So I’ve never done it before, but this year the stars have aligned so that, at the start of November, I’ve got an outline done and edited, ready to write. And, ahem, a deadline at the end of it.
I’m going to do #nanowrimo.
What’s that, you say? National November Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. #nanowrimo
It’s not National any more, it’s International. But the goal is for anyone who’s ever wanted to write a novel to write a novel in 30 days. 50,000 words. It’s a great way to see if 1) you’ve got it in your and 2) you get anything out of the process. I found writing to be very cathartic when I started, even if my writing was terrible; enjoyable enough to learn to get adequate at it, anyway.
So, if you want to do it, I need 1700 words from you today. It’s better for your soul than growing a moustache, though do still sponsor anyone doing Movember, please!
And for the nerds, I’m using a new method which will hopefully speed me up even further. Most of my books have been a case of 1) do an outline, 2) write the outline into a draft very quickly (like a nanowrimo but any month of the year), 3) edit.
And the third part is the hardest. And slowest. So I’m spending a lot more time on the outline, which has helped to an extent, but still leaves plot issues in the draft, which the editing takes ages to resolve. And if my brain is fixing plot issues, it’s lazy on scene detail, so I put in loads of crutch words like sigh, shrug, lots of eyes, etc.
So this time, I’m writing the draft in two passes. First is dialogue and summarised action. This will let me focus on the story — plot and character. Then the second pass is taking stuff like ‘Fenchurch ANGER’ and turning that into something that fits the scene physically and emotionally and isn’t just him punching a table or something pat. I’ll let you know how it goes.
As of 9am, I’ve written 1814 words, of 480 were in the outline. And the first chapter of forty is done, ready for the second pass.
Morning Splurge 