Wednesday, October 19, 2011

NaNoWriMo 2011

As October lurches toward the second half of the month, the start of National Novel Writing Month nears. Are you participating? Are you ready? Are you scared out of your mind?

My first attempt at Nano last year was, for me, successful. Granted I didn't get to the 50k word goal, but I wrote. I wrote just about every day, plugging away at my first attempt at a novel since I was 20. I haven't finished it yet, but I will. The characters I've spent so much time on deserve to have the rest of their story told, it is just not meant to be today.

There seems to be two groups of people when it comes to Nano. Those that outline and those that don't. Neither one is right or wrong, just a matter of what you as a writer perfer. I am an outliner. I tend to be anal/OCD in some tendencies and I try to be as prepared as possible. I will have a thorough outline, backstory notes, and character sketches ready by October 31st. Now whether all that preparation translates into a novel is another story.

I've seen many a blog post by other writers with advice and anecdotes of their previous experience with Nano. And while all of it is good, when it comes to YOU actually writing, how much can their tips help? After all, it can be quite daunting to write a novel. Will anything they say stay with you when you stare at that blinking cursor on November 1st?

I will throw in my own bit of sage advice, much of which will largely be unnecessary when it comes to that first day. It doesn't matter how you write or what you write. What matters is that you ...

WRITE.

5 comments:

  1. And write we will! Good luck to you this round. I'm doing it again this year too. I'll be cheering for you!

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  2. Good luck with Nano - I have toyed with the idea in the past, and ultimately chicken out! I admire all of you writers who do complete the challenge. Thanks for participating in the blog hop, which brought me over here to you! I look forward to reading more about Nano and writing!

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  3. Thanks both of you. Lara, I really encourage you to try. You'd be amazed what you can do.

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  4. Good lick with your novel, I'm not much of a writer, but I love reading.

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  5. I love this! I am not one to give advice on writing. It makes me uncomfortable to do so. The only advice I ever give is...WRITE! =o) Good Luck on Nano. I've never done it, but always wanted to. I just always have lot's of projects this time of year. Maybe I should try a JANO or FANO.

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