Throwing in the Towel

NaNoWriMo has come to an end, and I have failed miserably in the goal of generating 50,000 words for my novel. It isn’t the first time this has happened, and I dare say it will not be the last. Still, I’m coming away from November with my head held high, and I would encourage all of you other writers that “failed” the test to do the same.

At the end of the day, I added 25,000 words to my book. While this was less than the goal, it was still a good chunk to tack on to the work I’ve been doing all year. In the past I have tried to bear down and push to the word total at the end of the month, but this year I learned a very valuable lesson.

Sometimes, it is better to recognize defeat and throw in the towel.

Before you start saying that I’m being defeatist, hear me out. Writing is NOT a production-line, assembly-style process. You can’t make the magic happen, no matter how much you want it to. Though I am inspired by my novel right now and continue to plough forward with it, I am not 1,700-words-a-day inspired. I know that to create something truly special, sometimes you have to be patient. I would have loved to completely NaNoWriMo, but it made more sense to step back and breathe. In the end, I know my project will be stronger for it.

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!

Thoughts by Threes

It has been quite some time since I posted. I've still had my nose to the grindstone with writing my second novel and completing the editing process on the first, but I allowed my blogs to suffer during that time. I'm back to give them more attention, and with NaNoWriMo on the horizon (geez, again already!) I decided to post one more piece of poetry before my life is once again embroiled in the 1667 words-a-day challenge.

Enjoy.

Thoughts by Threes

Long to write

Choose to sit

Muse will come

Wait a bit

Baby’s laugh

Old man’s tear

Ponder pain

Fathom fear

Life so short

Burns too fast

Think how to

Make it last

At graveyard

Heard the sigh

Sobs have gone

Tears have dried

Life and death

What beyond?

Triumvir

Still unknown

Randall Madden

October 26, 2015

Lessons in Failure

I did not succeed in my word count goals for Camp NaNoWriMo in July. Real life simply got in the way too often, and I quickly fell behind. I spent the rest of the month writing, but it simply wasn’t enough to get the word count total back where it needed to be. With that said, I feel that I walked away from last month’s attempt with a better perspective (and more lessons learned) than I have in the past.

It’s easy to give up when you find yourself in a difficult position. When you know that the end is beyond reach, and that nothing you do will see the effort completed satisfactorily, the temptation to simply quit is very high. Yet nothing else can be gained by giving up early. By pushing through to the end of the month anyway, I was able to complete roughly 30,000 of the 50,000 planned words. This is a huge chunk of my second novel that wasn’t written at the beginning of the month. By staying true to the course, I was still able to partially realize my goals.

I also learned quite a bit about time management. I have been reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People this month as well, and it helped me to understand why my writing fell behind so early in the month. In an effort to simply tick things off my list, I was passing over the writing to complete other, less important tasks first. By doing this I ran out of time to do my actual writing. By prioritizing it at the beginning of my time, I found myself reaching the goal and exceeding it each day. I also feel that it allowed me to write more proficiently, as I didn’t feel a rush to reach some kind of arbitrary goal.

I strive to learn from mistakes and losses throughout life, because I firmly believe that we learn more in those instances than we ever can from our successes. When something doesn’t go to plan, don’t simply throw it into your past. Instead scrutinize the events that led up to the failure, so that you might be better prepared in the future to address any similar issues that arise.

Poem - R'lyeh

I've been in a Lovecraft mood lately, and wrote this poem back at the beginning of the month. Next week I will check back in, and let you know how Camp NaNoWriMo went for July. For now, enjoy some Cthulhu-inspired terror!

R’lyeh

What days are these?

I find myself

Lost on darkened seas

I cry out, but no voice

Hears my muffled pleas

So turn I will

To splintered oar

My fate not yet seal’d

There is time yet, if

Courage is tempered as steel

From deepest black

Does shadow rise

Unfathomed crack

Where he abides

Deepest terrors wrack

As shattered steel

My fate becomes

Insanity crushes real

Now left to rot in nameless void

Consumed by endless will

Randall Madden

July 1, 2015

To Say “The End”

My novel is finished.

No, I’m serious this time!

After crying wolf at least three times, I am now completely done with my novel, and plan to start sending it out to agents next week. With a little (okay, a lot!) of luck, maybe I’ll land something soon, and Dawnbringer will be on its way.

I’m constantly at war with myself between having no self-esteem at all in regards to my writing, and being a complete narcissist at the same time. I want to believe that it is good enough after each draft, yet something inside tells me to do one last round of edits. These always end up being drawn-out affairs as I add or change existing characters, and each time my narcissist side cries a little as I rip apart the beauty it created.

This time, though, the book is as good as it can be. I have confidence in my work, and while I could spend the rest of my life trimming here and adding there, I know that it will stand on its own two feet.

So wish me luck, for I’m off to the races! Prepare for a steady stream of motivational speeches about how to respond to rejection, all while secretly drying my eyes on a spare sheet of paper!