Many of you will be aware of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. In November, writers from all over the world try to write a 50,000-word novel. Sounds daunting, but lots of people do it.
I first heard of it last year, about this time when some of the Bloggers I read were gearing-up for it. I was not ready for it, and I'm still probably ill-equipped, truth be told. But I read a post at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash that totally put a bug in my ear about it, right after a friend at work asked if I was going to do it. That day, I was working in a brain-dead department, so I had lots of time to mull over the idea. By the time I got home from work, I was ready to start outlining.
My current WiP was originally conceived as a trilogy, and as I wrote-on, it became more clear that I was working on Book 2. What I'm thinking is that I can spend November working on Book 1, so I'll have the basis for my present WiP, and it can flow better.
This fits well with my original plan. You see, the problem that I have with Fantasy books is that they're often written as a series. If I love a book, it could take years for the next installment. With this in mind, I wanted to have Books 1 & 2 ready when the first one was released, and a rough draft of Book 3. That way, it will be less than a year before the next book is out. It's all about doing for my readers as I would have my favorite authors do unto me. ;)
I guess what I'm driving at is this, I won't be around much in November. I mean, my Blogging has been pretty sporadic since Andrea went back to work, but I've done what I could to visit at least a few Blogs a day. That may fall by the way-side for November as well. Every minute that I can write – even one-handed, as I usually comment on your Blogs – gets me closer to the goal. When I figured out the daily count, the calculator divided it to 1666.66666(etc.). That made it pretty easy to remember. I'll need to find one of those widgets that plots your Work In Progress as a percentage now!
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Good luck Will with your writing you'd be a fool to let this oppourtunity go. Hope your daughter is well and hopefully will see and hear from you from time to time,
ReplyDeleteTake care.
Yvonne.
Same here. I'll post once or twice a week but not much surfing & commenting. Things may be pretty quiet around blogger. There's a lot of us doing this.
ReplyDeleteI'm not ready for that kind of commitment until our house reno's are done. But it is somethng I would like to do in the future. Good luck, Will.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a logical approach to your writing plan and NaNo will provide the extra impetus that you will need if you stick with it. I'd never tried anything like this until last year and I made it thru pretty well---it got me more organized and focussed. I haven't made the absolute commitment yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll do it again.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
Good for you, Will! Don't worry, I'll be scarce as well - I'm doing NaNo too. I'm under my name - AlexJCavanaugh - what are you under so I can find you?
ReplyDeleteHi Will .. good luck is all I can say .. have fun .. you will achieve so much .. and it looks like you have compatriots ready to support you .. thinking of you & all the very best -Hilary
ReplyDeleteI wish you good luck with this venture.
ReplyDeleteAll the best, Boonie
Will-I think it's a GREAT plan. Find me at NaNo: hartjohnson. I wrote a trilogy--still not cleaned, but my 2nd was ALSO the first I started on, and when the 1st formed as a plan, it was the easiest book I've written because I knew EXACTLY where I needed to go.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I would write ALL THREE before really polishing the first and sending it out, just so if you have something big in three that would be nice to foreshadow early--or a piece of your WORLD you want to hint at early--I think the set flows better. You will get opposite advice from agents of course--they don't want you to waste your time if the first doesn't sell, but from a story-telling perspective, I really think it is smarter.
Seems like you have it all well planned out! I think you will enjoy this, and now you don't have a newborn. So good luck and keep me updated!
ReplyDeleteGo for it- I'll still be around. But there are so many of us doing NaNo- including me, so I think all of us will be sparse. :) If you want to search me on NaNo my name is : ladywriter1
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, Will. Oh it's so tempting to give it a go.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, when did this site go up and why didn't I know about it?!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info about the NaNoWriMo, I'm checking it out too.
Best to you!
Hey Will, I guess you can tell by now that I thought you were one of my blog readers ... and Twitter friends ... I'm so very sorry.
ReplyDeleteIt is a pleasure to meet you and thank you, thank you for stopping by the site.
Now, you have a NEW reader! lol
I'm jealous. I'd love to write a book but would never have the self-discipline to stick at it every day-- especially with family all around me. I did think at one point I should get a small netbook but the problem isn't the tools, it's the discipline for me (and ideas). As I said: I'm jealous.
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