Happy NaNoWriMo

Nov. 1st marks the kick off to a 30 day race to write 50k words in your very own novel. Several hundred thousands, if not a couple millon folks are coming along with you for this journey. 50k words seems like a whole lot and they are, until you realize most of your favorite books are more than 50k.

However, when you break those 50k words up over 30 days. You wind up with a more manageable 1,750. I rounded cause 1,667 is not a nice round number. And if you do write 1,750 a day for 30 days you will have written 52,500 words. There by winning NaNoWriMo and holding in your hot little hand the beginnings of your novel.

A lot of “serious” writers don’t look fondly on NaNo, due to the highly unorthodox method. Writing so fast so you can out write your inner editor and inner critic and just get the story down. Naturally a first draft of anything isn’t very pretty. Ernest Hemingway, himself said that. And if he thought his first drafts stunk…

There are a few brave souls that will publish or have their project printed just to have a physical book they wrote. Some folks will go on and edit, rewrite, and polish that rough hunk of coal until they get their diamond. Some folks will say, “whew that was fun.” And never think anymore about it. Those are all perfectly fine methods, your words, your rules.

The main goal of NaNo is to give yourself permission to write crappy. The deadline is to keep you moving instead of getting hung up on editing and polishing. That comes after you have finished writing your first draft. Think of the first draft as a frame work. The editing and rewriting is fleshing out the frame.

I wish you all the best luck on this journey of writing and discovering the stories you have within yourself. Cheers, james

Writing Prep

NaNoWriMo is coming! NaNoWriMo is coming!

Ah that time of the year is soon to be upon us. The time when people go nuts from now until December 1st. Thank you Mr. Chris Beatty, as if the holidays need any extra craziness. Or could it be a refuge from the holiday insanity that takes over. Hmm food for thought for another post.

Pantser or Planner

First you need to decide which approach or a combonation approach you want to use. A “pantser” as defined NaNoWriMo.org is someone that is flying by the seat of their pants. Winging it, free spirited etc. approach to writing.

A “planner” is someone that plans, outlines, notes and thoroughly prepares for their writing. Anithesis of pantser.

Personally I like the combo of the two. Plenty of notes on world building, character sketches, a basic mind map of the how, when, where and whatfors. But with enough room to make a run into left field if that is where the story goes. Except I never get that far into my planning. Oh well there is always a first time.

Despite best attempts to get back into writing I haven’t. Either too much stress or just plan lack the fire and drive. Usually when life hits the fan is when my writing ramps up to help me escape the stress of the “real” world. So I am considering another run at NaNo this year.

Two months to prepare and get things organized with several story ideas in my head and also a couple of stories that I have been working on for several years. I think I can do it.

So the question you need to ask yourself is pantser or planner? Or maybe its NaNo or not to NaNo? As those answers will guide you into a writing adventure. Cheers, james

What have I done …

I think I just talked myself into NaNoWriMo this year. I started a page last year about my NaNo goals, read thru it and hit publish. I am so not ready, but excited to give this challenge a try. Now to visit the NaNo site and not chicken out.

Dum da dum dum da are you considering joining NaNo this year? Or are you an old pro? Come join the fun. They say its a wild ride.

Cheers on a beautiful Thursday night, james