writing motivation

You’ve probably heard. It’s National Novel Writing Month—an annual writing marathon that challenges its participants to write a complete novel consisting of at least 50,000 words in only thirty days. Known affectionately by its practitioners as NaNoWriMo, hundreds of thousands of wordsmiths around the globe take part—last year’s event inspired 2.8 billion words. Rumor has it some people are even freezing a month’s worth of food so they can scribble uninterrupted, literary-style.

We’re at the halfway mark of NaNoWriMo, and you may be feeling fatigued, run down, and just plain sick of writing. If you’re not quite willing to give up your Thursday spaghetti night but are finding yourself a bit behind, we’ve collected our favorite tips to get you out of your writing slump.

Read!

You may be sick of words by now but believe us, reading is a great way to stimulate the writing process. All of us have an author or two who makes us just want to write. Not into being inspired by an author you look up to? Read a book in your same space and be motivated by competition—take this month to write a better book.

Write.

You heard it here first, people—you need to write in order to be a successful NaNoWriMo participant. But what if you’re at the point where the idea of putting your fingers to the keyboard is physically repulsive? Try typing out your favorite passage or chapter from a book, copying it word for word. This act can get you in the rhythm of writing and also give you an idea of how other authors structure their narrative details.

Mix It Up.

Don’t stress about writing your novel in order. Write whatever pleases you at the moment. Have a funny joke? Skip a few lines or open up a new document and write that thing down! Feeling lousy? Write the sappiest scene in your book, regardless of where it’s supposed to be. In a prolific phase? Might as well write the first and last paragraphs. This will help you feel more positive toward your book; maybe you’ll even stop shooting those threatening glances at your keyboard.

Gettin’ Social With It.

No, we didn’t just write this tip because we wanted to include a Will Smith reference. (OK, that was part of it—but only a small part!) Blogging and tweeting about your experience can reenergize your dedication to your project. Knowing that others are going through the same struggles and triumphs you are will be refreshing. It will also hold you accountable to finishing the project.

Embrace the Slump.

Try not to get too worried about your laziness. Writing motivation ebbs and flows. Have confidence that you will feel the urge to write again, and you will finish your project. Indulge yourself with an afternoon of television, a long nap, the local Chinese buffet—whatever you want to do.

Go Outside.

Fresh air stimulates thinking and ideas. It allows more oxygen to reach the brain, making your mind more alert. So take your computer outside or take a break to take the kids to the park. Even Einstein recognized the value of thinking outdoors. He was known to systematically take a walk or ride his bike to encourage his inventive thinking.

Don’t Think Beyond NaNoWriMo.

Eventually you’re going to need to consider all the things beyond your manuscript—the marketability of the book, the way it fits in with your brand, its cover, not to mention securing a publisher and a distributor. This goes against our standard advice of avoiding shotgun publishing, but given the goal of NaNoWriMo, now’s not the time to get bogged down with all those worries. All you need to think about is finishing.

If none of these tips get you motivated, check out GalleyCat, mediabistro.com’s publishing blog—they’re listing a tip each day for the whole thirty days of NaNoWriMo. And they did it last year, too. That’s, what, sixty tips? Should get you to the end of next week. If not, you can always remind yourself that Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants during NaNoWriMo—since then, the book has made the New York Times bestseller list, sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and been made into a movie. Sounds good, right? Now get to your keyboard!