Freewriting: NaNoWriMo Training
August 28th 2010 12:34
If you had never ran more than three miles, you wouldn't run a marathon without training, would you? Writing a novel isn't as physically taxing as running a marathon, but you can train for NaNoWriMo, too.
Writing 1,700 words per day may seem daunting. Say you've never written anything longer than 3,000 words, that means you are supposed to write more than half that on a daily basis during NaNoWriMo. The good news is: There are still 64 days until November 1 and you can train your writing muscles. You don't necessarily have to write every day, but sit down regularly and ideally more than once a week.
Freewriting is ideal for training purposes:
- Open a new document (or start on a new page of your writing pad).
- Set a stop watch to ten or fifteen minutes; increase the time as you get used to writing.
- Let the words flow on the page and don't stop writing until the time is up.
- If you get stuck, just write that down: "I'm out of ideas and don't know what to write next." Repeat these words until you can think of something else to write. Usually it doesn't take long for your mind to get bored of repeating the same thing over and over and it will throw you an idea.
- Don't read what you wrote immediately, let it rest for a while. The main point of the exercise is for you to become used to writing without stopping. Read a whole bunch of your freewriting exercises in chronological order; you will probably discover that your output improved in length and quality after the first few weeks. The training effect has set in and you're turning into a better writer. Isn't it awesome?
It's important that you don't censor your words, just write down anything that comes to mind. You can write longhand but since you want to train for NaNoWriMo, it's probably best to do your freewriting exercises on screen (typing straight into a text document makes counting your words easier, too).
Writing 1,700 words per day may seem daunting. Say you've never written anything longer than 3,000 words, that means you are supposed to write more than half that on a daily basis during NaNoWriMo. The good news is: There are still 64 days until November 1 and you can train your writing muscles. You don't necessarily have to write every day, but sit down regularly and ideally more than once a week.
Freewriting is ideal for training purposes:
- Open a new document (or start on a new page of your writing pad).
- Set a stop watch to ten or fifteen minutes; increase the time as you get used to writing.
- Let the words flow on the page and don't stop writing until the time is up.
- If you get stuck, just write that down: "I'm out of ideas and don't know what to write next." Repeat these words until you can think of something else to write. Usually it doesn't take long for your mind to get bored of repeating the same thing over and over and it will throw you an idea.
- Don't read what you wrote immediately, let it rest for a while. The main point of the exercise is for you to become used to writing without stopping. Read a whole bunch of your freewriting exercises in chronological order; you will probably discover that your output improved in length and quality after the first few weeks. The training effect has set in and you're turning into a better writer. Isn't it awesome?
It's important that you don't censor your words, just write down anything that comes to mind. You can write longhand but since you want to train for NaNoWriMo, it's probably best to do your freewriting exercises on screen (typing straight into a text document makes counting your words easier, too).
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