Some thoughts on NaNo

[jacey]

Doing NaNoWriMo certainly gives you a rush. The sheer "I did it!' factor when you cross the fifty thousand word line (for me on 26th November) is delightful, but it's really not difficult to write that amount of words per day (especially since the NaNo standard is 'first draft and no revising until afterwards') if you have the time to do it - but making the time is the really difficult part and I can appreciate why people prefer the steady approach of Novel in 90 or just plugging away at their own pace. NaNo is not a pace you could keep up unless writing was your day job.

It does prove to me, though, that a)  I'm a burst writer. I like the all-out pour-the-words-on-to-the-page method of getting a first draft done before I go into the endless revision loop and b) I could do this writing lark for a day job. Yeah! In fact my lifestyle is already geared up to it. Long hours in front of a keyboard, strong coffee and weird nocturnal hours. (Note I'm off chocolate at the moment because I'm trying to keep the sugars down - and succeeding.)
:-)

NaNo does tell you to keep moving forward and not to revise or tweak or otherwise divert from the path, however I also find it next to impossible not to go back and insert a few rolling revisions and also impossible not to stop for a bit of research. So though I have managed 50k words in November I've also had a few side-trips via google and wikipedia plus a few emails to people and a bit of reading. I find leaving loose ends (even with notes to myself to go and tidy them up afterwards) makes me uncomfortable.

So having crossed the 50k line have I stopped?

No. I already had some of this novel in the bag before I started NaNo (so I broke one rule right at the beginning). My NaNo 50k now means I'm 60k words into 'Spider on the Web' and I'm looking at about another 20k - 30k words to finish the first draft. With Christmas approaching I know I'll get sidetracked, but I aim to continue working on it through the last few days of November and all of December and to finish the first draft in January. Hopefully in early January.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! It must also be helpful to know that burst writing works best for you. I think I do best as a plodder. :)

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

First, bravo on the reduced sugars and the 50K.

I could do 50K in a month if I added to an existing story. Starting out a new project - particularly in a new and alien world - only meant I got bogged down in research - I need to fill the fount of knowledge before I can fictionalise any of it, and I am very much outside my area of experience, and I cannot bring the story forward without getting it right first, or else I'll write a horrible muddle.

Also, I've been attacked by other projects _twice_ - 3K on one, 4.5K on the other (and still at least one more scene that I have to write down in case I lose it.)

I think it's possible to do this kind of wordage if you're in the writing-up phase of things - but come editing or research, it becomes more pressure than is needed.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I did get slowed down by research on this one as well, because I changed the setting from generic fantasy to an alternate Poland in 1650. Why Poland? I dunno. The clothes are cool and the Polish winged hussars are awesome, but largely I just wanted something a bit different.