Regrouping and Preparing for NaNoWriMo
With all of the craziness surrounding my recently published short story a couple of weeks ago, along with supporting several other Indie authors through reading/reviewing/promoting their newly released novels and taking a much-needed, short vacation last weekend - now is the time for me to regroup and prepare.
Getting organized can be a daunting task, especially when trying to prepare for one's first ever NaNoWriMo - which will commence on November 1st.
For NaNoWriMo, the writing must occur solely in the month of November. It is okay to plan and outline your story before November, but any writing must be within the 30-day period from November 1 - 30.
Since I am already in the process of writing several more short stories
for release in an e-book collection in March 2014, my plan is to put those short story writings on hold
and complete them after November 30th.
So, where does one begin for NaNoWriMo?
For me, the very first (and easiest) thing to do is read everything I can from their website - NaNoWriMo.
Once that is done, determining what will be written and naming the story are the next steps. After that, I plan to prepare an outline of the chapters to be included along with details of the characters/plot/setting for the story.
As time goes on and I get more involved and closer to November 1st, I will get the hang of what this endeavor really entails. But, for now I will take baby steps and take one day at a time - learning as I go.
I hope to not get too wrapped up in the details of the process, but have fun with it and produce a good rough draft of the story for editing at a later time.
Wish me luck. :-)
And so it begins ... Preparation for NaNoWriMo.
you can use a "working title" so don't stress over that part of it. it's all about getting a first draft on paper (or in your computer). i even had characters, last year, named XXXXXXX because i didn't want to stop to work on picking names.
ReplyDeleteto be honest, i found nanowrimo frustrating, because i didn't have the full plot in my head, yet. one writing session, my secondary character just walked around for a thousand words. so it's good to have a feel for what your plot is, as well as any sub-plots.
and, GF, you don't need luck. you're a good writer. you just need motivation to get started, and this is a good way to start.
but don't fall for what a lot of authors fall for. on november 30th, you'll have a rough first draft, not a novel. the intent is to work the other 11 months on editing that first draft.
An Untold Want took me seven years, mostly because I was learning the craft but also because I would lose motivation at times. so for nanowrimo, use it for what it is, a motivation tool, but don't forget to hone your writing skills as well.
Thanks for the tips, Nellie. I am using it as a learning experience to get a rough draft together. Bottom line is that I want to see if I have a full length novel in me - since I am pretty partial to writing just short stories at this time. Will see what I have at the end of November - this could be interesting.
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