nanowrimo_lj | (no subject)

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Is anyone else struggling with a diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder and trying to do NaNo? How about completely paralyzed by plot holes? I was stuck on a particular part of my novel last night so when I went to bed I made the mistake of talking about it with MY STUPID HUSBAND, hoping he would help talk me through it. Instead (completely unintentionally, I know... he doesn't quite get that NaNo is supposed to be quantity over quality) he pointed out all of my OTHER plot holes.

Now that anxiety disorder is kicking in, the same one that makes all other decisions impossible, and I'm really struggling to write a single word.

What do you do to get past it?

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I have GAD!

I'm just kind of writing in spurts, not feeling obligated, and not worrying about plot details or anything that makes the novel "good." I'm just trying to get words out when I can!

I keep a seperate file from the one I'm writing in where I make brief notes of everything I need to fix or change. Having written them down somewhere seems to enable me to pretend I've already fixed them, or at least that I won't forget them when I got back to edit after NaNo. It slows me down a bit but it really helps.

This is a good idea. During my first two years, I actually highlighted anything in my novel that I felt I needed to go back and fix or change, and that freed me to keep moving on. I should try that again.

i do... I learned this in NaNo for in 2006. I hit a plot hole, I go find a "cake scene." A scene that's fun, that might be related to my Magna Carta I list aka "favorite types of stories/scenes list", and that maybe has NO relation whatsover to where i was when I hit the plothole. I write outside of chronological order. Nothing in NaNoWriMo says I have to write the beginning, the middle, and the end chronologically. I might be able to fill in the plot hole later if I know what happens later... and well, if i have a gaping plot hole after I hit 50k? I can think about how to fill it then. :)

This what I do! I might 4 pages from the middle and then a chapter from the beginning, etc. If I didn't hop around I would go CRAZY! Besides, it gives me the chance to write out ideas as they come (i.e. if my MC does something amazing toward the end of the novel, I don't have to file it away to write later, so much easier!).

I tend to hermit away from everyone. Never a good thing, you know avoiding the issue of anxiety and all, but it allows me to continue writing.

Shove your inner editor into a box and tell them to stay there.

Do some sprints. Sprints are great for getting into the mindset of "Don't think, just write".

Tell your husband that no matter what you say to him about your novel, he has to reply, "WRITE. JUST WRITE."

:3 You can do it. Don't be afraid to write something that completely contradicts whatever you just wrote. You can go back and fix it later. Don't be afraid to get silly with it. You're allowed to pull out any random thing you can think of if it means hitting that word count. And like other people have said above me, if you're stuck on a scene, skip it and write something else. Nothing says you have to write in chronological (or any logical!) order.

Don't be afraid to write something that completely contradicts whatever you just wrote. You can go back and fix it later. Don't be afraid to get silly with it. You're allowed to pull out any random thing you can think of if it means hitting that word count.

eddiesteddy, where were you two days ago when i needed you? *hug*
write. just write.

I definitely sympathize. Last November was a really terrible time for me, but the writing actually helped a lot - I was having terrible panic attacks and not leaving the flat, so having a distraction was lovely.

I definitely agree with the above commenters who mentioned skipping scenes. I left out an entire week near the start of my novel because of plot holes, and just proceeded as though it wouldn't matter, and everything worked out in the end. :) Another suggestion is to take a brief break and write something else to just get back into the spirit of writing. (For instance, I wrote two scenes set before the actual novel about the MC's love interest, just for background, when I was stumped and anxious with the main story.)

Best of luck to you.

I have anxiety, and I actually find NaNoWriMo to be a really, and I don't want to use this term because it's lame but, liberating experience. I've done sprints these last few days and they're just fun and social (something I have trouble with) and they force me to just write. This is the one time of year I just let it flow out. It's lovely.

I should note that I also write out of order. More fun that way :)

I also have anxiety (GAD and specific phobia) so I feel for you completely.

I just keep on telling myself that NaNo is all about quantity over quality. Don't worry about your plot holes right now - just keep chugging along! I know it's hard to do, but try and leave figuring out things like that for the editing stage.

People above me have made some really great suggestions, so I don't have much to add on that front. Just wanted to say I sympathize, and good luck to you!

I have depression and anxiety and sometime nano is overwhelming. I think about how much I have to do and how much what I'm writing sucks and I have to stop, do something else and come back to it. I found that the sprints work because I don't have time to think about all the stuff I shouldn't be thinking about while I'm writing. I finished last year because of that.

And I learned that I cannot talk to anyone else about it unless they are also doing it. They don't understand.

Nanowrimo is all about plot holes! Ignore what people say and keep going. I just make it part of the fun and even have characters comment on it.

Just write. Don't edit; don't share with the husband (are you sure you weren't talking to mine? He does that, too). Just write. Editing comes in December and March.

