Thread by @thebencheah

#NaNoWriMo is here again.

50,000 words in 30 days.

Impossible?

There was a time when I would have thought so too.

Now, after a 5-year publishing career with 16 published novels, writing 50K words in 30 days is routine.

Here's the secret to massive output:

Don't focus on writing more.

Focus on eliminating obstacles to writing.

With nothing to hinder you, your productivity will ramp up dramatically.

100 words a day becomes 500.

500 becomes 1000.

1000 becomes 2000.

Next thing you know, you're hitting 3, 4, 5K words a day, day after day. Or more.

This means 50K words in just 2 weeks. Or less.

Would you like that?

Here are 5 tips to do that.

1. Set smaller goals

If this is your first novel, the thought of writing 50K words is intimidating.

It's a huge number of words, no matter which way you want to look at it.

Chunk it down. Cut it down to size. Make it manageable.

50K words in 30 days means 1667 words a day.

If you can't write every day, then divide 50K by the number of days you do have available.

That is your daily wordcount.

Do everything it takes to hit that goal.

Can't do it on one day?

Then the remaining words left from that day will be transferred to the next day.

If your goal is to write 2000 words a day but only manage 1500, then the next day you must write at least 2500.

Sounds tough?

You gotta be, to win.

NaNoWriMo has a win rate of 12 to 19%.

That's comparable to the graduation rate for US Special Operations training and selection.

On the other hand, NaNoWriMo doesn't have to be tougher than it has to be.

Which leads us to...

2. Prepare before you write

Elite athletes spend weeks, months, even years training for high-level competitions.

Writing a novel requires the same level of dedication and preparation to win a competition.

That's something you can learn from them.

I spend at least a week plotting a novel.

More, if the plot is complicated.

I examine the plot from multiple angles, making sure it is watertight.

I only write when the story is ready to be written. No earlier.

The purpose of plotting beforehand is to prime your brain for writing.

When you sit down to write, you want to be focused on writing.

You already know what will happen in each scene and chapter, what characters will say and do, how they will react to each other.

Plotting requires intense concentration and energy.

Concentration and energy are limited.

You want to get plotting out of the way early on so that when it is time to write, you can spend that energy on writing.

You're not cooking up plot points on the fly.

You're not pondering what your MC should say or do.

This is a self-inflicted obstacle.

Time and energy you spend doing this is time and energy you're not spending on writing.

Maybe you're not a plotter. Maybe you're a pantser. Maybe you're a hybrid.

Nonetheless, I encourage you to be mentally prepared when it is time to write.

At the very least, when you sit down to write, you should know what you're going to write.

Knowing what you're going to write before you write is half the battle won.

You know what to do.

All you have to do is execute.

But that can be hard.

So here's the next tip:

3. When writing, write.

Simple, isn't it?

But so many people have so much difficulty doing just one thing.

When they say they are writing, they are not actually writing.

They are watching cat videos on the Net. They are doing chores. They are doomscrolling on social media.

They are doing everything except writing.

And that's why they lose, and keep losing.

Here's how to win.

When it is time to write, seal yourself off from the world.

Close your tabs. Toss your phone into another room. Disable your browser. Stay away from everything that isn't writing related.

Above all: you must protect your writing time.

No interruptions.

No distractions.

As far as possible, cut out everything that will distract you.

When you have only one thing in front of you, focusing on it becomes easy—even natural.

Even then... you still have one more monster to slay:

Editing.

4. Write, not Edit

When you write, there's always the temptation to go back and polish what you've already written.

I must have done that countless times.

Which is why I know it is a self-inflicted obstacle.

You want the words to be perfect, the scene to be perfect, the chapter to be perfect.

It's natural to want to be perfect.

But writing is not the time to do it.

When you are writing—write.

Nothing more.

Don't go back and edit your words.

Editing is slow, cold and meticulous work.

Writing is fast, free and fiery.

Editing slows you down. You must maintain your momentum. You must stay in the zone.

A word edited is a word that is not written.

Give yourself permission to be imperfect.

You can always go back and edit the story after you're done.

Your prose just has to be good enough.

Good enough that you know what's going on, so you can write the next chapter, and the next, and the next.

There is only one exception to this rule:

You stumble across a plot hole. You don't know what to do next. The only way to proceed is to go back and add to a previous chapter.

You are writing fresh matter, so it goes towards your wordcount.

Other than that: don't go back.

5. Release attachment to outcome

It's easy to get anxious about writing.

You have to write this much, this way, by this time, or else.

The energy you burn on anxiety and negative emotions is energy that could have gone towards writing.

Release yourself from that.

Maybe you discover a better way of writing the story. Maybe life happens and you just can't hit your mark.

It's okay.

Don't get caught up in the goals that you lose sight of the way.

Whatever happens, happens. Adapt to it, and carry on.

Don't get hung up on your goals.

The goal is just a guide.

Focus your energies on writing.

On how you write. What you write. And WHY you write.

You have a story to share with the world.

You have a reason to write.

Let that motivate you.

Keep that in the back of your mind as you write.

Allow it to fuel your fingers, to fire your imagination, to carry you through the finish line—and beyond.

The wordcount is not the goal.

The goal is completing your story.

The wordcount is merely feedback, to show you how close you are to achieving it.

Writing takes you closer to your goal.

Focus on the act of writing, not the goal.

And then the goal becomes reality.

Hope you've found this thread useful!

Need more advice?

Check out Pulp on Pulp on Amazon!

It's a collection of tips and tricks from some of the best indie writers in the biz.

I would have given it out for free, but Amazon won't let me.

amazon.com/Pulp-Tips-Tric…

Good luck, have fun, and write on!

I'll see you at the end of NaNoWriMo.

And if you want to take your writing to the next level—

Reach out to me, and let's talk about what I can do for you.

#PulpRev #writingcommunity #amwriting