NaNoWriMo: Rough Start

[jimhines]

I figured I’d try doing National Novel Writing Month to get some momentum on my next project. I spent a week or two at the end of October figuring out the characters, doing some preliminary worldbuilding, and getting most of the plot figured out.

The writing was a little slow this week, for some reason, but I’d gotten 3000 or so words done by the time I went to bed yesterday. Then as I was lying there not sleeping, I realized the book might work better if I simplified the central concept.

That meant throwing out a lot of the backstory, as well as everything I’d already written. On the bright side, 3000 words isn’t really that much, and I’m feeling a lot more excited about the new, streamlined idea for the book.

This  isn’t under contract with a publisher yet. I’d been working on a pitch to send to my agent, but that’s gotta be scrapped and redone now. I think I’ll try writing a chapter or two first to get a better feel for the book before I try again to get a pitch we can use to hopefully sell this thing.

I won’t go into detail for now, except to say that it would be a standalone fantasy, and I think most of y’all will be excited about it.

Anyone else attempting NaNo this year? Like anything else, it’s an approach that works for some people but not for others. I’ve had mixed results in the past. And with all the extra stress of this month, I refuse to beat myself up for not being on track with word count.

Comments

[autopope]

Yup, I'm on NaNo too!

Missed two days this week (tons of book promo work on Tuesday; doomscrolling on Wednesday) but am currently playing catch-up and am 5800 words into BONES AND NIGHTMARES, the third book in the trilogy beginning with DEAD LIES DREAMING (published last week by Tor.com) and IN HIS HOUSE (not yet scheduled, but got written with a leg up from last year's NaNo). Unlike my normal process I've actually got an outline for this one, and it's mostly set in 1816 (so I can ignore current/near future trends).

Making allowances for stress this month is totally normal: I expect everybody else is doing the same.

[jimhines]

5800 words sounds like a strong start, all things considered! Go you!

[lassarina]

I had a novel outlined for NaNoWriMo, but it turned out after about 3k words I didn't like it. (not sure whether the problem is the concept, that it's just not ready yet, or "2020 is just like this".) So instead I'm working on a handful of WIPs as they catch my eye and just aiming for the 50k.

[jimhines]

Whatever works!

And yeah, sometimes stories just need more time to cook before they're ready...

[ravens_quill]

I've been struggling to write this year (shift in day job to working remote and you'd think 8+ hrs in front of my computer would lend itself to opening a Word document and writing a little more often, but no. Not me and my brain). I try to do NaNo every year, though I don't always reach the goal. I am especially hoping NaNo this year it will help jumpstart the writing bug for me. At a little over 10K so far, so it's a good start.

[jimhines]

I've had the opposite problem sometimes. All day doing day-job work in front of a computer means the last thing I want to do is go home and work on the computer.

And 10K sounds like a great start!

[lea_hazel]

Yeah, I'm doing a proper NaNo with a brand new novel concept. I've been outlining in drips and drabs all summer. I've heard mixed opinions on its effectiveness, but for someone like me whose problem is with the "just sit down and do it" stage, it's a lifesaver.

[jimhines]

Awesome! And yes, I figure it's just another tool. If it works to help you write, great! If not, toss it out and find a different tool that works better for you.

[themis1]

Unpublished author here. I'm writing book 5 of a series, might get around to self-publishing one of these days but mostly I write because I always have, not because I think I'm particularly good at it. Anyway, I'm on track this year, writing around 2,000 words a day, but they're not very exciting words! I work on the principle of get it on the page in November, the magic's in the edit. So some time next year this rather slow and mannered story might get some sizzle!

[jimhines]

I try to remind myself that it's okay for me to write a crappy first draft. That's what revisions are for. But as they say, you can't revise a blank page.

[themis1]

My pro author friends have taught me that it's OK if the first draft isn't brilliant - sometimes as you write, the story develops in ways you didn't plan, and that requires going back to put in foreshadowing :-) I see from FB that you are making progress on the new version :-) I look forward to reading the end result!

[lizkayl]

I've 'won' nanowrimo 5 times, and I'm going again. I already know this draft has tons of info-dumps and world-building, but this draft is for me, and this is a new world and new voice, so there was always going to be some of that.