Day 5: NaNoWriMo writing tip

Here is a tip for NaNo ‘pansters’ – yes, those brave people who sit down and write, without a plan. This tip will save you a world of pain as you struggle beyond the first few days and suddenly realise you can’t remember a single word of what you wrote on day one.

Yep, in the early stages it is fairly easy to read back over what you have done and to find those vital pieces of information.

• What was the colour of my hero/heroine’s eyes/hair/car/cat?
• What was the wicked stepmother/boss/ex-husband’s real name?
• How exactly was the vicar/cook/gardener killed and was it in the library/kitchen/flower-bed?

But how will you cope when you get towards the end and there are 50,000 words to scroll back through?

NaNo writing tip number two

Keep a notebook. Jot down:

1. The names of your characters as you invent them.
2. A few descriptive features about their looks or their possessions.
3. A time-line of key events, ages, dates.

My 2013 NaNo novel is called Chasing Credit. Got to get back to it…

Author: Ruth Livingstone

Walker, writer, photographer, blogger, doctor, woman, etc. View all posts by Ruth Livingstone