IWSG - NaNoWriMo Edition - Easy Ways To Get More Writing Time

Hey, gang! Time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post! What is IWSG? A collection of awesome writers who get together once a month to share our vulnerabilities and encouragement. You can learn all about it (and sign yourself up) by clicking the image below.

Carving out writing time--and not folding laundry, feeding kids, playing with dogs, catching up on Walking Dead, going to work, showering, etc., etc.--can be tricky. Why? Because not everyone sees it as such an essential activity as we writers do.

This gets particularly tricky if you're doing National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) types of things, because you're not just ducking out for a quick nip with the keyboard every now and again, but doing the equivalent of a month-long Rocky training montage with your WIP. 

So what's a writer to do? Well never fear, cause ol' E.J. is here to help you out. The next time you need to write and someone tries to stop you, just respond with one of the following--

A world needs saving, and I'm only a quarter of the way into figuring out how it's going to happen.

I have leprosy from 8-10 PM every day.

There are monsters in our (insert writing spot here), and it's going to take a few thousand words to flush them out.

I can't wear pants or remove this clown mask until I reach my word count. However, I'm happy to do whatever it is you need me to do sans pants, clown-mask-on until then.

Our computer was taken over by a gang of vicious cyber-terrorist, and if I don't write they're going to share (insert embarrassing photo memory here) on Facebook.

There are two versions of me: Writing me and pissed-off-bat-crap-crazy-homicidal-depressed-hates-puppies-never-cooks-slaps-babies-sets-fire-to-ALL-the-things me. Which do you prefer?

I'm Facebook chatting with your (insert most annoying family member here) so she won't call. This could take a while. Would you like me to tell her to call you instead?

I've agreed to donate $1 of your money to the local animal shelter for every word I fall short on my goal. Between dirty diapers, work, and getting our eldest child's foot sewn back on, I'm probably going to need around $45,000. Or they've agreed to let us adopt this abandoned litter of 13 very cute--but very feral--kittens instead (show ANY picture of numerous kittens running amok). OR I could TOTALLY just write some more.

This year's NaNoWriMo prize is the producers of Lost will finally tell us what the last episode meant.

This year's NaNoWriMo prize is Miley Cyrus will no longer stick her tongue out. 

I'm working on math story problems--want to help?

You ever read (insert WIP title here)? No? Really? (pull out tuft of your own hair and set it on fire) IT'S BECAUSE I HAVEN'T FINISHED WRITING THE DAMN THING!

You ever read (insert obscure book title here)? No? Really? Let me tell you about it: There's this writer who is frustrated because she never has time to write. So she decides to start acting out her stories instead. It's great, you should read it. But I really need to get back to writing my story. It's about a wife/mom/sister/friend who does horrible things to people's food. Or I could make you a sandwich and we can keep chatting.

Are you NaNoWriMo-ing this year? If so, are you on track to meet your goal? If no, what are you working on? In either case, hope this bit of fun helps brighten your day and keeps you going. :)

~EJW~

33 comments:

  1. I am so using the no-pants one in the near future! I wonder if I could talk my wife into joining me? Crap I wouldn't get any writing done that way...

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  2. LOL! These were great! I particularly like the animal shelter idea one.

    I'm participating in NaNo again this year, and at the moment I'm a bit ahead in the word count. :)

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  3. Bwahahaha! That was awesome. Whew! Keep 'em coming!

    I am no Nanoing this year. It stresses me out, plus my debut book is releasing. *deep breath* That's enough crazy for 30 days, eh? ;)

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  4. Oh please can someone with the Miley Cyrus NaNo prize?? If only.

    I have to say I think the chatting on FB with the most annoying family member to keep him/her occupied is my favorite, and the most brutal LOL.

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  5. LOL!! This is fantastic. Thanks for the great laugh, and for bringing some light-hearted humor into my day! Personally, I tend to use this one a lot:

    There are two versions of me: Writing me and pissed-off-bat-crap-crazy-homicidal-depressed-hates-puppies-never-cooks-slaps-babies-sets-fire-to-ALL-the-things me. Which do you prefer?

