Monday, April 15, 2013

Camp NaNoWriMo Pep Talk

So my intrepid WriMoers you have sailed through the first two weeks of this journey. The brights lights of NaNoland are on the horizon. You can smell the fried twinkies on the air and you can just imagine how soft the beds are at the inn. And of the feast they are preparing in honor of your win is going to be just as delicious as it is magnificent. Who can blame you? We had a long and hard journey. That tar pit was not fun at all believe you mean. We had a good time as well. We toasted marshmallows around the camp fire and we sang that sill Spongebob campfire song, song. That was actually a fair amount of fun. We lost some members of our marry band of campers. *sniffle* They will be missed. Never fear we will see them again. I promise.

So you are hitting your daily word count and you and your story are getting along like a house fire. Its happening to me too. This is by far the best time I've had with a story in a good while. The words are flowing and your story is pure literary magic. I mean like Harry Potter magic.

Then WHAM!

All of a sudden your fingers won't move. Your palms get sweaty and your vision blurs. That blinking cursor is taunting you. Every blink is a dagger through the heart. That empty page is texting all of its buddies to come over and dance around your writing space because you can't write. Bards are now as I type this singing ballads about you epic writer's block.

You poured your heart and soul into the first two weeks and now your muse is dog tired. She is sprawled across the couch in a drunken stupor with her lipstick smudge across her cheek and up into her hair, and you are sure when she left the house last she had on two shoes. The poor dear can't even rouse herself for 300 words here, 750 words there. Some days your can't even get her to give you a smile.

Maybe you've ran into a major plot hole and you haven't been abel to write yourself out of it. Well my lovely this is the week, right here, right now that will separate the writers from the mice.

Mice scurry away at the first sign of trouble. Loud noises, sudden movement, Scary Movie 5 are all enough to send a mouse running for the hole in the wall. Nice run for the hills at the first plot hole. They balk when their perfectly planned character turns out to be a man that likes to sleep in women's underwear. They quit at the first sign of trouble.

Writers, however, stay the course. We writers are a tough breed. Like the saying goes we are capable of taking caffeine and turning it into the nest great American novel. Or the lastest craze at Comic Con. Take your pick. That's the one I'm shooting for. Writers sit down and write regardless of the vacation time of their muse. She's a flighty bird anyways.

Writers write regardless of how they feel or where their muse is. Mice run away when their story gets hard. They give up when the words aren't flowing like melted butter. So you have to ask yourself, are you going to be a writer or are you going to be a mouse. If you need inspiration or a swift kick in the pants join us on twitter @NaNoSprints or @NaNoWriMo for zany prompts and word sprints. I promise inspiration will strike.

This is going to be the toughest week yet. Wou will be present with all the reasons to quit and give up. The intoxicating smell of lake water and stadium hot dogs on the grill is an evil temptress that will drag you down into the depths of Tartarus before you realize it. Do not go gently into that good night.

Stand and fight! We will prevail I promise you that. You just have to make up in your mind that you are not going to quit. You have to tell yourself that you are going to reach NaNoLand and then park your tush in that chair and write! Write when you don't feel like it. Write when your muse is out all night partying her skirt off. Write when that cursor is taunting you. All it takes is one word and you are further along in your story than you were yesterday.

Write.

And as always happy noveling my lovelies!!

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