The WDC NanoLounge

One thing that may help is to get away from the "this is a draft of a story" mindset.

At least for me, my rough drafts tend to be fairly good - I edit as I write, and subsequent polishing is often just a matter of compressing and cleaning up word choice. But, at that pace, there's no way to do what NaNo requires unless I want to spend 3-4 hours a day on it.

So I try - and I'm not good at it yet - to tell myself I'm writing a set of detailed scene outlines, or stage directions, or whatever. For instance, if there's a scene I'm uncertain about, the real danger is to sit there and puzzle over it - a whole hour can go by like that and I'll only write 300 words. So, instead, rather than thinking "I need to have a nice draft of this scene", I'll try something else - I'll write the scene, but not try to do it in its "final" form. For example, I could just narrate the scene, describing what characters are doing as if I were watching and summarizing a movie. Or I'll tell the scene from one character's POV and then the same scene from another character's POV. Anything to get the scene down on paper - not in a final form or even in a "draft" form, but just *some* form.

Similarly, if I find myself pausing and wondering what visual details to do, I'll sometimes simply stick in a blank line, drop into italics, and then describe the scene in detail. I know I won't *use* all those details, but by "just writing" the description, it gives me a better feel for the place. When I go back and edit, I can pull out what's good.

Now, this means that editing will require a whole lot of rewriting and compressing. But I tell myself hey, that's okay. This is a "NaNo draft," not a "rough draft."



So, for your problem - forget the details. Instead, write through your scenes using what you know. Note a spot a detail is needed. Skip over places where it's essential - jot down "a <DETAIL> is needed here that will accomplish <SOMETHING>". Then keep going.

what you'll be doing, essentially, is writing out a "NaNo draft" of your story to walk yourself through the plot and figure out what the "details" have to accomplish. Some scenes will be sketchier than others.

But, by the end, you'll have figured out what "details" you'll need to make the story work, and which scenes require which details. Then, come Dec, you can go research those details - knowing both what the story needs and what scenes, if a particular detail doesn't do what you assumed it would, will have to be adjusted.


Maybe people more experienced in novel construction and writing than me can whip out a "real" rough draft at NaNo speeds.

For me, the only way to get the word count up - and to actually "just type" rather than constantly hitting backspace and editing and obsessing over word choice - is to tell myself I'm writing a "NaNo draft."

Or ,more colloquially, to tell myself: Stop thinking and just write crap, you idiot!



LP