To Nano or Not To Nano

To Nano or Not To Nano . . .

November is National Novel Writing Month. In honor of this special occasion an organization named NaNoWriMo (for obvious reasons) promotes writing an adult length novel (50,000 words) in the thirty fleeting days of November. The idea is to pump out a whole novel lickety split and worry about editing later. Impossible you say! Well, it was for me last year. I accomplished a measly 15,000 words during Turkey month 2009.

It was my first attempt. I started with an idea and four characters, but no real outline. By November 30th I was halfway through a middle grade novel, typically about 30,000 words. I haven’t touched it since.

Now I’m in a quandary about whether to participate this year or not.

Here are my excuses of why not to do it:

1.) I’m busy.

2.) I’ll be out of town visiting family for a week this month. I don’t have a lap top so it might get a little difficult to write on the road.

3.) I didn’t finish last years’ novel so I don’t want to start a third, even though I do have a great idea.

Here are my reasons why I should probably do it:

1.) If I focus on word count and fudge on the rule to start a new novel, it’d be a nice opportunity to finish the novel I started last November.

2.) I need a break from editing my first novel. I’m sick of picking at it and would like to write something from scratch again. The NaNoWriMo emphasis is on quantity and not quality. I’m ready to focus on a feeling of accomplishment from word count alone without having to worry about perfection.

3.) I already signed up.

All right then, it’s decided. I’m going to give it another try. I mean come on, I couldn’t do any worse than 15,000 words. At least I hope not.

I’m going to pull out those chapters from last year tonight and re-read them so I’ll be ready to pick up where I left off on November 1st.

Check out NaNoWriMo for yourself, but don’t tell them my goal is to write the second half of a novel! (My nano cheating just may be my mother’s fault, she’s always insisted I finish what I start.) Next year I’ll start from scratch again. I promise.

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Benjamin Franklin

Synopsis Progress

I hate synopses. Heck, I don’t even like pronouncing the word, let alone writing them.

I’ve been working on mine off and on for the last few months and have not been satisfied with the result. So, I wasn’t surprised when I had my critique (a review of my manuscript and synopsis by a published author) and she said something like, “I love your manuscript and really don’t suggest you make many changes, but your synopsis is another story.”

Sigh. Don’t I know it.

As far as my synopsis goes I’ve been in writer’s block mode for a long time. Well, maybe it’s been more like just plain avoidance mode.

Then last week I decided to show it to my new critique partner, let’s call her P. She’s a non-published writer like myself. She analyzed my synopsis and had some great suggestions. After working with her I went home and got busy. I’ve made lots of changes, even some she hadn’t thought about. Before, I was just listing the action and not including the emotions that drive the plot as well. Now I feel my synopsis gives a better account of my protagonist’s story. All I have left is to work out a few of the transitions between the paragraphs so it flows smoothly - then I think it will finally be done. Yay!

I’ll be seeing P. again on Wednesday and will probably have her take a post revision look.

It’s so nice to have a support system, sometimes all you need is a little push.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney

“Put it on the list!”

My family members are always saying things like “We’re almost out of milk,” and I usually respond with “Put it on the list.” A list of some sort is a fixture on our kitchen counter. It seems no sooner do I run errands and get to throw away a list that we have a new list starting.

Sometimes I think we’re so preoccupied with the busywork detail kind of stuff on our day to day list, we miss the big picture. So today I decided to write my own “Bucket” list. It’s sort of my husband’s, too, since our lives are so intertwined. I figure writing these goals down will make them seem more tangible and less like dreams. One of the things toward the top of my list will be no surprise to you. It's to become published, and not just once, but again and again.

“Great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next!”

Michael E. Gerber, The E Myth