J. Rose Allister’s 2011 NaNoWriMo-win. Ellora’s Cave, June 2012.

Please join me in welcoming J. Rose Allister to the blog today. Hang out to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post.

It’s that exciting first week of NaNoWriMo. You’ve got NaNo-themed wallpaper on your computer, wiped out your local food mart’s coffee and snack inventory, and spent most of October carefully outlining your plot. At the stroke of midnight on November 1, you launched eagerly into your novel, and the process has been shooting along like a train on a newly oiled track.

Then, something happens.

Suddenly, you realize you’ve written yourself into a corner. Or that your character would Never. EVER. Do. the-main-thing-driving-your-plot. Or maybe the steam in your engine just plain stops. So does your word count.

Over the years, I’ve used plenty of tricks to combat writer’s block. Lately, this often involves some sort of break, sometimes allowing days or even weeks to sit back and leisurely ponder my plot woes. But this isn’t just any writing time, baby, it’s NANOWRIMO! Time is of the essence. So when my NaNo project hits the wall, it’s time to pull out the big guns and blast my way through it.

Enter the challenge scene.

No doubt you’re familiar with the concept of a drinking game, right? You know, where you have to chug an adult beverage every time someone says a certain word/phrase, a TV character appears on screen, or your favorite team scores a goal. Well, I’ve given that concept a heinous twist to fight writer’s block.

For those of you who just perked up, I’m sorry to say my strategy doesn’t involve belting back a shot every time you hit a snag on a NaNo novel. Such advice would find some of us under the table by the end of the first week. Others might forget what NaNoWriMo is altogether. So rather than risk liver damage, I have a variation to offer.

The NaNoWriMo Challenge Scene Game

Rules:

Any time you run into a snag that halts your word count, you must change gears and write a challenge scene. What’s a challenge scene? That’s where you add in a twist, conflict, or general torture for your character.
The challenge scene must use a plot/twist/character device taken from an existing list you have easy access to. I offer some resources for this below.
You must use the very first suggestion you run across. (Should the idea run completely, utterly opposite to your moral fabric as an author, you may skip it and select the next one. ONCE.) Next time you’re using the same list, move to the next suggestion.
You can’t skip a suggestion just because it doesn’t seem to mesh perfectly with your story.
If need be, you may skip past the point you are stuck on and write the challenge sequence as the next chapter/scene.
Lather, rinse and repeat whenever you find yourself blocked.

Say you’re writing a chapter where Aunt Bessie comes to visit the main character. The sequence fizzles until you’re bored to tears, and you can’t write your way out of it. You must do a challenge scene. You open a link to suggested twists, and the first one says “a vampire searching for an ancient relic.” Suddenly, sweet Aunt Bessie turns out to be a bloodsucker whose real reason for visiting is to find a medallion hidden in the family home.

FYI, there are reasons why I include rules 2 and 3. If you’re feeling blocked, chances are you can’t simply conjure a spontaneous plot twist. Rule 2 gets you around this. Rule 3 ensures you don’t fall farther behind by surfing lists for “just the right idea.”

The challenge scene can be a very useful strategy. It is highly motivating to know you’ll have to deal with a potentially freaky plot shift every time you get stuck. And the conflicts you weave in can transform a story into something better than you planned. True, not every challenge works out. If the Aunt Bessie book is a serious drama, the “vampire” angle would be a bizarre shift. WRITE IT ANYWAY. You can always drop what doesn’t fit later, but you might gain good insight. Maybe Bess is more fascinating portrayed vampire-like (vicious and cold, with verbal “fangs” and a hidden agenda).

At the very least, challenges keep the word count going and creative flow running. Even if you decide to edit one out later, you might find it’s perfect for the next book.

So if you find your NaNo train derailing, give the challenge scene game a try! Here are some links to plot twist lists to help you. Happy NaNo-ing!

http://storytoolz.com/generator/conflict
http://funstuff.pantomimepony.co.uk/writers-plot-twists.htm
http://www.nanowrimo.org/forums/adoption-society/threads/66806
http://futureisfiction.com/plotpoints/index.cgi
http://mochakimono.chipx86.com/AGEN.html
http://www.archetypewriting.com/muse/generators/plot.htm

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J. Rose Allister is a Southern California native and the author of over 20 published novels, mostly erotic romance. She is currently pounding on her keyboard in a fury, hoping to win her seventh NaNoWriMo challenge. For more information on her work, visit http://jroseallister.com or her blog at http://jroseallister.blogspot.com.

eBook Giveaway:

Post in the comments for a chance to win your choice of the following NaNoWriMo-winning erotic romance titles by J. Rose Allister!

Full Moon Fire (M/M paranormal-werewolves, 2011 NaNo)
Crystal’s Cowboys (M/M/F/ contemporary western, 2010 NaNo)
Tropical Heat (M/F contemporary/urban fantasy, 2009 NaNo)

18 or older to enter, please. Winner selected at random. Book prize is available as an ebook only, either in Kindle, .epub, or .pdf format.