NaNoWriMo Day 1

Silence your inner editor, glue your butt to the chair, and write.

There’s a famous anecdote about Ray Bradbury that goes something like this: When asked the secret to his success as a writer, Bradbury supposedly said, “Ass glue.” As in glue your ass to your chair and write. It’s pretty good advice, and if there were ever a time to glue yourself to a seat, it’s during NaNoWriMo.

While we’re taking advice from the greats, let’s not forget the famous admonition from Annie Lamott:

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.”

I know one of the challenges writers often face when staring down the blank page is an inner-editor who chimes in the minute the first words are down, saying, “This is terrible! What laughable garbage! You think you can write?”

If you hear that voice today, have a rebuttal ready: “Yes, inner editor, that’s true. That is an ugly sentence. I’m writing a shitty first draft today, so not only am I fine with a terrible sentence, I’m doing exactly what I set out to do, which is to write something, anything, maybe something terrible, because that is how all good writing begins.”

Another challenge writers face is a sense that they must nail the opening in order to move the story forward. Let’s dispense with that immediately.

Whatever words you write first for NaNo are almost certainly not the words that readers will first encounter in your finished story. Opening paragraphs or scenes are hard. They are the hardest thing you will write, and they are also the last thing you will finalize, way down the line, on your second, third, or fourth draft. Make a promise to yourself right now: You will not attempt to write your attention-grabbing opening paragraph until you have finished the entire draft. Once your story has a beginning, middle, and end, then and only then will you know how best to entice your reader in your first paragraph, so for now, forget about it!

How should you begin, then, if not at the beginning? You could do worse than “Once upon a time.” Sometimes tradition is our friend.

But if you’re not a “once upon a time” sort of writer, here are some ways to start when starting feels hard:

• Put your main character in your primary setting. Describe the character moving through that setting including as many sensory details for both the character and setting as possible. Build a good visual of the character and world.

• In the early chapters of your book, you will want to try to show your main character in each of the three central domains of their life: At work, at home, and at play. For now, set aside any worry about plot and write scenes in these domains. For each central domain, write a scene that lets us see your main character in his or her ordinary life, life as it exists before it is upended by whatever conflicts or obstacles will drive the story forward. These early scenes give us a point of reference from which we will base our sense of the extent to which the character grows and changes throughout the story. By showing all three domains, you are building a well-rounded character.

Now that you’re ready to write, let’s go! Here are some prompts you can use over the first few days of the challenge to keep the words rolling. I’ll be back on Tuesday with more inspiration to help you along.

Writing Prompts

Throughout my prompts, I am often going to suggest that you write a scene. By a scene, I mean a continuous sequence of events that occur in a limited timeframe. I intend each prompt to be a 15-minute word sprint. Set a timer for 15 minutes and just keep writing until the timer goes off. You’ll be amazed by what you can achieve in 15 minutes. These first few prompts are designed to help you know your main character more fully. You do them one after the other right now, pick and choose, do one a day for the first four days of the challenge—whatever works for you!

1. Write a scene in which your main character does something that demonstrates his or her best personal qualities. What is positive, admirable, or even heroic about your character? Where does that trait show up? Give us a moment where we see that goodness.

2. Write a scene in which your main character does something that demonstrates his or her worst character flaw. What bad habit or attitude holds your character back in life? Where is this flaw particularly apparent? Give us a moment where we see that negative attribute.

3. Write a scene where your main character does the opposite of what he or she logically should. Try to give your character a good reason—or at least a reasonable-to-him/her justification—for doing this seemingly illogical thing. Show us the moment of decision making and help us understand the character’s actions.

4. Write a scene in which your character articulates—either to another character or internally to him or herself—what it is he or she wants. Is there a way for your character to want two conflicting things? Even better!

Show your work!

I’d love to hear from you as you begin your NaNo journey. Share a sentence or two from your WIP in the comments and let me know how it’s going!