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10.31.2016

5 Ways to Stay Motivated During NaNoWriMo

Yes, I do realize this is supposed to say
www.elvishpensfantasticalwritings.blogspot.com.
NaNoWriMo starts TOMORROW and I'm kind of freaking out because I have school, lines to finish memorizing, and a play to perform this weekend.  It looks like late nights and lots of coffee for me.  The real question, though, is how on earth will I stay motivated to see this novel through to the end over the course of November?

(If you want to hear about my NaNo novel this year,

1. Set deadlines and reward yourself when you crush them.

I've set a lot of deadlines before, but I've only met a few of them.  Why?  Because I had a good reward waiting for me at the end.  I spent last summer majorly editing my book so I could pitch it to publishers at Realm Makers.  I've been editing a lot recently because I know in November I'm going to start querying publishers.  Of course, your rewards don't have to be something as big as a writer's conference, but make sure it's something that motivates you.  Tell yourself (or even have someone keep you accountable) that you can't watch a movie or read this book until you've written X amount of words.

2. Epic Soundtracks

I'm a huge fan of listening to movie soundtracks while I write.  It helps me get in the zone and sparks my imagination.
Some of my favorites are...

  • Jason Bourne
  • Doctor Who (any season)
  • How to Train Your Dragon
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Thor
  • Captain America: Civil War
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Interstellar
  • Inception
  • Tomorrowland
I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I can think of right now.

3. Sit back and daydream before you write.


Get that storytelling awesomeness started in your head.  Don't worry about putting down the right words, just picture it in your head.  Picture action.  Hear the dialogue.  Feel the feelings.

4. Turn off your Internet.

Yes, I know you need Internet to listen to your movie soundtracks, but those Twitter notifications are distracting.  Turn off Google Hangouts.  Stop refreshing your email and blog feed.

5. Word War

If you aren't on self-implicated Internet restriction, word war with a friend.  Never heard of a word war?  It's a race to see who can write the most words in X amount of time.  It's lots of fun and insanity.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year?  Tell me about your NaNo novels!  How do you stay motivated during NaNo?



10 comments:

  1. YAS IM DOING NANO! I'm shooting for 100k so HAHA WELL SEE HOW THIS GOES! I did the Beautiful Books post on my project, so if you want, you can read that. But I usually have people read my work after each day and that helps motivate me.

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    1. Good luck!!! I would be way too terrified to let people read my rough draft.

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  2. I love the Interstellar soundtrack. 10/10 would recommend.
    I also agree that day dreaming helps. haha. I make a playlist that helps me get into my characters heads; and before I write, I lie down or take a walk and listen to that playlist. it really helps me start to think like them. sometimes I'll even go so far as to dress like a character. I guess Im a method writer? lol.

    BEST OF LUCK WITH NANO!

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    1. Yes. :D It' kind of the theme soundtrack for my NaNo novel this year.
      That's an awesome idea. I just might have to try taking a walk.

      You too!

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  3. YES for Jason Bourne soundtracks! I listen to them allll the time while planning, so I'm definitely going to be playing them. Unfortunately we don't have the disc though so it all has to be off youtube. *winces* I'm going to have to look into buying them though.

    Great tips. I'm certainly going to be trying them out.

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    1. I listen to most soundtracks on Youtube as well.

      Good luck with writing!

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  4. These are sure-fire tips! :D

    AND NANO STARTED. I AM A BALL OF NERVES. HOW EVEN DO I WRITE A BEGINNING. WHAT PERSON AM I EVEN WRITING THIS BOOK IN. ahh, the insanity. xP

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    1. Thank you!

      YES! I AM COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT! The insanity is real.

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  5. Yes, I love this list!! All of these are SO TRUE. :D I would say more, but I need to get back to writing myself! ;)

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  6. Sounds like you have a battle plan! and a very busy month :) I bet you will get it done thought. Especially when you write to epic music like How To Train Your Dragon (big fan of HTTYD)

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