NaNoWriMo Survival Guide: How to Write with Wit and Skill

This month, we’re taking the SURVIVAL acronym from a wilderness survival guide, and using it to lead you through the depths of the forests, lakes, and crags of your writing journey. Mary Robinette Kowal, award-winning writer and puppeteer (you heard me!) , shares just how important it is to write smart :

S – Size Up the Situation
U – Use All Your Senses, Undue Haste Makes Waste
R – Remember Where You Are
V – Vanquish Fear and Panic
I – Improvise
V – Value Living
A – Act Like the Natives
L – Live by Your Wits, But for Now, Learn Basic Skills

NaNoWriMo teaches you to write fast and to write without fear. I have always loved that adventurous plunge into wild story. Even if you are an outliner, like me, you’ll still hit a point where you head off the map and into uncharted territory. That journey can become exhausting because you have to build the landscape and navigate it at the same time.

Sometimes a feature that looks pretty can become impassable, so you have to backtrack and work your way around or invent a passage through the mountains. That’s when you start questioning if you will survive the month…

Live by your wits…

When you start bogging down, trust your instincts. You know the sort of story you want to read, so much of this journey is figuring out how to engage your own sense of wonder.

I’ll tell you a secret. Writers are storytellers, and the first person you are telling a story to is yourself. Don’t worry about any readers right now, this is just a daydream that you’re writing down. 

That place you’re stuck in? What would make you sit up with excitement or pull you deeper in the story if you were just a reader? Do that.

But… make sure that your character is living by her wits too. When she faces a difficult situation, let her make the smartest choice possible. I’m not saying that things should be easy for her—far from it—but what will help you stay engaged is if you have a hero that you want to follow, and that means someone who isn’t creating her own problems. 

Then you, as the author, get to make that smart choice go horribly wrong.

For instance: Scary noise in the dark basement? She’s smart enough to turn on a light. Only it burns out immediately. So she grabs a flashlight. Which gives the monster time to come up the basement stairs.

You get the idea. Make sure she hasn’t been stuck holding the stupid ball. If she’s living by her wits, it’ll make the story more fun for you.

… but learn basic skills

And while you are living by your wits and haring off through the story landscape, take the opportunity to hone your craft. Just because you are writing fast, doesn’t mean you can’t think about the writer toolbox. When you sit down for a writing session, pick a skill that you want to practice. Maybe that’s description of clothing, or dialogue, or using the five senses, or alliteration… whatever it is, take it out for a spin.

This has two benefits, beyond practicing that particular technique. First: It’ll help you hit your word count for the day. Seriously, there is nothing like describing the lace on someone’s cuff in minute detail to boost word count.

Second: You might be surprised at the areas where, say, slipping in some alliteration is useful. But it will also show you what a technique is not good at. That is as good to know so that when you are living by your wits and writing fast, you reach for the right tool.

You want to hit a point where the techniques are an instinct, so you can just enjoy the ride. Wit and skill are the keys to survival.

Mary Robinette Kowal is a novelist and professional puppeteer. Her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey  was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel. When she isn’t writing or puppeteering, Kowal brings her speech and theater background to her work as a voice actor. Mary lives in Chicago with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters. Sometimes she even writes on them.

Photo by Flickr user alessandro luerti.

Best of luck during these last few days, Wrimos! What skills and moments of wit have served you well this past month?