NaNoWriMo 2017 Writing Research – Word of the Day Challenge Day 2
Hello day 2 of NaNo! I’m here with your word of the day and some NaNo advice about research.
I spent far too long last night preparing for this blog series instead of writing my novel, so I’m a tad behind finishing day 1 with just under 2,500. It’s been ages since I’ve written so I feel like my writing is so rusty, and I decided the day before NaNo to work on my fantasy novel that I started writing about 4 years ago so I’m not as familiar with the story as I’d like, which is presenting it’s own challenges.
How are your word counts looking?
Writing Research
With NaNoWriMo it’s always more about quantity than quality – at least until it is over. Therefore, research can throw a wrench into that philosophy.
I remember during NaNo of ’14, I started to get really concerned with researching really granular aspects of my story, which took me away from writing.
For example, one of my characters needed a poultice to apply to a wound to stop infection. I spent far too long looking up herbs and their healing properties before realising that this is MY NOVEL and it is in a fantasy world so I could make it up!
Once I overcame that hurdle, I then became concerned with more fantastical words for everyday items, such as trousers and cooker.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is, don’t do this!
Keep writing! Don’t lose the flow!
My best advice is to use is to highlight the word in question, add a comment (if you’re using scrivener or have a version of word that can do this) and move on. Do not interrupt that flow! You can come back later when you’re feeling a lacking of creativity to research.
Word of the Day : November 2, 2017
clew
Definition
1 : a ball of thread, yarn, or cord
2 : something that guides through an intricate procedure or maze of difficulties : clue
3 a : a lower corner or only the after corner of a sail
b : a metal loop attached to the lower corner of a sail
c : (plural) a combination of lines by which a hammock is suspended
Examples
“High overhead, topmen scrambled to furl and unfurl sails and tend to yards and booms and spars and various clews.” — Corey Kilgannon, The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2009
“But this boldness that I took to be presumption was a vital clew to the nature of Ernest Everhard.” — Jack London, The Iron Heel, 1908
What novel are you working on for NaNoWriMo?
Thanks for reading! I hope this challenge is helpful to you, good luck and catch you tomorrow!
13 Comments
Research can be fun but it can also easily get me detracted for HOURS before I actually find what I’m looking for and get back to writing. Last night I was planing on trying to look for a particular name I wanted but ended up just using a place holder I could come back and replace later rather than sitting on the web for hours looking for the right name.
Yes! For this reason I have a list of names I like for my novel so in these cases I have a name I can shove in 😁
That’s always a good plan!
I’ve been doing writing sprints to help me get back into the writing mojo. And I do find myself doing research in between my writing, but it is so fun!
I do sprints too! Do you do them alone or in groups?
I usually do them alone for around 20 minutes each with a timer on my laptop.
If yo ever twitter went to sprint together let me know 😁 I’m actually part of a Skype group of nano writers if you wanna join?
Thanks! I’ll definitely let you know. I’m really bad at writing at the same time everyday and sometimes write well into the night so twitter would probably be the best option.
Oh we don’t have a schedule! We just pop in whenever we’re free. We’re different time zones and stuff ☺️
I love reading nanowrimo posts, I get excited reading them even though I’m not participating lol. Good luck with posting every day, and with meeting your word count!
Thank you Victoria, I think I’ll need it haha.
Do you write? Or just not interested in nano in particular?
Would you believe I think I can actually use this word in my new project? I’m going to try tonight and then I’ll let you know how it goes.
Yey! I’m excited to hear about how you use these words 😁