NaNo-huh? At least that’s the response I’ve gotten when mentioning the write-a-50k-novel-in-the-30-days-of-November event to those who haven’t heard about the big writing party. It is also known as National Novel Writing Month, but NaNoWriMo is way more fun to say.
This year I figured, why not? If I fail, well, that many words wouldn’t have been written anyway. But if I succeed, well dang, then I have that many more words and likely hammered out my writing process all that much more, not to mention the great practice in time management. That this blog, and that I actually just signed up, on the second day I hope signals the adaptiveness of my adventure instead of the tardiness.
When you sign up on NaNoWriMo.org there are all sorts of cool things to explore, which I haven’t yet because I’ve been signed up for about a second. Anyway, lots to check out including tons of new friends to meet who are on the same journey. Kind of a strength in numbers thing; we’re all on our own writing journey, but with legions of other writers around the world on their journey, too . . . all at the same time. Fun!!
Day Two 2016 NaNoWriMo |
So in going through that book, and hearing the voices of countless writing friends and presenters I’ve heard over the years, who dig plotting (as opposed to other writing process approaches), I thought okay, I can try this again. Last time was an epic failure. I didn’t throw my laptop out a window or anything, but that approach drove me bonkers. At least how I did it, did. I’m normally a pantser writer. At least in the first half of the book, writing for me is getting in front of the computer and seeing where the characters are going to lead me next. It is crazy fun, but I’ll be honest, not a very efficient way, at least for me anyway. Maybe others have had better luck. In the early stages of writing a book, I simply let the characters play. As they play, I get to know them more, figure them out, their motivations, their backstory, what direction they are headed in, and what conflict would really put them through their paces, that sort of thing. The story comes as I’m writing. It’s always an adventure when I sit back and let the characters take me along with them. When I tried plotting a few years ago, my characters kept veering off course from what I had plotted, but in really cool ways! It was like trying to herd cats until I finally abandoned the plotter approach and let my characters run wild, and it worked. Just like it had before. Again, just not super time-efficient. But who knows, maybe this time it will click. If nothing else, it is pretty cool to challenge yourself as a writer, see where you grow, what you can do.
So in prepping I decided to at least think about plot points I wanted to accomplish. I didn’t figure out the whole story, but I spent more time than normal pondering all those goodies of the characters I usually write to get to, and also options of where the storyline can go. I’ll let you know how that goes.
I have been using the writing program Scrivener for the non-fiction book I’m collaborating on (it's AMAZING), and have just recently started to embrace it for my fiction work, too. That’s another cool thing about this month of targeted writing, seeing if I harness Scrivener and all it’s functions and gizmos to help facilitate my fiction writing process, too!
Other ways to prep included finishing processing the garden harvest. I know that might sound weird for a writing binge prep, but I know I won’t have time while I’m supposed to be getting my word counts in, and the clock was ticking on the produce, anyway. I had finished most, but there was a bit more to go and I hate to see anything go to waste. I only have a teeny tiny bit left to do. Whew! And that sense of accomplishment has actually given me that feeling of Wonder Woman, definitely an asset going into this writing month that can be a bit intimidating!
I also took on a few house projects I’ve been meaning to tackle . . . because they needed to get done before NaNoWriMo?? No, because I tend to make something that is already hard, harder. Doh! My new hall closet is now partially complete. Which means it’s empty except for almost-done hand-made shelves. All the contents previously in said closet are now littering my studio, bedroom, and the bathroom. Brilliant Sarah, brilliant. Because clutter is so conducive to the creative process. I had been thinking to eliminate clutter by re-doing the closet, but until it’s actually finished, that would be a definite backfire. Whoops.
What have I learned so far? Really, just chill. My writing journey has meandered something fierce. But the one constant is that to be a writer, you must write. It's an incredible journey and the more I learn the more I realize I have years and years of learning and growing ahead of me. Nice! There are many paths to a completed novel, NaNoWriMo is one (thanks!!). The event has helped many, many writers accomplish their goals. Maybe it will help you, too. Maybe it is just the beginning, or another stepping stone, in this awesome path we call writing.
Have fun and happy writing!
To see how my writing has changed and evolved, check out Claiming Love (2009) and Kiss Me in the Rain (2016). Crazy different, but still Sarah. I’m also currently collaborating with a homicide detective on non-fiction book about the universal life-lessons he’s learned while on the job in law enforcement. Seven years ago if you would have told me that’s what I would be working on today along with my fiction, I would have said cool! But I totally didn’t see that one coming.
Writing can be such an incredible journey, hope you are having a blast!
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