What I Learned From NaNoWriMo

• How a plot differs from a theme.
• Conflict-lock protagonists and antagonists for maximum frustration of both.
• Characters have strengths and weaknesses, but most importantly, they have vulnerabilities.
• Test drive your characters in apocryphal situations.
• Beat sheets are useful for quick revision, and intense point-by-point recall.
• Have your story mean more than just plot.
• Don Harmon’s approach to storytelling.
• Stories can fail, and that’s okay as long as you learn from your failure.
• A whole host of things, including pace charts and writing through the hard bits, from Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld.
• When the going gets tough, go through your words bird-by-bird.
• The concept of Draft Zero.
• Routine is valuable for me.
• From Chuck Wendig, 25 Ways to Unstick a Stuck Story
• Chuck Wendig’s 25 Ways to Plot, Plan, and Prep Your Story can also be used to patch your story.
• 10 Hints for Index Cards from John August.
• You can always add more complications, from Scott Westerfeld’s fabulous pep talk.
• Fucked up your story? You can always unfuck it. It may take a lot of effort, but you can. Important for Draft Zero.
• Failing versus quitting.
• Listen to the girls in the basement. They know when something is going off the rails.
• How much effort would you need to unfuck your story?
• Do not flush all your efforts down the crapper. Unless you really want to.