I’ve won National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) multiple times, but this year was my first time tackling it since 2011. And I didn’t win — I only hit 15,000 words. (For those of you who don’t think in word counts, that’s just under 1/4 of the way through the novel I’m writing.)
Here’s what I (re)learned…
5. NaNoWriMo is not worth killing your wrists over. I’ve had on-and-off wrist problems this fall, and as soon as I started to push for higher word counts, the problems flared up again. I backed off right away and wrote all of 300 words in the next five days, before cautiously starting up again. I’m still trying to pinpoint how much I can comfortably write without physical consequences (current guess is at least 800 words a day), but I’m in this for the long haul. I’ll do what I gotta do.
4. Life gets in the way. There’s something magic about 50K. During past NaNos, I’ve been able to put everything on hold (except the day job, of course) and just write. But I knew that once I gave up shooting for that magic 50K, Real Life would seep in…and it did. My original modified goal was 30K. I might not have made that because of #1, but I could’ve gotten closer than I did, if I’d let NaNo properly take over.
3. Your head gets in the way. I’m a pantser (seat-of-the-pants writer) at heart. I’ve learned how to wield three-act structure and have found it very helpful, but when I sat down to plan out events chapter by chapter, the more I tried to plan the more frustrated I got and the worse the story began to sound. The only remedy for that? Words on the page. Writing the story.
2. The Inner Critic is a liar. Sometimes the voice in your head (not your characters, the other one) will tell you that your story sucks. Sometimes it will tell you that you suck. Both of these things feel very true at the time. But if you persevere, they will pass.
1. The great moments make all the other moments worth it. Writing can be a slog. There is angsting (see #4) and flailing (see #3) and sheer grinding and the occasional fantasy of quitting. But every once in a while, you hit magic, and then suddenly writing is the best thing in the universe again.
The problem is that all of the above points are very easy to forget. Which is why I’m noting them down.
Your turn! Did you do NaNoWriMo? How did it go?
If you’re have trouble with your writers, it might be how you’re sitting. I’m short. Average desk is made for a man. If I sit a chair feet flat to the ground, I’m reaching to the desk. Not good on me. I bought a new chair with arm rests and then adjusted it so my arms were straight across on the desk. My feet were 5 inches off the ground. Add a footrest for my feet. I was surprised when I did this at work in addition to home — I stopped coming home so tired!
By the way, 3 act structure is not a novel construct. It’s something trendy added because of movies, likely Blake Snyder’s book. If you’re a pantser and having problems with the story, that may be the source, since you’re imposing additional structure onto of structure that may already exist …
Good points all, Siri. *hugs*
I hope you at least had fun with your Nano!
I did, once I got out of my own way (#3)!
Thank you. 🙂
For me, I think it’s posture-related…but I’ll definitely check the position of my feet as well!
As for three-act structure, I’ve found it to be helpful IF I use it at the right stage(s) in planning/writing/revising. Good point to check for other structures that may be there already, though.
I wish all the rest of life didn’t feel the need to attack during NaNo. I’d enjoy it so much more.
Anyway, 50k, but most of it’s garbage. Not pleased at all, but some of it is probably useable. Maybe. *grumble*