Fighting the Halfway Point Blues

Can you believe November is already halfway over?

That also means we’ve made it halfway through NaNoWriMo!

I know to some, thinking there is still a whole other half of NaNo to do is kind of overwhelming. I think the same. Those keyboards have been working harder than ever, those coffee mugs have never felt so loved, your fingers are screaming at the idea of a whole other half a month to keep going, your characters also may be screaming at you (mine are…a lot).

But that does not mean you should give up! We’ve made it this far. We’ve climbed up halfway the mountain, and though journeying on seems impossible, that beautiful prize of satisfaction is just waiting for us at the top.

For motivation and the drive to go on, I have some buddies keeping me in line.

The Doctor is very serious about NaNoWriMo. He loves books after all. And besides, how could I ever say no to him?

Even Loki is on the NaNo boat. And, trust me, he doesn’t mess around.

When you’ve got two very powerful aliens giving you orders, well…woe be to those who rebel.

Even Larry my laptop, who has a place just above the keyboard to put text in, has been cheering me on. Actually…screaming at me might be the better term.

Larry has a very…er…pushy personality. He might be as scary as Loki.

That’s really all the motivation I need right there. Gracious, just the Doctor picture would suffice for me.

I think our greatest motivation, though, is looking to the top of that mountain we climb, knowing very soon we’ll be there, novel in hand, with a satisfying feeling unmatched to anything else.

But, unfortunately, motivation isn’t always enough. We actually need means to get the words written, yeah?

Just the other day, one of the participants on the NaNo forums said to really get those words written out, she covered up the word counter on her word document so she could focus on the writing and not worry how many words were there. I thought this was brilliant. I have a horrible habit of just staring at the word counter down there in the little corner, worrying about how many words I have and how many more I need to get out, instead of focusing on the story.

So during my writing today, I tried just that. Getting out a sticky note, I cut it in half and stuck it right where the word counter on the computer screen is.

Let me tell you, it really works miracles. I found I could just focus solely on my story and stop thinking about that word count so much. And, as a result, I ended up getting more words. …Though it’s extremely tempting to peek under that piece of paper.

Another tip that is the only way I’m ever able to accomplish writing is by not allowing myself to touch the internet until I’ve written my daily quota of the day. That internet sure is distracting. So…so…distracting.

If anyone has any motivation or tips for getting those words written, I’d love to hear them!

Only half a month more. Let’s climb this hill. We can do it!