If you’re on Twitter and are behind in your wordcount, use the #nanopanic hashtag to find others for mutual encouragement (and motivational panic 
).
Please ONLY use #nanopanic if you’re behind in wordcount or are posting encouragement for those behind in wordcount. And no “I wrote 25,000 wds yesterday and you can, too” pseudo-encouragement, please!
If (like me) you’re behind, DON’T GET DEPRESSED.
Take a deep breath.
Don’t think about how far behind you might be. Set a small-ish wordcount goal for a certain time period. e.g. “I’m going to write 100 words in the 30 minutes.” If you exceed that goal, great — and set a higher goal for your next attempt.
And finally, keep in mind that the #nanopanic hashtag is tongue-in-cheek. Remember: it’s supposed to be fun. 
Thanks to @jessrosenbooks and @johannaharness for their encouragement and helping to get this hashtag started! And do read the tips that Jessica Rosen has been posting on her blog about NaNoWriMo.
Any other tips and suggestions? Post them below. Also feel free to post links to any useful blog posts that you think might help those who are behind in their NaNoWriMo wordcount.
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I think some people might be expecting too much from their first drafts. This is what I think a first draft should do:
http://pattyjansen.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/first-drafts/
Good luck to you all! Perhaps my latest post will help – it was inspired by last week’s #writechat and is about trusting yourself while letting the story write itself and how it doesn’t mean you’re insane! Also included is a wonderful, inspirational, funny talk from Elizabeth Gilbert embedded via TED this year which is probably far more helpful than the rest of the post lol!
You can do it! Just get out of the way of the story!!
Good luck to you all! Perhaps my latest post will help – it was inspired by last week’s #writechat and is about trusting yourself while letting the story write itself and how it doesn’t mean you’re insane! Also included is a wonderful, inspirational, funny talk from Elizabeth Gilbert embedded via TED this year which is probably far more helpful than the rest of the post lol!
You can do it! Just get out of the way of the story!!
http://www.narrativedisorder.com/2009/11/04/on-humans-and-the-creative-mystery-also-ted-tuesday/
Exercise is a great way to ! Yesterday I was “working” on my story for about 5 hours and only wrote 500 words. Then I went for a run. When I came back I sat down and wrote another 500 words in under one hour.
Also, if you have trouble starting (like I do), consider stopping while things are going well. If you stop in the middle of a scene that you’re really into, then chances are you can tease yourself into finishing that scene the next morning. That way you can jump right back into the action. More on that topic on my blog http://www.erinlowrance.wordpress.com plus a little advice from Hemingway.
I’ve been writing a post with some NaNoWriMo advice pretty much every day this month.
The ones that people seem to have found most helpful:
“This is How I Get it Done” – http://bit.ly/1oVn1g
“The Thing you did Wrong Yesterday” – http://is.gd/4LSON
“Babble On” – http://bit.ly/2nSuPp
“The first day you get behind” – http://bit.ly/4uoh0r
Cheers!
A couple days before the start of NaNoWriMo, I wrote about 5 tips to help with NaNoWriMo here: http://www.christophergronlund.com/blog/tjw/2009/10/30/the-50000-word-race/. One of them is about using the extra hour when we rolled back the clocks, but hopefully somebody will get some help from the other 4 tips.
And if people are lagging behind and feeling down about going slower, there’s a good John Irving quote about taking time with novels.
I have several friends taking part in NaNoWriMo. A couple were behind and were able to spring back, including a first-time participant. So catching up can be done!
Good luck to everybody taking part. Even if you’re behind, I think it’s important to remember that you’re doing something most people aren’t doing, and you’re undertaking a big challenge while having to do things like work, school, or taking care of a family.
Just taking the challenge gets all my respect!