A Different Kind of NaNoWriMo
It amazes me how National Novel Writing Month (or the challenge to write 50,000 words of a new novel in the month of November) has become so big. I first heard about it back and college and thought that it was one of the most insane/awesome things I had ever heard of. A whole month dedicated to ys writers getting off our behinds and finally writing that novel that we've all been kicking around in our heads!? I'm in. Since college, I have participated in three NaNoWriMo. Twice I passed with flying colors (and days to spare!), and the third time, I didn't really get anywhere. This year, I decided that I wanted to do something completely different.
Here's the backstory. I recently finished a young adult fantasy novel that I'd like to try to publish. I let a few of my friends read it over, and they gave me some pretty positive feedback, which I found encouraging. One friend suggested that I have the second book (which I already have about 40K written) ready and done when I try to get the first book published as possibly a way to sweeten the deal. Well the thought of having another completed manuscript done anytime soon kind of made me sweat a bit but I soon realized that NaNoWriMo was on the horizon. What about instead of writing a completely new book for NaNo, I take the messy 40K that I have on my computer and turn it into a serviceable first draft? Yes, I realized it's technically cheating, but isn't NaNoWriMo ultimately about accomplishing your writing goals?
So today I sat down and began my novel. It didn't take long before I soon realized how different this type of NaNoWriMo is going to be. It's one thing to vomit out 50,000 words. In fact, that's kind of the easy part for me. But turning this raw inspiration into a first draft that makes sense when it comes to plot, character development, and all that jazz? It's a completely different (and much more time consuming) story. I remember the last time I did NaNoWriMo I busted out 2000 words on day one in just under an hour. Today, it took me almost twice as long to squeak by with just over 1800. Clearly, I have a very different challenge in front of me, but I'm equally excited to see thing things that I will learn over the next month. I figured to keep me honest, that I would post weekly updated here on my blog.
Which leads me to a question: Is anyone here doing NaNoWriMo this year as well? Or has anyone done NaNoWriMo in the past? Has anyone cheated (like me)? I'd love to know!
Here's the backstory. I recently finished a young adult fantasy novel that I'd like to try to publish. I let a few of my friends read it over, and they gave me some pretty positive feedback, which I found encouraging. One friend suggested that I have the second book (which I already have about 40K written) ready and done when I try to get the first book published as possibly a way to sweeten the deal. Well the thought of having another completed manuscript done anytime soon kind of made me sweat a bit but I soon realized that NaNoWriMo was on the horizon. What about instead of writing a completely new book for NaNo, I take the messy 40K that I have on my computer and turn it into a serviceable first draft? Yes, I realized it's technically cheating, but isn't NaNoWriMo ultimately about accomplishing your writing goals?
So today I sat down and began my novel. It didn't take long before I soon realized how different this type of NaNoWriMo is going to be. It's one thing to vomit out 50,000 words. In fact, that's kind of the easy part for me. But turning this raw inspiration into a first draft that makes sense when it comes to plot, character development, and all that jazz? It's a completely different (and much more time consuming) story. I remember the last time I did NaNoWriMo I busted out 2000 words on day one in just under an hour. Today, it took me almost twice as long to squeak by with just over 1800. Clearly, I have a very different challenge in front of me, but I'm equally excited to see thing things that I will learn over the next month. I figured to keep me honest, that I would post weekly updated here on my blog.
Which leads me to a question: Is anyone here doing NaNoWriMo this year as well? Or has anyone done NaNoWriMo in the past? Has anyone cheated (like me)? I'd love to know!