The one about Nano
So... this has been pending for a few days now. First of all, I did not win. On the one hand I'm not disappointed - it's my first time after all - on the other I feel that although I still probably would not have won, I could have applied myself better. I'm happy to have written 17000 words. It's the longest piece of writing I've ever produced in ANY language. I'm also proud of myself for having done that in English. It really was a learning experience. However, I feel I could have reached at least the half mark. All in all, I'm not 100% happy with myself but it was worth trying. I'm going to sign up next year too and try to reach at least 25k.
Some of the things I've learned:
NEVER PROCRASTINATE - I stared writing on the 5th of Nov (due to reasons mentioned below) and could never catch up with the word count. Being permanently behind schedule really demotivated me.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF - I never did, and for 3/4 of the time was not giving it my all, because I felt, even if I finished, my novel would suck.
WRITE AT LEAST A BIT EVERY DAY - there were days which I completely wasted and could never make up for them. Even if you don't manage to reach the word count for the day write SOMETHING. In the end those 200 words you wrote on Nov the 3rd might save your skin!
DON'T COUNT ON THE WEEKENDS TO CATCH UP - Tons of unexpected things may happen. Your high school classmates, you hadn't seen for 3 years, might invite you to a reunion. Your mom may finally manage to get you an appointment at that really good, permanently booked dentist. You may get unexpected guests or even worse unexpected homework. Anything can happen. I know all the above happened to me. And would it have stopped me if I had worked regularly throughout the week? No, it wouldn't have.
THINK UP A PLOT IN ADVANCE - I was going to come up with a plot in advance, but never did... and then November started and I was in deep shit. It took me 5 days to even START writing and I hated my story anyway. It was simply dull and went nowhere. Nano is all about silencing your inner editor and just writing but when you have nothing to write about, it just doesn't work. So plan something at least a week ahead of the 1st.
DON'T TRY TOO WEIRD STUFF IF YOU HAVE LITTLE WRITING EXPERIENCE - Hating my plot made me want to make at least the style of the novel interesting and I tried to write something stream of consciousness-like. I'm no Virginia Woolf, so the effect was terrible. So leaving your comfort zone is always a good idea, but do it moderately and according to your ability. Little steps are always the best way to go.
WORK ON THE DIALOGUE - Bad dialogue kills the novel. Mine was too ranty, and every line was mercilessly long and ridden with not-so-funny jokes and cultural references. Also I did not manage to make my characters have distinct voices. One was a more polite, moderate and reasonable version of myself, the other a ruder and more dysfunctional one. There were some differences but in the end they just sounded like me in various moods.
DON'T MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS AND SETTING TOO SIMILAR TO YOUR REAL LIFE - For some people it might not be at all uncomfortable but to me, at some point it did grow so. It was just too weird writing about fictional versions of people I actually know, myself and my college. Also it got boring. I was taking part in Nano, to have my imagination work and have a break from my daily routine but I ended up writing something that I could have started with "Dear Diary". So draw upon your experiences to make your story realistic but mix it up at least a bit. Nothing wrong about writing a fictionalized autobiography when it's INTENDED. Ending up doing it accidentally and only because you had no better plot ideas will turn against you. Also it'll probably just make you hate yourself and your life.
DON'T KILL OFF THE MAIN CHARACTER FOR NO REASON BETTER THAN HATING THEM - I just killed off my MC at one point because I could not stand her any more and was frustrated about my lousy word count and the waning plot. Nothing wrong about killing off characters, but do so, when it makes sense with your story.
TAKE NOTES - I kept on forgetting the little details. What are the eye colours of my characters? Who's taller, who's shorter? Have I already mentioned something or not? In the end my story was a total mess with lots of unnecessary repetitions.
WORK ON YOUR VOCABULARY - Mine is varied enough to write a decent 500 words long essay for class... but to write a 50k novel? Not nearly enough. And being repetitive is another way to kill a novel. I'm talking about English here but my Polish would use some work as well.
DON'T LOOK AT YOUR WORD COUNT EVERY 2 MINUTES - You'll just waste time, you could have spent writing. Also you'll get demotivated that it did not magically jump up 2k in said 2 minutes.
