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Writing Words - writing it is the only way of getting it written
Every writer is different, every writer has a different approach to writing. It's hard to tell in advance whether you'll enjoy NaNoWriMo. Yet even if you're not sure if it is the right writing approach for you, sign up now and explore the site. It's not going to give you a definitive answer, either. You will, however, catch a glimpse of what life writing a novel in November might be like and give you an idea of what you've signed up for.
On the NaNo website, you'll find blog posts by the team behind NaNo, you can discover previous pep talks by published authors (such as Neil Gaiman, Maureen Johnson, Philip Pullman, Jasper Fforde, Meg Cabot and Sue Grafton - worth reading even if you decide you don't want to participate) and you can start making friends on your local forum board and the forums in general (read Cybele's Guide to the Forums if you're not sure what to do).
If you decide to stick around, enjoy the interaction with other writers BEFORE November. My advice for using the forums during NaNo: Stay away from them unless you've made the wordcount for the day. Otherwise you'll end up writing 1,667 words in forum posts while falling behind on your novel. Don't get me wrong, the forums are great and I never loved them more than in my first year. I also wasted too much time there in my first year, so I've become cautious about them. I have a busy life, the last thing I need is another distraction from writing. If that's the case for you, use the forums, but use them sparingly.
You've heard about this insane bunch of writers from all over the world who get together in November and write a novel in 30 days and you think, "That's awesome, I want to do that." Which is great, I'd say you should. If you've always wanted to write a novel, NaNoWriMo may well be the kick in the backside you need to get you writing.
Before you jump in without knowing what you're getting into, consider these questions:
Are you willing to sacrifice watching TV, spending time with your friends, sleep? To finish a novel of at least 50,000 words in 30 days, you have to write 1667 words per day on average. There are a number ways to make sure you'll make the daily quota (on most days) - more on those ways in a later instalment of the Beginner's Guide to NaNoWriMo - but the most important one is to make time for writing. Writing a novel is a commitment. Are you committed to your writing dream? Can you imagine changing your life for a month to commit to starting AND finishing a novel?
Yes? Good, you've got what it takes. Go to www.nanowrimo.org and sign up now.
Including this one, there are 15 weekends left before NaNoWriMo - November 1 is a Monday this year.
I think I'm not overstating the case when I say I'm a seasoned NaNo veteran. I've participated eight times, won eight times. Despite all sorts of obstacles that might have caused me to throw in the towel on more than one occasion, I've always been successful.
I know a thing or two about doing this thing. For the last two years, I mentored NaNo newbies - both of whom were winners. This year, I'm going to do the mentoring here on the blog. Every weekend, I will share my tips and secrets for a successful NaNoWriMo and I'll answer your questions. If you have any NaNo-related questions, let me know.
Watch out for the first bit of NaNoWriMo-related writing advice tomorrow.
My Writing Nook is a neat little application for writers who write on more than one computer. It's web-based - all you need to access your work in progress is a computer with an internet connection and a Google account. To back-up your work, you can email documents to your email address or download a copy to your computer (when you access it on your documents from home).
There are My Writing Nook mobile applications for iPhone/iTouch, iPad and Andoid, too. So if you have one of these devices, you can even access your documents when you're out and about. I just got the iPhone app and will test it over the next days and report back with the verdict. If it's good, I know what I'll be using for NaNoWriMo to write during my lunch break.
When I won my first NaNoWriMo seven years ago, I was ecstatic for at least a week.
Nowadays, I'm usually glad I got through the first draft without going bonkers. Then I start worrying about the rewrites. Because I know I can write a 50,000 to 80,000 word first draft in a month even if I only get to start on the 15th. Editing and revision, on the other hand - not so easy. Writing the first draft is not where the work starts, it's when you have to edit the beast that things get ugly.
I did it once. So I've created a precedent - I can do it. I can do it. I can do it.
I finished my NaNo novel. In the last scene, I've planted the seed for a new one. Maybe it will have to wait until next November, maybe I'll get round to writing it before that.
Tonight, I relax. Tomorrow, I begin the rewrites of last year's novel. For real this time.
50019 words, and I've just written "The End". Another first draft to revise...
I'm glad I've finished the story, but I'm not ecstatic. Maybe I don't have to be over the moon about finishing another story, though. I've done it often enough now to have gotten used to the feeling. Or maybe I'm just too tired tonight.
Didn't finish the story today as planned. Still some 2,700 words away from 50k, I hope I'll get there by Tuesday evening. I want to be done with this story ...
Tonight I gave myself the night off. On the first glance, not the best tactic considering I have written about 3,000 words this week. I am pretty confident that I'll cross the 50k finishing line some time this weekend.
So tonight, I read rather than write.
Today has been the first day I didn't write anything for NaNaWriMo. I plan to catch up over the weekend
I've written a couple of hundred words so far, and I will try for a few more in a moment (just have to make the most of it while my internet connection is working).
During the day, whenever I had a spare minute, I pictured the next scene I need to write. It took a while to get it right, but now I can see it clearly, as if it were a scene from a movie. It makes writing it down a lot easier.
350 words tonight for the novel. Not much, but every word I write during the week is one word less I have to write during the weekend. Pity I'm so busy, my internet connection is only working sporadically and there would be no distraction while writing.
It's going to be a busy week. I've managed to post something every day so far this month - good thing since I'm taking part in NaBloPoMo again - and I hope I will keep the routine up.
But, busy week ahead, a deadline on Thursday and a novel that needs my attention for at least an hour a day. If I get squeezed for time, I might have to make a sacrifice or two. As I usually blog about writing, I won't have any material for a blog post if I don't write. But after a packed day, will I have any words left for a blog post? I suppose I'll find out in the course of the week.
I didn't quite make it as far as I wanted, but just over 40k is good enough for me. Now I'm out of words.
I didn't quite make it as far as I wanted, but just over 40k is good enough for me. Now I'm out of words.
As I wrote the other day, Twitter is a major distraction. It's not a complete waste of time, though. If used sparingly (something I clearly still need to master), Twitter is a fantastic source of information and inspiration for writers. You can follow publishing houses, editors, literary agents and writers. You'll learn more about the industry, you might make some useful connections and you can interact with your favourite authors. Twitter is lots of fun, and it's my treat for making my daily wordcount this month.
If you're looking for some inspiration as to who to follow, here's the Mashable list of the best authors to follow on Twitter. One of them is @maureenjohnson, who wrote today's fantastic NaNoWriMo pep talk.
There's NaNoWriMo, obviously. (Writing today has been much easier than yesterday, so yay!)
Then there is NaBloPoMo, which started as a November event before it went monthly about two years ago. And if you had a go at NaBloPoMo but had to drop out (or even if you're still going strong with the daily blog posts), there's IComLeaveWe. Why, International Comment Leave Week, of course. It's a monthly event, too, and starts at the 21st of every month. The rules: post five comments on blogs and return one comment made on you blog every day for a week.
... will come crashing down eventually. I wasn't quite prepared for it to happen so quickly, though.
I crossed the half-way mark yesterday and finished at 26,402. Writing was a breeze, and it looked like things were falling into place nicely. Maybe I should have kept going because today has been almost the exact opposite. I've written 2,200 words so far, but getting them onto the page was hard work. And as if that wasn't enough, I'm not happy with a lot of what I wrote
[ Click here to read more ]
Great quote from Patricia Highsmith about how the unconscious often provides the crucial parts of a story.
For your unconscious to present you with plot twists and solutions, you have to feed it first, though. Provide it with the relevant info, then go and do something else. Don't think about the problem anymore, and your unconscious will work its magic. Have pen and paper ready!
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