one of those kids, but for nine or ten years I WAS a kid who didn't believe in cursing.  For myself, at least.  And it was easier then to write for children than it is now.  Growing up is tough on your sensibilities, kids, I don't recommend it.

                At the more "vulgar" level, the balancing act shifts to retaining intelligence and coherence without sacrificing realism.  People swear; people swear a lot, some more than others.  Some people (Second Selectman Rennie in Under The Dome) use substitutes for actual curse words while others (Doc Scratch in Homestuck) curse almost not at all, and others still (Karkat Vantas) don't seem capable of speaking without spewing forth a volcano of molten obscenities.  King does an excellent job with his character development, and typically doesn't swear in narration unless it's attached to the thoughts of said characters.  Hussie, on the other hand, swears whenever the fuck he feels like in his narration--the intelligence in his work is demonstrated instead through advanced lingual skill and the plot itself.

                Whether you curse or not, it's about balance.  Do you think it's easier to avoid cursing and preserve intelligence, or to curse and preserve intelligence?  Either way, that's what you're aiming for; preserving intelligence and coherence.  Think it over, look at a few different styles of writing, and try to figure out which option you think is best for you.  Not for anyone else; just you.  It's your story, after all.


     Like I said, in the end, whatever you choose, if it's right for you, it's the right decision.
   
     Justification for not cursing:  It's not realistic, it doesn't fit the characters, it doesn't fit the story.
 
     Justification for cursing:  It's realistic, it fits the characters, it fits the story.

     Just one request, though, from the depths of my heart--please, whatever you do, don't demonize cursing or the people who curse.  No, it's not a large population, less than ten percent of the roughly 2.4% of children with Tourette's have it, but children and adults with coprolalia can't control that they curse, and the looks and whispers and insults garnered because people so highly associate swearing with uneducated, uncouth heathens can be overwhelming.  I might get into that in another post, but just remember that while swearing is sometimes a choice or indicative of lesser mental capacities--sometimes it's just a product of genetics or society.

     TL;DR:  Do what works for you.