Well, I finally did it. I participated in a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I’m still trying to evaluate the experience. It was certainly interesting.
In October, I started developing an outline for a possible novel. I wanted something I could cast a robotic-based Summer Glau in. I had so much fun writing her characters in The Connor Wars that I wanted to revisit that in a format I could actually profit from. Toward the end of the month, some writerly friends were wondering how many of us were planning on doing NaNoWriMo this year. I wasn’t. But then I started thinking — even with a pretty raw and underdeveloped outline, maybe I could wing it. So I signed up just as November loomed nigh.
I found the process to be relatively easy. I’ve already proven I have the discipline to write long-form over a protracted period of time. The average words per day for the month stood at only 1,667 — which long ago ceased to be a scary amount for me.
Because of the anemic outline, it took until about the 40,000 word mark that the real novel started making itself known to me. The characters started taking charge of who they were. This usually happens much early and is a clear indicator I didn’t do enough prep work. Even so, despite a really bad head cold that took me away from writing for almost two days, and the huge distraction and time-suck that was Thanksgiving, I hit the 50k goal on the 26th. That doesn’t mean I’m done. I’ve got many tens of thousands of words still to write before this draft is finished.
What do I think of my NaNoWriMo experience? If I were less experienced, I probably would have gotten a lot more out of it. One of the hardest parts of novel writing for most people is simply putting in the time. There are also things like figuring out how to tell a story your way that people will want to read, but at the start, it’s mostly the discipline. The more you’ve written, the less you may get out of NaNoWriMo unless you are in it for the social aspect. Being very much an introvert, that wasn’t a big draw for me. Mostly I felt that NaNoWriMo took away some of the flexibility I enjoy when on a writing project to deal with life or professional needs.
I’m glad I did this. I don’t know that I’ll ever do it again — not because it was unpleasant, but because it doesn’t actually contribute to my process. If anything, by rushing the start I probably made more work for myself in the rewrite. For people who haven’t been writing for years, who haven’t finished a novel, and who aren’t comfortable with writing in general, NaNoWriMo is a good excuse to spur you to the next level if that’s where you want to go. After all, if you don’t get that first draft done, there will be nothing to publish later.
When can you expect the fruits of my labor? Hard to say. I still need to finish the draft to see what I have to work with. I will say that after a shaky start, I’ve become interested to see what happens next. This is a good sign.
