How on earth are you guys going to write a novel in a month? You have school! And homework (I’m guessing lots of homework!). And probably after-school activities and sports and maybe a part-time job or chores around the house…not to mention it’s November, which means sweeps month in the world of TV, which means all kinds of important things are happening on all your favorite shows! (Yes, I’ll admit it, I pay way too much attention to TV.)
So when will you find time to write anything, let alone a whole novel?
Here are some of my tricks for fitting your novel into the rest of your life:
1. A Novel in Notes: Get a small notebook that’ll fit in your jacket pocket or backpack, and carry it with you wherever you go. Take notes on your story whenever you have a spare moment—on the bus, while your teacher is handing out papers, or if you’re waiting in line at the library. That’s how I wrote my first novel, This Must Be Love! I still have a notebook with those little IM conversations and diary entries between Helena and Hermia, many of which I wrote on the subway on my way to work. Even if I didn’t use them in the book itself, it helped me keep the characters in my head.
2. This Is Your Brain on NaNoWriMo: There’s a lot of free time in the average day when you can’t be writing, but you can still be working on your novel. Try to think about your story all the time—sometimes I get my best ideas in the shower, or while I’m helping make dinner, or as I’m falling asleep at night. When I’m out walking my dog, I look at the houses we walk past and try to decide which ones my characters would live in and what it says about them. Or I focus on a particular question in the plot and see if I can come up with an answer by the end of the walk. Let your novel live in your head all month long.
3. Ice Cream Can Get Me To Do Almost Anything: Think of writing as a reward, so you’ll look forward to it and really want to fit it into your day. For instance, tell yourself that if you finish your math homework, you’re allowed to write two pages of your novel. Then when you finish your biology homework, you can write another two pages. And when you’ve reached your writing goal for the day, you get another kind of reward—my favorite rewards for myself are watching my favorite TV show or eating a bowl of ice cream (or, um, both) (la la la). It also really helps if you have a DVR or TiVo so you can save your shows for later!
4. The Extra Half-Hour: I know some people who love to get up early in the morning to write. They set their alarm clock half an hour earlier and start writing as soon as they wake up, giving themselves that whole extra half-hour of time just for their novel. If you can do that, good for you! Me, I couldn’t POSSIBLY ever do this, because the snooze button is my best friend, and I hate mornings. But as a night owl, I usually find my writing time on the other end of the day. You don’t want to deprive yourself of sleep, but could you set aside the last half-hour of your day just for writing? After you brush your teeth and put your pajamas on, sit down at the computer and pour out as many words as you can in half an hour. The best part about that is you’ll be thinking about your novel as you fall asleep…you might even dream what should happen next!
5. Weekends: Not Just for Sleeping In: Don’t underestimate the power of weekends. I’ve written half a novel in a weekend, just by focusing on that and nothing else (it helps that I had a deadline looming!). It also helps if you can get your family to support this plan. Tell them you need uninterrupted writing time and you’ll see them at dinner. And then turn off your cell phone, your chat rooms, Facebook, the Internet—all of those time-sucking things! Your novel is everything for those few hours. Take a break every few pages, but go back to it as soon as you feel recharged. Finished novel, here you come!
6. I Bet Your Characters Are Less Annoying Than Mohinder Anyway: Can you replace something that takes up time in your life with writing time instead? For instance, how much time do you spend every day surfing the internet? (Me: WAY TOO MUCH.) Do you need to talk to your best friend on the phone for an hour every night, or would half an hour be enough? Is there a TV show you don’t really love that you could give up for a month? (Honestly, I don’t think anything new is going to happen on Heroes anytime soon, since nobody actually ever DIES, bah humbug.) Before November starts, look at what you spend time on every day, and then think about whether there’s something you could squeeze out or condense to give yourself that time for writing instead. Trust me, when you have a finished novel on December 1, it’ll be worth it!
I know what it’s like to be busy, but I also know you must love writing to sign up for this, so I have faith that you can do it! I hope my tips help, and I wish you all lots of luck!
Tui
Tui T. Sutherland was born in Caracas, Venezuela and named after a very noisy New Zealand bird. She is the author of more than 30 books for kids and teens, including the new Pet Trouble series, a Shakespearean romantic comedy called This Must Be Love, the Avatars trilogy, the biography Who Was Harry Houdini?, the pirate series Legends of the Brethren Court (under the pen name Rob Kidd), and the Little House spin-off Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls (under the pseudonym Heather Williams). She is also delighted to be one of four authors working on the Warriors and Seekers books under the name Erin Hunter. She lives in Boston with her husband and her perfect dog, Sunshine. Visit her blog and read about her other books at www.tuibooks.com!
