Read 'Til You Drop

This is my third year finishing NaNo.

I have learned that, the more you write, (as in writing every day and not just for NaNo) you can actually write a lean, fairly clean novel (meaning no padding the word counts) for NaNo.

I have learned that it is possible to write an entire novel (100,000 words) in one month with enough focus and planning.

In the future, I will combine planning more with freewriting in order to explore more possibilities of a story instead of just sticking to the battle plan.

I'm not a winner, that's for sure. Since it was my first year, I'm chalking it up as a learning experience and I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

What did I learn? You've got to stay on track with the word count because once you fall behind, it's near impossible to make up. The first week plus killed me since there was too much going on with work and at home, and I never got back to where I needed to be. I also learned that anything that needs serious research should be avoided at all costs. Too much time was wasted perusing my vast notes for that one bit of info that I needed.

I also learned that my work area leaves much to be desired for productivity. A new, comfy chair is a must if I'm going to be sitting there for hours on end. The agony of sitting in a wooden dining room chair can no longer be ignored.

On the plus side, I've got something I can work on over the next year.

Couldn't NaNo this year :( but I have, three years in a row prior to this. It requires a special kind of craziness, hehe.

I started NaNoWriMo. I did not finish. I got to 5,433 words.

I enjoyed starting the book I’ve wanted to write for three years. I enjoyed the scenarios that came out of just sitting down to write. I intend to finish the book. The story has wanted to be told for a long time now. It’s given me the opportunity to renew my thirst for writing, which has been a dry well since I graduated college in 1996 – the same college which killed any love or thirst for writing when I attended, until I took a playwriting class there.

Things I know I need to do for next year:

Resist the temptation of the distraction. I play on a text based Greco-Roman themed online role-playing game, essentially interactive fiction, called Firan. During the month of November is when we hold our annual Fall Festival, and the nobles are expected to hold events for the common masses and entertain them during festival season. I play two noble alt characters so had in character social obligations to fill, plus some of the events were very, very tempting to enter.

Resist the charms of procrastination. I tend to write more under tighter deadlines. Having a month to do something means it’s a month of time I have to procrastinate. If I had stuck to my goals instead of procrastinated to play World of Warcraft or catch up on my latest TiVo’d Soap Opera or favorite television show, I would have gotten more done.

Create more challenges. The times that I was most productive were the times that I challenged myself to write as much as I could before a specific time was reached. Each time, I managed to write between 1,000 – 1,900 words within a half hour time span, which sometimes included minor edits. I think if I set myself some fairly simple, easy goals to achieve, that are fun in a sort of challenging way, I’d be more interested in writing.

Don’t be shy. I had two other people locally, one of them a recently published author in Paradox Magazine, who were doing NaNoWriMo with me, however given my college experiences with writing, I was very, very shy about even writing around them. It’s also a story that means a great deal to me since it’s been percolating for the better part of a year. I wasn’t even going to publish any part of it, but I did eventually add an excerpt to the NaNoWriMo site, but the more I wrote the more excited I became about the book I was writing. I wanted to share it. Just, when I first started, it felt very personal and I was too scared to talk about it, much less show it off.

Those are the three big things. I’m sure there’s more. And, while I didn’t win, a small part of me felt like I won, because my love for writing is renewed, and I still have every intention of following through. Maybe next NaNoWriMo I’ll be writing the sequel to this particular book. Who knows?

I didn't do it this year, either, but I attempted last year. That was when I learned that NaNoWriMo and school don't mix. ;__;

Next year, though, I plan to.

I didn't do it this year but I managed to get down 50,000 words last year. I didn't actually finish the novel (I have about 5,000 words left to write) but I passed the 50,000 word mark. This year, I am taking a novel writing class and knew that it would interfere with NaNoWriMo. I plan on doing something this summer though :)

I've done Nano 4 times now (Loss, Win, Loss, Win) and the thing that I've noticed the most is that Momentum Trumps All.

Because when I don't have time to write for days in a row, the further the book slithers away from me.

But if I write every day, it fuels itself into massive word counts. So.

I need to apply this to other projects as well. :)

It went really well. I was pleased. I knew that I wouldn't have time, these last four days, to do much writing. (Still don't know if I can get back to it early evening, today, but as of Sunday I'd written over 55K words. I think I've got another 50K or more to go to finish the story.)

There are two things of significance that I've learned. The first is that I become too absorbed; I had a lot of trouble switching gears to do my regular work. The second is that I have been telling myself that I am too linear to write a novel. This is not true. I can hold a main story line and a couple subplots in my head and draw the threads together to complement the plot and write a complex novel.

I should have had a more complete "cast list," going in, complete with exact ages and relationships. I'm going to have to do a lot of clean-up, when I finally finish the first draft.

I didn't do NaNoWriMo, but possibly in January or February I'll give it a try. I need to noodle through some ideas a bit more, and clear away any other demands on my time. February would be good because I'll hate going outside.

Anal and Oral SeX
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