Hello, writers. Starting next week with the lovely and talented Emmet, Write On! will be hosted by a rotating roster of writers through the winter. So if you haven't done so already, please go down to the bottom of the diary and click the heart next to the “Write On” tag so that you'll always be able to find it.
(I'll post the full roster in the comments below.)
The time of posting will also be changing to 7 pm ET, 4 pm Pacific.
Still Thursdays, though.
In other news, once again NaNoWriMo is upon us. It's an annual challenge to write 50,000 words during the month of November.
If you haven't done it before, and especially if you've never completed a book-length manuscript, I would recommend trying it at least once.
We always have a few doughty Write On regulars go for it. Most years we have two or three people complete the 50k words. (Terry Pinder is probably our most successful serial NaNoWriMo-er, having completed the 50k in I think all of the last three years?)
I've only completed NaNoWriMo once, in 2009 at Mnemosyne's urging, finishing the draft which later became Jinx. I tried the following year but did not make it.
A few things I've noticed seem to work for people:
Shoot for 2k a day
If you're going to go for it, it's best not to shoot for a goal of 1667 words a day. 2000 a day is safer. With 2000 words a day, you'll still meet your goal if you miss five days. With 1667 words a day, you have no wiggle room for lost writing time. (Thanksgiving, emergencies, just not feeling up to it.)
Plan ahead
Many people find they move right along for the first 15, 20 or 25k words. They they run out of story and grind to a halt. It works best if the story you begin on November 1st is one that's been on your mind for a while. Plan out as much as possible in advance... index cards on the wall or whatever works for you.
Remember this is just a draft
In order to write at this speed, you have to give yourself permission to write badly. If you already know that your process is to write 500 words in the morning and revise them in the evening, then this is going to be a departure for you. (It's still worth trying.)
Sometimes, when you get stuck, you may find yourself just writing drivel to meet your word count. That's fine. You'll eventually tire of the drivel and get back to the story.
It's much easier to revise drivel than to write a draft, so don't worry.
Remember that even if you lose you win
50,000 words is not a novel, of course. It's all right if you don't finish the novel. Having 50k words of it is still an excellent start.
And even if you don't make it to 50k words, you'll still have a substantial chunk of manuscript to work with going forward. So you're still ahead of where you'd be if you hadn't tried.
As in previous years, I'll keep a running list of those who want to share their wordcount. (It will run a week behind.)
So, who's willing to give it a try?
Since the above doesn't lend itself readily to a Tonight's Challenge, I've chosen a couple story prompts from The Amazing Story Generator:
The night before the wedding... a small-time embezzler... develops short-term memory loss.
Write a bit of dialogue between the small-time embezzler and his/her intended.
Try to limit yourself to 150 words.
Beginning October 30, the Write On! timeslot will change to Thurs 7 pm ET (4 pm Pacific) for the winter.
Before signing a contract with any agent or publisher, please be sure to check them out on Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write and/or Writer Beware.