With November being National Novel Writing Month, most everyone's goal is to get in lots of words! But that can be harder than it sounds. Sometimes, it can be difficult getting in any words, let alone a mega wordcount.
So, without further ado, here are my top 5 tips for getting in your wordcount!
Tip #1: Know your Why
Why did you start writing? Was it because you wanted to share your beliefs? Was it a way to express yourself? Did you just love tinkering around with stories? Find the Why behind why you write and write it down. Put it on your bathroom mirror, in your journal, anywhere!
Knowing your Why and acknowledging your gifts and talents as what they are—gifts!—will help you remember why we as authors torture ourselves with long wordcounts—because of our Why.
Tip #2: Create Incentive
It can be really hard to get in words, when all you want to do is go read that new book that's sitting on the shelf. But... what if you used that to get in words?
Allow yourself one chapter of that new book, then get your wordcount! You won't believe how motivated you are to get in your wordcount when you have a book that you've been dying to read staring you in the face 😂
Tip #3: Set the Mood
With a themed candle or essential oils, you can be unstoppable!... okay, maybe not quite, but it really does help to set the mood! Candles scented like the season/setting/etc. your story is set in can really make you feel like you're in the scene. Or an essential oil diffuser is great too!
If you can set the mood for your writing, it can really help you to be more inspired!
Tip #4: Sprint!
It helps me sooooo much to get my wordcount in if I can sprint with a friend to get it done! Text a friend, call up a writing buddy, and sprint for 10-15 minutes at a time!
Or, better yet, you can have a word war! Set a time limit and see who gets the most words in! Sometimes, you'll find you got in more than your word goal! Plus, it's a lot of fun. 😉
Tip #5: Pray Over Your Writing
This is a pretty big one for me. Faith has always been a huge part of my life—writing included. And taking the time to pray over your writing and asking God to be a part of your writing time can help tremendously. Just take a minute before you start writing to thank God for the amazing gift that He has given you and ask for Him to come into your quiet time.
For me, I ask God to give me His story to tell and His words to write it. I ask that He would be with me during this writing time, and all the rest that are to come.
I hope these tips will help you get in your wordcount! Just, please remember that because all of these work for me, it doesn't mean that all of these will work for you 💙
What about you?
What are some things that you have found
that help you get in your wordcount?
I'd love to hear in the comments!
Tallyho!
Deigan
YES!! These are awesome tips that have definitely helped me write faster!!! Thank you for sharing them 😄 One thing I love doing, in terms of setting the mood, is playing YouTube ambience videos (like autumn leaves falling) that fit the mood of my story!
Great tips, Deigan! I've found that sometimes it helps me if I play an album and race against each song to get 100 words in. At the end of an hour long album with 10 songs, I'd have nearly 1200 words!