Camp Pep: Writing Like a Monkey In a Box

For this Camp session, we invited some true experts to write pep talks: our participants! Today, Bill Patterson has five tips to keep writing, and proposes a writing marathon this coming Saturday, July 20:

Ack! The month is half over and you’re nowhere near the halfway point of your novel! What to do? Embrace Herman Woulk’s words: “When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!"

Whoo! That was fun. We still have those unwritten words though, you know. Grab a towel and don’t panic. The sudden realization that you’re behind has a kind of liberating effect. You cannot afford to go back and edit! You only have time to sit down and write.

"But I’m stuck!" you say. “My outline is trashed! The characters are off the rails!" Excellent! There are two ways to proceed: continue their newfound journey (maybe your subconscious is telling you something) or draw a big line across the document, type "Everything above this is trash", and rewind your novel back before the characters went haywire. Here are four more tips to keep writing:

Unhappy with the scene you just wrote? Draw a line, label it “Take One", and rewrite it! But do not ever erase a word—they all count!

Can’t think of a character name? Call her ProtagGirl. In August, figure out a name, then do a search and replace. Once I named a character Dwain, it stood for ‘Demon Without An Interesting Name’. I got such a chuckle out of that, I kept it.

Stymied by some bit of research? Drop a line to yourself, and keep writing. You don’t have time for fooling around in Wikipedia! The Reference Desk forum will still be up and running in August. Ask your question then. Here’s how I handle it:

"I’m afraid your husband has contracted SomeDisease," said the doctor.

"What is it?" she asked.

——- Hey Bill—research that cool skin-falling-off disease, data-dump it here. ——

"That’s horrible," she said.

You already know the plot: he’s stuck in ICU, she’s doing the mission, touch-and-go in the ICU. Write that, and worry about the real-life medical details later.

Bumming about your word count? Need a kick in the pants? Well, I have that covered too. On Saturday, July 20, I’m writing in a public library from 9 to 5. Not impressed? I’ll also be surrounded by camping gear, under a big Camp NaNoWriMo banner, and have everyone reading what I write on a large flatscreen, with an hourly word-count guessing contest for the library patrons.

Here’s some math: I write about 1800 words/hour. I’ll be writing 45 minutes out of every hour, or 1350 words per hour. 8 hours yields 10,800 words. Sounds huge, right?   Don’t worry about my goals—come up with your own!  Hang with me for one hour or all eight.  I’ll be posting my word count in the Campfire Circle forum—just look for the Monkey in a Box Results thread.  

Let’s make this interesting.  The Wrimo who posts the closest guess of my total word count for the day will win something excellent—rules will also be in the Results thread.  

Come on!  You can do this!  This is why we write. This is why you’re in NaNo. Who says writing has to be in November? Who says you have to stretch your writing out over a month?  So join us on the 20th!  Write. Just write.  And keep writing!  Post your results!  And eat a banana—they’re full of potassium.  

Bill Patterson joined NaNoWriMo in 2007 and became the Municipal Liaison for Central New Jersey in 2011. He has been published in JournalStone’s SF anthology “90 Minutes to Live"(2011), as well as Mutation Press’s SF anthology “Rocket Science" (2011). His 2007 novel is seeking representation, and he is currently finishing his first YA novel. He and his wife of 30 years, Barbara, live with their two sons in Central New Jersey.

Illustration by Kayla Matt.