I, too, have generalized anxiety disorder. I just upped the meds (buspar), and I'm doing better.
-L.

I'm unmedicated right now, which definitely isn't helping. I was hoping NaNo would help, blech.

I'm just about the most anxious person I know, both clinically and in terms of my normal personality. I've managed to write 600,000 words in the past two years, and here's how I did it.

1.) Try warm-up writing. Write about silly things like what you want to have for dinner and what you'd do if you won a million dollars. This gets your brain working and your fingers moving, even if you write: "I am anxious, I am anxious, I am anxious," over and over again. At least for me, what happens is that my brain gets itching to write the actual story, and I do.

2.) If you're stuck on something in the beginning of the novel, try working on another scene you're sure about. I skip around a lot. Sometimes I'll write snippets of the end first. This is especially easy if you have an outline. Harder if you don't know the whole plot.

3.) You can always make notes to yourself in the manuscript: "I'm cutting this scene in editing. This part needs to go at the end. I'm changing the main character's name to Lord Moldybutt." Bold them so you can come back to them later. That way you won't have worry about forgetting. Then you can just move on.

4.) If you know what you want to write, talk yourself through it in the document. In the simplest language possible, describe to yourself what you want to happen. "OK, so I want Lord Moldybutt to get caught stealing his neighbor's palm tree. He'll have it under his arm when the porch light comes on, and then the neighbor will be like: "Stop, jerk!" And he'll be like: "Oh, crap."

I hope this, or other suggestions, will help you. Good luck!

One thing I learned a long time ago is that your first draft is always, always, always going to be TERRIBLE.

I don't care if your name is William F. Shakespeare, the first thing that dumps from your brain onto the page is going to suck. It's not until you go back and edit your work will it become something good.

So don't worry about plot holes and shallow characters, EXPECT plot holes and shallow characters, because that's what all first drafts are like.

I first noticed I'd developed GAD because I was too scared to write. My ideas were shit, there were plotholes big enough to drive a couple semis through. I've been in therapy for years and I'm finally starting to unwind, breathe, and realise not everyone is out to get me. If you're really struggling, go out for a walk but instead of saying to yourself, "I suck I suck I suck I suck," think about why you want to do this. People are drawn to writing for a reason. What's yours? And when you get back to your computer, don't even stop to spell check because you'll end up nitpicking everything. JUST WRITE! DO IT! NOW!

Good luck! <3

I rather use NaNo as escapism from my anxiety issues. A lot of my triggers are set by people and public places, so NaNo's an excuse for me to lock myself up in my flat for a month and ignore the world.

I'm exactly the same :)

If its sqicking you out, skip that part. You can come back to it later. You can change it later. If you have plot holes the size of buicks, you can fill them later.

I am not even looking at what i've written beyond the last paragraph - so i know where i left when i pick it back up after putting it down - to avoid this.

Hang in there!

I have generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, OCD, among other things.

I have won NaNo twice--the first two years I tried it. I think I was successful in those years because I was enthusiastic and passionate about it, but also because I found it freed me from my anxiety. I was able to push past it, because I wasn't trying to write a great novel. It was all about word count, and I didn't have time to think about it or worry about it or anything else.

But the last two years? I failed. :-( I think that once I won twice, I started thinking too much about what I was writing and why. My first two novels will never see the light of day and I'm okay with that. I wrote them for fun. But last year? And the year before? And this year? I feel like something should come of this,* and no matter how much I talk to myself and tell myself that I should just let go and feel that freedom that I had in the first two years, I can't seem to do it.

*By "come of this," I don't mean a publishable novel, but just maybe some improvement in my writing, something that tells me that I *can* write and that somehow this all means something.

Ack!

I wish you luck. I really want to get back to that feeling I had in the first two years.

ETA: After reading the comments, I was reminded of a couple of other things that helped me in my first years:

Mentioned in a comment above, if I felt a sentence or a paragraph sucked or if I changed my mind about the direction of a scene, rather than go back and fix it or edit it right then, I just highlighted it in Word and moved on. That way I could assure myself I'd fix it later.

I wrote almost my entire first NaNo novel in the NaNo chat room doing Word Wars (which I think the LJ groups call sprints). This urgency to just write a bunch of words right now helped me to get over some of my fears.

Edited 2009-11-03 20:57 (UTC)

Hi! I have GAD too, I'm on meds and seeing a therapist.

I've tried/meant to do Nano for the past 3 years, and not finished. It's very frustrating, especially since I feel like I can NOT write until I know what I'm going to write. Counter-productive huh? :) Yea I know.

Anyway, everyone's advice was great, I just wanted to let you know that you are definitely not the only person out there.

Good luck

When there's a hole in your plot, before you try to patch it, look through it and see what's on the other side. Chances are, it'll be more plot. Chances are, it might even be what your novel is *really* about!

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