NaNoWriMo 2019 | Imamother

amother

Saddlebrown

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 3:31 pm

sidewalkchalk wrote:

I still have it. Every now and then I have an idea of how to fix one of its (many) flaws, and I'll dash it off in an email to myself for when I get back to it. I haven't given up, but it's not a priority now.

interesting. I keep hearing that, that people don't actually use their nano work. I guess I feel better about only doing it halfheartedly this year.

ora_43

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 3:35 pm

I did it last year for the first time, too.

Saddlebrown-amother, I think a lot of people write first drafts during NaNo (much easier to make 50,000 words of fresh story than to do that much actually useful editing). First drafts are always bad. Especially first drafts of first novels.

amother

Saddlebrown

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 3:46 pm

ora_43 wrote:

Well of course I was referring to first drafts, its impossible to write and edit a full novel in a month. But what I'm hearing is "Oh yea, I did nano. Its a file on my computer and I haven't looked at it in three years." It just seems like a big waste, like you put all that energy into it, at least do something with it.
I do think getting into a set writing schedule can be beneficial for some in the long term, but I'm really on the fence about flow writing. Just writing to up your word count for a month, instead of thinking out scenes deeply, editing as you go etc. not sure I love the approach.

ora_43

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 3:56 pm

amother [ Saddlebrown ] wrote:

Fair enough. I've had similar thoughts.

Ultimately I think it's worthwhile. Because it gets flow going, creates habits, and all of what you said.

But mostly just because it's so much more writing than most of us normally do, and even when you write just to get words on paper, some of it ends up being good. Like, 25,000 decent words out of 50,000 is better than 10,000 out of 15,000.

I do need a plot outline to keep whatever I write from being garbage.

It helps that for me personally, editing as I go is not a good idea. I'm all for gagging the internal editor and throwing her in a corner during the first draft process.

ora_43

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 4:08 pm

amother [ Babypink ] wrote:

How did you come up with a plot big enough for a novel? That's my biggest problem.

I assume you have a basic idea?

If it's not long enough, it's probably missing conflict.

Like, say Shmuel and Esther are planning to go on a date. If all that happens is they meet and go on the date, that's, what, 1,500 words?

Now let's say Esther's mother doesn't think she should be dating Shmuel. They argue. Esther storms out of the house, and as she's stomping down the porch stairs, her skirt catches on a nail and rips.

Once they're finally on their date, they run into a friend of Shmuel's who won't stop talking. Then the restaurant they planned to go to is closed for health code violations. As they're staring glumly at the sign on the door, it starts raining.

Etc. And now you have 10,000 words.

Of course not every date needs to take 10,000 words Smile

. But you get the idea. Don't let your characters off easy. Have them make mistakes and then face the consequences. Have things go wrong for them, over and over. Have other characters get in their way. Make them change and grow.

And make sure you have multiple characters who are all interacting and developing, and that you're describing the scenes (are they in a park? is it windy? warm? cool? Who else do they see? Are there dogs playing? etc...).

Even with all that it's not always easy to get to a full novel length. But it's easier.

ora_43

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 4:43 pm

(I'll just add that not all oh-hey-that-would-be-a-cool-book ideas can/should be turned into books. You need an idea that keeps coming back, and that makes you excited to see it as an actual story. It's OK to sometimes say, cool idea, not really worth more than 20,000 words, moving on.)

sidewalkchalk

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 5:56 pm

amother [ Saddlebrown ] wrote:

It just seems like a big waste, like you put all that energy into it, at least do something with it.

Strong, STRONG disagree!

The feeling of accomplishment! The "yes, I am a writer" self assurance! The removal of the "Wait, could I actually DO that?" doubt!

I cannot tell you how proud I am of myself.

And nothing takes that away.

Also that feeling of, "I wrote a bad first novel cause everyone writes a bad first novel - and so the NEXT one I write, even if it's 20 years, will be awesome!" is so powerful.

singleagain

Thu, Nov 14 2019, 9:08 pm

ora_43 wrote:

I've heard that if you are typing on the computer. Changing the font to comic sans or something else silly, will help prevent you from going back to edit, bc something about tricking the brain somehow... And then you select all and change the font back to regular when you are ready to edit