I write thirty to ninety thousand words a week because I'm a full-time ghostwriter: it's finally November and that means national novel writing month! If you're new to writing, or you're a hobbyist nervously staring down those 50k words in a month, here are some tips for you 1/10

There are two main methods for writing a book. The first is to just start writing and see where it takes you. This can be fun and feel really inspiration driven. The nice thing about this style is that the story can surprise you as you write it- the problem is this is often 2/10

the style of novel writing where people get Writer's Block. Once you run out of inspiration, or you hit a hard part of the story, this type of novel writing can leave you feeling stranded.
The second method of book writing is better for deadlines, and better to avoid WB 3/10

at all costs. This method is called a bunch of different names- but the main focus is to plot out your book. You can plot it as thoroughly or as little as possible- but spend the first day of NANOWRIMO figuring out the story you want to tell, and how you want to end it. 4/10

In ghostwriting I do this to hit word counts without getting lost or suffering WB. For example, if I'm writing a 60k word book and I love writing 3k word chapters (which is my most common length for romance novels) I'll break the story down into 20 chapters. From here you 5/10

can write down what you want to happen in each chapter. You could write 'in this chapter they get to the forest and see the haunted shack looking normal in daylight' or you can break it down into bullet points of events you want to happen, or dialogue you want to include. 6/10

The next step is to make a deadline for yourself- which NANOWRIMO has built-in! Thirty Days! Removing the first day for planning, that means you only have to write 1,700 words per day. Some days will be harder, some will be easier, so aim to at least break a thousand 7/10

words on days that are hard for you. Even if the words aren't great! Even if you don't like where it's going yet: by writing you're exercising that muscle in your brain that will help you find workarounds and write a better scene down the line. If you don't know what to 8/10

write, make dialogue between your characters- or consider what could happen to help push the story towards your end goal.
Besides writing, you need to focus on your body and brain. Stand up at least once an hour, stretch and relax your hands and neck, and change up where 9/10

you're writing even if it just means moving to the next room. I've written some of my best pieces nestled halfway under a coffee table because it's where my brain worked best.
Be kind to yourself, you're getting stories out that wouldn't exist without you. It's amazing. 10/10