For the fist time since the first two days of nanowrimo I feel like I'm getting ahead. I managed to get Fridays off for the rest of November so I had a whole three day weekend to focus on nothing but writing. YEE HAW! I wrote at 5 am this morning and I'm stealing some time before work as well. The words are now just pouring on to the page.

My cheat of the day was to write down what I had just dreamed about and have one of my characters telling someone else it was her dream. Maybe that will be a new feature for my blog, 'the cheat of the day'. One of my favorite cheats was to have a character participating in NaNoWriMo.

I had a brilliant scene yesterday and I have just got to share it with someone. The set up is that these characters are entering a shared dream and in that dream they are about to enter a haunted house. There is a guy taking tickets and stamping their hands. You know how in those haunted houses they tell you stuff like "stay with your group" and "follow the lines"? Well since this is a bizarre dream they are all having I gave him this to say instead:

"There are no markers. There are no ropes to guide you along the path. There will be no volunteer workers directing you toward any exits. This is a real haunted house, do not get lost. We are not responsible for any lost or stolen goods. We are not responsible for any lost or stolen bloody body parts.” He picked up a short sword and shield from a container beside his stool that Rowland had not seen there a moment ago. “Here is your sword. Swing at anything that moves.”

And now I feel confident that I will not only be caught up but I may also be able to actually get ahead with this. My advise to anyone low on their word count is:

Attend write ins
Do timed writing
Write about yourself in every character
Don't be afraid to go with an unexplained fantasy or image
Don't be afraid of cliches as long as you find them easy to write
Have someone shout random words or phrases at you that you have to use
(you couldn't believe how well this one worked for me when I was stuck)