4 Tips to Sail Smoothly Through Camp NaNoWriMo

Okay, Campers! As we let the dust settle from Week 3 and enter the last week of Camp NaNoWriMo, it may be time to remind ourselves of all the resources we have at our fingertips. Take advantage of your greater writing community and don’t underestimate the power of your imagination! Here are a few tips to keep you typing, penned by YWP participant: Peiying Tsai:

Hello Fellow Writers!

It’s that time again where we sharpen our wits, fortify our minds, and immerse ourselves in writing. As fun as this month of writing is, we all know it hasn’t been smooth sailing all the way. Inevitably, you may have come across one of the most dreaded obstacles: writer’s block. It may seem futile. You may wish to put your writing away to never see the light of day. You may flounder around the house for hours without making any progress. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, when faced with writer’s block, you can try out the tips listed below.

1. My number one suggestion is always to talk to someone about it, even if they’re not a writer. 

It may seem daunting to show your writing to someone else, but the end goal for many of us is to eventually publish and show the world our work. Other people will be able to give you a fresh take on your writing and help you come up with ideas you did not previously think about. Sometimes, even the mere act of talking will get the cogs in your brain moving. Often when I have writer’s block, it is solved with talking to someone about it. Many times, the problem at hand is much smaller than you would have thought!

2. My second tip is to read other people’s writing. 

Most of us, before we were writers, were readers. Reading can remind us why we fell in love with writing, reigniting the desire to return to our writing. 

Sometimes, you might even find the answers you’re looking for in the book. For instance, if you’re having difficulties writing dialogue, read someone else’s dialogue. If you’re having problems with an action scene, read someone else’s fight scene. Pick up your favorite book and ask yourself why you love it. What made that book work in your opinion? Try to infuse that same joy you feel reading it in your writing. In your hand is the product of an author who was once in the same position as you, and that book is proof that writer’s block is beatable.

3. My third tip would be to use a prompt. 

The NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program has an excellent selection of prompts to help you out in a pinch in its “Dare Machine.” If that doesn’t satisfy you, the Internet has an even wider selection of writing prompts to choose from. You can even specifically look up prompts that suit your needs, like romance prompts, dialogue prompts, fantasy prompts, even image prompts! Most prompts I have seen are fun and creative, and I’m always itching to write something after reading them.

4. Lastly, don’t worry about being perfect! 

As you forge into Camp NaNoWriMo this summer, remember: quantity over quality. You can always edit a bad page, but not a blank one. 

If you’re really stuck on a scene, simply write a summary of what happens and continue on to write a scene you’d much rather write, and then come back to the scene giving you trouble with a newly awakened vigor. Don’t procrastinate, don’t get caught up in minutiae, but instead focus on getting your story on the page, especially if it’s your first draft.

All of us have a story worth telling. All of the hard work you’re putting into your writing will pay off in the end. Now go write!

Peiying Tsai is a high schooler with a great life long passion for creative writing and loves talking about it with fellow writers. When not writing, Peiying can be found drawing despite a lack of talent, reading voraciously, or watching the latest blockbuster movies.

Top photo by Katherine McCormack on Unsplash.