November is National Write A Novel month (also known as NaNoWriMo) where crazy people take up the task of writing 50,000 words in a month. I started late, making the spontaneous decision to participate on the 11th of the month, and though I started with a considerable time handicap, I met the 50K goal a few days before the end of the month.
During this time, words flowed from my fingers to the keys of my laptop effortlessly. I felt like a writing machine and nothing could stand in my way. When December rolled around, I wrote a little less as I started contemplating the quality of the unedited content I had created over the past month. Part of me wanted to start pulling the draft apart, fixing the blaring errors flashing across my screen. But, I was determined to finish this draft fully before taking on the daunting task of editing. (Continued below)
The writing soon slowed more like walking through a swamp, and before I realized what was happening I was officially stuck in the muck. I felt I needed some distance from the story and characters, and the week stretched longer and longer until January was gone as well.
How to get out of the muck? Well, it’s a simple solution. Nike knows the answer, “Just Do It.” I opened the laptop and wrote a few words, which became a couple sentences. I reminded myself that this is simply a first draft and it doesn’t need to be good. Writer Jodi Picoult says it best, “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”
Now, I am writing many additional bad pages that I know I can fix in the many rounds of editing and rewriting that will inevitably come (as long as I keep writing).
Here are some easy tips to get unstuck from the muck.
Schedule time to write. This may sound simple, but sticking to the routine is always easy said than done. Schedule a time to write that you know you can follow through with, even if it is only 10 or 15 minutes at a time.
Remember it doesn’t have to be great or even good. First drafts are called first drafts for a reason. They are meant to be imperfect working documents that grow and change as the story develops and the characters grow. Often times, a novel takes on a life of it’s own as the author is crafting it, and the final journey may be much different than the one you started on. Follow the characters and let the story develop without focusing on the quality of the writing. You can fix it later, I promise.
Be consistent. Make progress on your writing goal each day and as long as you push forward one sentence at a time, you will eventually reach the finish line.
Remove distractions. In today’s technological society, it is almost impossible to not become distracted by social media, internet searches, puppy videos, or texts. Try leaving your phone away from your writing center. Fact checking and research can be completed after you’ve finished your scheduled writing time. Now, if you are like me, just typing on the computer is a distraction as notifications and the internet are constantly hovering as I type, trying to lure me down a new rabbit hole of procrastination. Luckily, there are several programs designed to remove such obstacles from your life. A few to check out are FocusWriter, WriteMonkey and OmmWriter. There are also programs such as StayFocusd, a Chrome extension program, that allows you to set daily limits on the amount of time you spend on timewasting sites (cough, cough, Instagram perhaps?). When you reach the allotted time for the day, the site is blocked until the next day to help keep your focus on your work.
Set a goal for each scheduled writing session. Whether it be a specific number of words or chapters, work until you have reached the goal you set. Having a smaller, measurable goal for each writing session helps take the insurmountable goal of finishing a novel and break it into manageable and realistic pieces. By successfully reaching smaller goals, you will be able to see your progress and finish each session feeling successful and each of these successes will someday blossom into a completed work.
Change it up. Take a break from your project, but keep writing. Maybe start journaling or write a short story. Write something fun and fresh with no expectations. Blogging is an excellent way to overcome the monotony of working on a novel, and also provides an avenue for exploring the issues encountered while working on your project.
Read! The best authors are avid readers. Don’t forget to pick up a book and read while you are writing your novel. Take a break and read something that inspires you or just reminds you of why you love to write. For my current novel, I used A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin when I needed a break from the world I was personally creating. Reading well written books can often provide guidance when a writing dilemma is encountered. For example, George R.R. Martin masterfully creates characters of depth and complexity. His character development helped me to see the ways my own were lacking and inspired me to make them more three dimensional.
In the end, the answer is simple. Just do it. Forget the list of excuses and reasons you can’t write and just start. Keep going and before long, you will have a completed work.
Happy writing!
Laurel E. Cole 
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