Here are a few ways I’ve found online or on my own to succeed in Nanowrimo without cheating.
- Don’t use contractions. Like don’t. Say do not. There is two words out of one word.
- Remember all those rules about avoiding descriptive ‘ly’ words to bolster weak descriptions? Well forget that. This is the time to bring out all the purple prose no one will let you use. Tack on a string of adjectives to modify your prose.
- Don’t worry about capitals. Or even quotes. It just hit the quote key and go my merry way. It can get really fast when you don’t use so many motions that slow you down.
- Turn off your spell check, your grammar checker and anything else that will stand out.
- Set a timer, make it twenty minutes to start, then thirty, then an hour. Write during that time. Nothing g else β shut the door, turn off your phone and tv and music β and do nothing but write.
People wen t out of their way now to marvel qat the girth of the animal that just a few mohtns ago had been a piglet barely as big as charliea’s hat. Everyone brought treqts to fatten the animal up. They wanted all that fat sizzling over the open pits filled with glowing logs, crackling and criswpingt up. Even thinkin g about it made carli’es mouth water.Β
There, I just wrote sixty seven words of pure purple prose and blatant spelling mistakes.. Now think of the fun you’re going to have when you edit it in to a real story.
Happy Nanowrimo!!
Good suggestions π As for #5, I actually just read an article on Cracked.com where they say that you’re actually more creative when you’re surrounded by a moderate level of noise — e.g. a crowded coffee shop. Thoughts?
You could still set a timer. I don’t do it all the time but it’s one technique I’ve tried. Back in my younger years, I used to go to a bar that had happy hour free pizza, drink beer and fill up on pizza, but write all the time too. Lot’s of color in a bar. LOL