cover designed by Austin Beckstrom
As many writers know, it’s National Novel Writing Month again, or NaNoWriMo. For those who don’t, it’s an amazing month to write a novel in, or at least 50,000 words. It averages out to be 1,667 words a day, but as I don’t generally write on weekends, I aim to write 2,000 words a day.
This year, I am trying something new. Rather than coming up with a new story as is standard for NaNoWriMo, I am writing a second draft of a novel I wrote three years ago. It’s been a great opportunity to get the second draft done (since the first draft had so many issues I needed a brand new draft), but it has also changed NaNoWriMo for me.
NaNoWriMo is about the word count. It’s about getting the words and ideas on the page, unfiltered, unedited. You’re supposed to write the idea down and worry about editing later. Many writers abhor this method as it promotes really bad writing for a first draft, and many writers love this method because it allows them to focus on getting the story down in all it’s messy glory. I am of the second belief because for me it’s easy to get caught up in editing or revising previous scenes, which makes actually finishing a first draft a very long process. Ever since I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2009, my novel writing has greatly improved. But this year, focusing on a second draft has made me slow down, outline more, and focus on word quality.
And I’m loving it. This draft, although I’m not ahead as I have been in previous years, is right along the word goal and the words are decent. When I participate in a word war or word sprint (a timed writing session where you type as many words as possible), I generally have a lot less words written compared to the past. But for a second draft, I view this as a good thing. This isn’t the messy first draft anymore. The plot is more stable, the outline makes more sense, and the characters have already been formed (with some tweeking as needed). This second draft takes more time.
So this year, it’s taking me double the amount of time to write my daily word count than it has in the past, but I’m okay with that. I still love my story, my characters, and my plot. I figure the third draft will take even longer to write (or certain scene revisions will), but I’m okay with that. I’m trying to take this story from its rough first draft and mold it into something readable and desirable. And so far, I’m enjoying the process thoroughly.
For the other writers participating in NaNoWriMo, what are your experiences so far this month? I’m anxious to hear from you!
Read some of my previous NaNoWriMo posts: Pantsing vs Outlining and What I Learned from NaNoWriMo.
Mommies Write Too 