5 Ways To Keep Writing After NaNoWriMo
It's officially December and the pressure of NaNoWriMo is gone, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook until next year. It doesn't matter if you won NaNoWriMo or only got in 1,000 words. Keep the momentum going with these tips.
1. KEEP WRITING!!
NaNoWriMo is over, but that doesn't mean your commitment to writing should be. Write everyday, whether it's 100 words scrawled on the back of a restaurant napkin about an overheard conversation or sitting down and writing 1667 words everyday. Writing is just like exercising. You need to do it everyday to get better.
2. Join A Local Writing Group
Keep in contact with other writers. Most cities have a writers group. In my local group, they host weekly craft meetings, readings at local book stores and coffee shops, book clubs and every critique groups. You usually have to pay a little bit for membership but you get a lot out of it.
3. Join An Online Critique Community
If you don't have local critique groups, you can join an online writing community. You can usually join these sites for free, submit novel excerpts and get feedback from other authors. I only recommend this option if you're not able to hire an editor or join a local group in person. Anonymous feedback tends to be very blunt and not always constructive, but you will get some good nuggets from time to time. In the past I've been a part of critiquecircle.com but there's lots of other options.
4. Hire An Editor
Hiring a personal editor is the best thing you can do for your novel. You'll get feedback from a professional, but you will have to pay for it. There's lot so freelance options all over the internet with varying services and prices. For December, I am cutting all my editing services in half. I have a number of packages available and can fit any budget. Describe your project and what you'd like through my contact page and I'll reach out with a quote shortly.
5. Commit To Your Novel
If, for some reason or another, you can't do anything else above, just commit to your novel. Maybe your first draft was crap, maybe you didn't even finish it, but as long as you come back to it it will get better. Rewrite it, revise it. It doesn't have to be today, this month or even anytime in the foreseeable future. Just don't throw it out, don't forget about it.