Ten Tips for Getting Through NaNoWriMo without Losing Your Mind (Part III)

2. Keep things simple. This is not the time to need to do a lot of research, so go back to basics. Write what you know, or at least something you’ve thought of writing before. Set your book in present day, in a local city, town, or a place you’re familiar with (or one you’ve made up that’s based on a place you’re familiar with) so that you’re not racking your brain or encyclopedias for help. One thing that slows people down tremendously in NNWM work is quick little research breaks: “Oh, let me just look up this one small detail.” Three hours later, you’re behind in your daily word count, and that one little detail may be completely superfluous to the larger story. Put a special character that’s easy to find and replace later (e.g. ### or $%& or something else that’s unlike to show up otherwise), write yourself a note or highlight the text to show that you need to look something up during your editing phase at the end of the month, and move on.