1. I am once again participating in NaNoWriMo. Every story has a different process. (Unless it doesn't. That's fine too.)
2. The one I'm writing this year intentionally doesn't have a straightforward start to end chronology. My intention was to write it as it should be read. I have realized that this is basically a flimsy excuse to write out of order.
3. The corollary to that, is lots of people recommend writing the scenes that are calling to you and worrying about putting it back in order later. Other people say, go in order and leave that scene that calls to you as the carrot to keep moving forward. I had tried writing bits ahead before and by the time I would get to where they should go, they didn't fit anymore, I had changed too much. So, I had tried sticking to chronology. So, try things, styles, tricks on for size.
4. Right now, the flip flop chronology is working for me. This story may end up taking forever to put back together. We will see. But right now the words are wording so we continue on.
5. A lot of this is about getting to know your habits, your styles. I was talking to a friend who took a day job course and said a surprising number of adult people in this course had identified flaws in their working style and had done nothing to try to address them. Whether it's experimenting with times of day, devices, writing tricks, if things are working, keep on. If things are not working, try something else.
6. One writer at the kickoff party said she had tried NaNo before with limited success, and had never done any of the social or writing events. So this year, she was trying going to events. I told her write ins work well for me, because once I packed up my stuff and lugged it over, I was going him with more words than I left with. Whereas at home it was easier to stick on the TV and get distracted.
7. One of the best pieces of advice remains the reality that when you feel block, or like you just don't wanna, there are two possibilities. Your brain actually knows it needs to work something and you should take a break, take a walk, think about it (or not think about it). Or, your brain is scared. And that you only solve by writing through. The trick is learning which one it is when it shows up.