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  6. LOL! I love the two versions of me. Don't make me crazy now or you'll see the second.

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  7. hahahaha Love it!

    Pull and all-nighter, dude! Yahhhh!!!! xD

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  8. Bahaha! This is great. I'm going to pull out the fire-writer-gone-mad one next time someone interrups me.

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  9. Oh, write like the wind if it will get Miley Cyrus to go away!! Write, write, write!!! And I will send out all the notes you need to be excused from life for the month of November. :)

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  10. *still laughing*
    I'm definitely holding on to these come backs.
    *love Walking Dead, btw*

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  11. This is my first year participating. So far so good, though I did everything but write today including accidentally vacuuming one of my computer keys. Talk about the ultimate procrastination attempt. Good luck on the writing. I loved Dragon's Game! It was so good.

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    1. Thanks Robyn! And vacuuming definitely trumps "the dog ate it"! LOL

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  12. Some of those are really good, but I don't NaNo.
    Maybe, "Writing is the only thing that keeps me from eating your puppies."

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  13. Lol! So fun...you gave us some great responses! I am using the relative one-tee,hee~

    Great job EJ!

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  14. Hahaha, I'm going to have to use some of those. I particularly like "A world needs saving, and I'm only a quarter of the way into figuring out how it's going to happen."

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  15. Heheh ... I'm not doing WriMo--too much pressure, but I think I may have to borrow a few of your excuses; they are perfect even for everyday writing!

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  16. Hey, EJ:

    I've been busy chopping chapters and rewrites on Killer Stilettos.

    Hugs and chocolate!

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  17. Fun post, EJ, and I love the new look of the place. Nice header.

    Doing NaNo, but not pressured about it this year. Too much other stuff going on and nobody in this household cares if the world needs saving, except for me. Love all the "reasons" to write.

    M.L. Swift, Writer

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  18. Oh my gosh! This is hilarious! I don't know if I like the "sans pants and clown mask" or "bat crap baby slapping" excuse the best! :D

    The new header looks awesome! I love it! Feels like I'm about to enter a theatre.

    Cheers,
    Jen

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  19. What a funny post!! Pants down and a clown mask?? O_O

    Not doing NaNo, but I am doing my own little version of the competition. Only have just over 10k written, but I'm taking things slow this time around.

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  20. I'm considering the leprosy tactic. That should keep just about everyone and everything, except the cat that has no idea about leprosy, away.

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    1. LOL My dogs would be like, "So, we've got fleas. What's the big deal?" :)

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  21. Leprosy from eight to ten is a pretty good excuse!

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  22. Those are awesome. You should say if you finish, Mylie promised to never twerk again.

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  23. E.j. - Just love the $1 donation excuse, plus the tuft of hair drama. Made me laugh out loud. Not doing NaNo, but I know its value since I got a publishing contract and two other books out of NaNo frenzy. Hope you're having fun and making your word count.

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  24. Too funny EJ!! Had to tweet it. #6 has my name all over it. lol

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  25. I WISH I could do Nano every year, or even just one year. But instead I have to work on a dissertation that hardly anyone will ever read, sighhh....I do need to make more time for writing fiction, though, partly because I think that it will help me stay sane (writing my dissertation drives me crazy).

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  26. That Miley one is too funny. I may hurl if I have to see her tongue ONE.MORE.TIME.

    Happy NaNo to you.

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  27. I loved these. So creative and funny.

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  28. Ha ha! You must have had some fun coming up with those! I have to admit my NaNoWriMo-ing isn't going very well yet. November has turned out to be suddenly super busy for Morgan Media, meaning I've got loads of ebook formatting and print formatting (and some book covers) to do. Which I'm enjoying, so I'm not really complaining!

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  29. Hahaha, my personal favorite was pantsless and clowny, but slapping babies was my second choice.

    Thank you for the e-book, E.J.!

    The Warrior Muse

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  30. Absolutely love all your NaNo excuses - that is, excuses to KEEP NaNoing. Damn it, all those people just need to leave us alone during November!

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“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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