NaNoWriMo Update - I'm a Loser

 

How Not to Win NaNoWriMo


It’s the first of November and I’m off like a flash. Well, maybe not a flash. More like a puff. a small puff, barely more than a sigh. But the point is, I’m off. I’m writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month.

The fabulous idea that has been buzzing around my head starts to take shape on the screen. After a few days of diligently sitting down every day, I have written myself out of ideas.

I back up and jot some notes. I think seriously about where I want this story to go, then write some more. I write a couple of scenes that are really short stories that might be able to stand alone. I edit what I’ve written, which is a no-no in NaNo.

I catch myself writing backstory. Is that important or am I just trying to fill up pages?

Then, I have a discussion with some fellow writers about some advice we’ve heard over and over and over. Start with action. Hook your reader from the very first paragraph, first sentence if possible.

I haven’t done that. I look at the parameters of a Novel Start contest being sponsored right now by my friends at Scrivenings Press. The contest is for the first five pages of a novel. Hmm.

I re-read my piece, and get to page nine before any real action starts. Well, what if I started there?

It’s mid-November. I should have 50% of a novel, but I don’t. I’m not sure what I have, but I suspect it will never be a novel. So right in the middle of a challenge to reach 50,000 words, which I was going to have to push hard to reach, I’m just scrapping the first twenty percent and starting over.

A few days later, I have the first five pages of a novel, and I think it’s pretty good. I may actually enter it in the Scrivenings Press contest. The prize includes a Novel completion coaching session, which I definitely need.

I don’t know how much of my original story I’ll be able to use in the new version, if any. I’ve spent a few days beating myself up over not completing the 50,000-word challenge. But I have come to the conclusion that I will be happier with writing something good, and resisting the urge to just write words for the sake of the count. I won’t have anything complete by the end of the month, but I’m okay with that.

If you’re stressing about NaNoWriMo, ask yourself if it’s worth it. You might be okay with just writing for the sake of the story rather than the word count. Either way, just write. That's the most important thing, after all.

 


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