NaNoWriMo and My Progress

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.

April Wrap Up and Monthly Crazies

April 30 closed with excitement and small twinges of regret. As you know, I was participating in both Camp NaNoWriMo and National Poetry Month in April, plus keeping my blog updated. It was a month of writing challenges that I loved, and with it came an increased need to read. Every time I write more than usual, I devour the books on my bookshelves. It’s been a really fun month of literary adventure for me.

My April Goals:

1. Write 30,000 words for Camp Nano
2. write 30 poems for National Poetry Month
3. write at least one blog post a week that was unpoetry related (meaning I couldn’t just post poems)

April 2015 Camp NaNoWriMo stats

What I accomplished:

April Crazies

This month I’m planning on taking on a few writing challenges. They are:

• participate in Camp NaNoWriMo and write 30,000 words
• write a poem a day for National Poetry Month
• write at least 1 blog post per week that is un-poetry or camp nano related

These challenges aren’t too complicated, but I’m nervous that doing them all at once is going to make my life writing-crazy for the next month.

What I Learned from NaNoWriMo

This was my 6th year participating in NaNoWriMo and my third official win. Each year, I try to take a new goal into NaNoWriMo because I believe it’s the perfect time to try something new, and I want to accomplish more than just writing 50,000 words in a month. I always pick a genre or writing skill that I want to improve on. This year I took two goals into NaNoWriMo: write everyday and use action as a mode of characterization and plot in my first draft.

Inspiration Monday: Quote by Joss Whedon

It’s the end of NaNoWriMo, and it’s a time many participants put away their draft and resume their normal lives without writing for the next 11 months. This year, remember why you write and keep writing for the rest of the year.

image credit to pinterest pinner Jonathan Rangel

Pantsing vs Outlining

The great debate of pantsing versus outlining spawned from the depths of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Each November hundreds of thousands of writers write a novel in a month, and then many of them argue about which method is better: pantsing or outlining. I’ve watched this debate year after year take over forums and Facebook groups–even my own friends have stated their opinions.

Each year I see the same answer: it’s a matter of preference.