NaNoWriMo – Week 2 Update!

The second week of NaNoWriMo is underway, and I’m doing much better out of the gate than I have in past years. I’m usually a long way behind by now, but this year I am only about a day and a half behind. This came from taking an entire weekend off; by the end of the week, I should be fully caught up.

The hardest part of NaNoWriMo for me has always been learning to turn off my inner editor. I always want to go back and rewrite things as I’m moving along, because I’m too much of a perfectionist. I need each scene to feel alive; I want each line of dialogue to be a zinger, and I want each character to be a compelling web of fears and desires.

Still, the act of putting plot on paper at speed helps to push a novel forward. I have been lost in the details in the months following NaNo each year, but that is okay; the speed with which I cut out the majority of the work in November makes it easier to focus on the finer details when the time comes to cut and add to bring value to the overall manuscript.

If you’re writing a novel this November, do everything in your power to turn off the inner editor. You never know what word count you’ll achieve when you put the tedium aside for a short thirty days, and focus on nothing but bringing out the plot that lives inside your head.

NaNoWriMo 2015

For the last three years I have participated in the National Novel Writing Month, held each year in November. It encourages authors to knock out 50,000 words in a novel over the thirty days in November, giving them a rough draft to move forward once the month is concluded.

During the first year I failed miserably. I didn’t devote the necessary time to accomplish the tasks. I was still fresh back into writing in November 2013, after several years spent away from my passion. As a result, I simply disintegrated under the weight of the task.

As with many authors and artists, I have a difficult time completing the tasks I lay out for myself. Until early 2014, I had never completely finished a book manuscript. With that enormous accomplishment behind me, though, I was able to focus down in 2014 and finish up 50,000 words in my second novel before November was over.

I learned a lot, including time management and dedication to a task, from the time I spent at the keyboard last year. I’m off to a strong start this year as well, though I am pacing myself much more so that I won’t burn out around the middle of the month. The confidence and experience from previous years have equipped me for the task ahead.

If you’re a writer and have never attempted NaNoWriMo, I would strongly encourage you to give it a try. Even if you don’t succeed, you’ll learn a lot about your own writing processes along the way. Some people need a strong outline ahead of time, while others (myself included) prefer to have a general idea before they “grip it and rip it.” Either way, you’ll quickly learn your strengths and weaknesses as an author, along with valuable lessons in pacing and time management.

There’s no time like the present; your book will never write itself!