Deb Lund ad lib

For those of you just peeking in here for the first time, I’ve spent many more years teaching than I have writing (at least professionally). Because of my years of teaching writing to writers of all ages, I have a lot of tricks for keeping the writing moving, and the one I’m sharing this month to support those doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a card deck I’ve created and used with writers.

Reading this blog may not be as handy as picking out your own card each day, but I’m drawing cards from my deck for all of us to use. Actually, it might be almost as handy, because you can glance at the “card” and decide on the spot what it means for your novel (or picture book, essay, memoir…) without having to read my blathering within the blog.

My students always loved a little nudge (this month it’s a NaNoNuj) from whatever tool I had available for them at the moment. I hope you’ll enjoy this one, too. Let me know if it works for you.

When I started thinking about the Nuj I drew this morning, I realized that Hide or Find the Truth is peppered throughout this first wandering draft. But, just as you can strengthen the theme of your piece after discovering it, you can hide or find the truth in a conscious way. Plant it in the back of your head and watch it pop up for you today.

We hit the mid-month mark last night, and I barely squeaked over on my word count. It’s tough in the middle, just like it’s tough in the middle of a novel. I think we deserve a bonus card today just because we’re still writing, no matter where we are with our word counts. Besides, I couldn’t resist throwing this card in…

Give Up! Not you. Your character. Push them into despair. Make us believe their biggest dream, their deepest longing, cannot be fulfilled. And if you’re having moments of feeling that way about your writing, or at least your NaNoWriMo goal (like I am), just think of your writing life as a story. We’re all distraught with the setbacks, but it all works out in the end. Sometimes the character gets the prize. Sometimes they learn to be fulfilled without it. Either way, they learn and grow.

Happy growing…