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Saturday at midnight, the madness starts anew. I'm reposting my NaNo Survival Guide for you here.

Ten Tips to Surviving NaNoWriMo

Most writers have heard of the National Novel Writing Month contest, but most of us shy away from the notion that you can write a book in thirty days. “It can’t be done!” we cry. “We don’t have time! We can’t write that much! And what about the holidays and shopping and hockey season and football season and family and work and vacuuming the cat…?”

You get the idea.

Speaking as a five-time survivor (and winner) of NaNoWriMo, I’m here to tell you it not only can be done, but should be attempted by anyone who considers him- or herself a serious writer. The goal is simple: between 12:01 AM November 1^st and midnight November 30^th, you write a minimum 50,000-word book. That’s all. That’s 1,667 words a day, or about 7 pages typed double space.

Over the past five years, I’ve learned some tips and tricks to not only surviving, but thriving during NaNoWriMo, and I’d like to share those with you.

1. Turn off your internal editor.

You don’t have time to think about what you’re writing when you’re on this kind of deadline. Shut him or her up in a closet and just write. Don’t worry about gaping plot holes, inconsistencies, spelling, etc. You can fix all that starting in December. I promise.

2. Don’t fear the weird.

My NaNo books have traditionally been explorations for me outside of my normal writing comfort zone. I find it a conducive environment to the strange ideas which I would normally eschew in favor of “safe” concepts.

3. Break up your writing time.

Writing seven pages at one sitting can be a daunting task, especially if (like me) you’re saddled with work, family, and your two favorite sports playing three to four times a week. But what if you write one page in the morning before work, one page on your lunch break, one page before you start dinner? Take your laptop into the bathroom and write a page there. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to rattle out 250 words here and there and before you know it, you’ve hit your daily quota and then some.

4. Go to bed early and get up early to write.

I know, I know. Nobody wants to drag themselves out of bed at 4 AM to write. But I do it in November, because I can get more work done in those first 2 hours of the day than I can any other time – no work, no family interruptions, nothing but write, write, write.

5. Turn off the internet.

It’s the biggest distraction in the world. I love using wikipedia for quick research, but it’s too easy to start clicking links and then deciding to check blogs and oh, what about facebook? And say, that video looks interesting. And before you know it, you’ve wasted two hours playing instead of working.

6. Give yourself play time.

Playing is therapeutic, and believe me, you’re going to need the stress-relief during a month of intensive writing. So don’t begrudge yourself the four hours on the Wii or the Peter Jackson film festival, so long as you’ve made your quota.

7. Explain to your family what you’ll be doing before November begins.

Get them excited for you. That way when you tell your spouse or significant other or children to let you have your writing time, they’ll understand. If they don’t, I suggest duct tape as an alternative solution.

8. Make outlandish bets that you will succeed.

Nothing will get you back to your writing desk better than the threat of having to wear a gorilla suit to work for a week.

9. Use little rewards to stay on task.

Got leftover Halloween candy? Have a piece every time you finish a page. It won’t help your figure, but if you’ve got a sweet tooth it can be a great motivation. Feel free to forgo your diets in favor of microwaveable entrees, coffee, and ramen noodles for the duration of November. Except for Thanksgiving, of course, when you have a four-day weekend to get a ton of writing done.

10. Have fun.

Remember, nobody is grading you on your work. Nobody is going to point and laugh (unless you have to wear a gorilla suit for a week). You’re giving yourself a 50,000-word jump start on your next book. It’s a rough first draft, but you’ll have 50,000 more words than when you started the month. And, like anything else you write, you can edit it until it’s worth showing around after the month is done.

For more information, visit www.nanowrimo.org or email me at ian@ianthealy.com. Good luck and keep on writing, everyone!