WORK ON YOUR ATTENTION SPAN - I have a really short one and that's why I never get anything finished. I start up a million projects but end up discarding them in the middle. I need to stop doing one thing when I should obviously be doing the other. I need to eliminate distractions as well.
That's it for now I guess. I've written those "rules" for my own benefit (and hope to adhere to them next year) but if they help anyone I'll be more than happy :)
Some of the things I've learned:
NEVER PROCRASTINATE - I stared writing on the 5th of Nov (due to reasons mentioned below) and could never catch up with the word count. Being permanently behind schedule really demotivated me.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF - I never did, and for 3/4 of the time was not giving it my all, because I felt, even if I finished, my novel would suck.
WRITE AT LEAST A BIT EVERY DAY - there were days which I completely wasted and could never make up for them. Even if you don't manage to reach the word count for the day write SOMETHING. In the end those 200 words you wrote on Nov the 3rd might save your skin!
DON'T COUNT ON THE WEEKENDS TO CATCH UP - Tons of unexpected things may happen. Your high school classmates, you hadn't seen for 3 years, might invite you to a reunion. Your mom may finally manage to get you an appointment at that really good, permanently booked dentist. You may get unexpected guests or even worse unexpected homework. Anything can happen. I know all the above happened to me. And would it have stopped me if I had worked regularly throughout the week? No, it wouldn't have.
THINK UP A PLOT IN ADVANCE - I was going to come up with a plot in advance, but never did... and then November started and I was in deep shit. It took me 5 days to even START writing and I hated my story anyway. It was simply dull and went nowhere. Nano is all about silencing your inner editor and just writing but when you have nothing to write about, it just doesn't work. So plan something at least a week ahead of the 1st.
DON'T TRY TOO WEIRD STUFF IF YOU HAVE LITTLE WRITING EXPERIENCE - Hating my plot made me want to make at least the style of the novel interesting and I tried to write something stream of consciousness-like. I'm no Virginia Woolf, so the effect was terrible. So leaving your comfort zone is always a good idea, but do it moderately and according to your ability. Little steps are always the best way to go.
WORK ON THE DIALOGUE - Bad dialogue kills the novel. Mine was too ranty, and every line was mercilessly long and ridden with not-so-funny jokes and cultural references. Also I did not manage to make my characters have distinct voices. One was a more polite, moderate and reasonable version of myself, the other a ruder and more dysfunctional one. There were some differences but in the end they just sounded like me in various moods.
DON'T MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS AND SETTING TOO SIMILAR TO YOUR REAL LIFE - For some people it might not be at all uncomfortable but to me, at some point it did grow so. It was just too weird writing about fictional versions of people I actually know, myself and my college. Also it got boring. I was taking part in Nano, to have my imagination work and have a break from my daily routine but I ended up writing something that I could have started with "Dear Diary". So draw upon your experiences to make your story realistic but mix it up at least a bit. Nothing wrong about writing a fictionalized autobiography when it's INTENDED. Ending up doing it accidentally and only because you had no better plot ideas will turn against you. Also it'll probably just make you hate yourself and your life.
DON'T KILL OFF THE MAIN CHARACTER FOR NO REASON BETTER THAN HATING THEM - I just killed off my MC at one point because I could not stand her any more and was frustrated about my lousy word count and the waning plot. Nothing wrong about killing off characters, but do so, when it makes sense with your story.
TAKE NOTES - I kept on forgetting the little details. What are the eye colours of my characters? Who's taller, who's shorter? Have I already mentioned something or not? In the end my story was a total mess with lots of unnecessary repetitions.
WORK ON YOUR VOCABULARY - Mine is varied enough to write a decent 500 words long essay for class... but to write a 50k novel? Not nearly enough. And being repetitive is another way to kill a novel. I'm talking about English here but my Polish would use some work as well.
DON'T LOOK AT YOUR WORD COUNT EVERY 2 MINUTES - You'll just waste time, you could have spent writing. Also you'll get demotivated that it did not magically jump up 2k in said 2 minutes.
WORK ON YOUR ATTENTION SPAN - I have a really short one and that's why I never get anything finished. I start up a million projects but end up discarding them in the middle. I need to stop doing one thing when I should obviously be doing the other. I need to eliminate distractions as well.
That's it for now I guess. I've written those "rules" for my own benefit (and hope to adhere to them next year) but if they help anyone I'll be more than happy :)