Nano count: 17,194 words
A great day yesterday. Once the first Someone With Tools left, I was able to get a lot of writing in for Nano. The second SWT never showed, so I had ample time to get my thoughts down. I’m relishing this short-lived free time. My word count doesn’t necessarily reflect the progress I feel I’ve made. There were some major plot points worked out yesterday, so I’m excited.
There seems to be a ton of great advice out there on how to approach Nano to increase your chances of success. Frankly, you could use a lot of that, I suspect, to increase your results in a non-Nano setting. But since Nano is rolling off everyone’s tongue this month, I’m just going to stick with that.
Advice is great. Advice that fits is even better. Knowing what advice works for you and what doesn’t requires a bit of trial-and-error sometimes. Nano isn’t the time to test every theory, but it is a time to opt out of advice you already know won’t fit you. If it’s not something that works for you in your nonfiction world, I don’t imagine it would work in your fiction world, either. I could be wrong, but for me, I have some basic truths I already know from having written several children’s and young adult manuscripts.
What doesn’t work for me:
Setting word count limits. Some days I can write 3,000 words and some days I can muster only 300. If I set a limit on myself of 1,500 words, I’m going to feel good one day and lousy the next. Worse, I’ll see those extra words and think I can slack off a bit.
Editing as you go. I’m a born editor. Every word gets thought out twice as I type. But in fiction writing, that’s a dangerous habit. I’ve had manuscripts stall and die because I was busy re-reading and fixing. That’s why Nano works for me – I have to press forward.
Watching the clock. When I write, I don’t say “Okay, just fifteen minutes and I’ll quit.” I just write. If I’m on deadline, maybe then I’d give myself a limit, but it seems to me it’s the death of creativity to have fingers on the keyboard and eyes on the clock. Just write until you’re happy with your progress.
Laboring over an idea too long. Two days ago my scene was giving me fits. Instead of trying too hard to force something plausible out, I just gave it one of those “what the hell” moments – I wrote whatever came into my brain. It saved the scene and saved me from discouragement.
The funny thing about my list is it may not be the same as yours. What doesn’t work for me may be just what you’re needing. I have one friend who cannot understand how I can write without an outline. Honestly, I’ve tried it. I found myself getting so stuck in the outlining process that I never put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. It doesn’t work for me because I’m more fluid than an outline would allow. As long as I can see the ending, I can write it. Outlining works beautifully for her, though. Different strokes.
Are there approaches you use in either your fiction or nonfiction writing that you know don’t suit you? What are they? What works better for you?
OK, so I'm guessing that back in your school days you employed the same workaround I did: Write the paper first, then reverse-engineer an outline from it!
I wasn't even tempted by NaNo this year. Too much on my plate. But as a person who thinks "writer's block" is a lame excuse, I usually find that an incentive will work. I'm not allowed to run errands until…I can't go for a run until…I can't eat lunch until…Negative incentives seem to work better for me. Not sure why!
You guessed it, Jake. I couldn't do that damned outline until I was done with the essay. Ironically, my articles are written nearly always using a thrown-together, unique-to-me outline. I'm my own contradiction. 😉
Sounds like a great plan, Jake. I've done similar things, but not as often as I should.
I'm not a fiction writer, but with lengthy non-fiction articles I list the main points I want to make, note which quotations fit those points and start piecing it together. IT grows organically, fluidily, meaning my #3 point might wind up further down in the story. The funny thing is I almost always know the final quotation the moment I see it.
I do write spec scripts now and then, and have interviewed tons of scriptwriters at all levels of success. The funny thing is most of them will swear they hate outlines and never do outlines. They do storyboards and plan specific beats they need for each scene….which of course are simply ways of outlining a plot.
Lori, given our mutual love of list making, doesn't it seem odd that neither of us like outlines?
As I said in yesterday's third comment, I really disagree with not aiming towards a daily word quota. In terms of Nano, it's necessary. In terms of a life writing novels, it's a must. Books aren't written in 10 words whenever you feel like it and then 4 or 5K marathon sessions. They are written like running a marathon — you build up to a steady, regular rhythm. Stopping and starting shows in the manuscript.
Also, if you have a commitment to write a minimum of 1K/day (as writers including Ray Bradbury and Carolyn See discuss), it makes you deal with the problems in the book instead of walking away from the page every time it gets difficult.
I've now had several hundred students pass through my classes. The ones that are getting regularly published and selling well are the ones that write at least 1k/day. The ones that ebb and flow in their word count too much or skip too many days in between writing sessions don't finish their books, or, if they ever limp across the finish line, wonder why they keep getting rejected. Because the rhythm is choppy. While some of that is fixed in edits, every book has a natural rhythm that reveals itself in the first draft. You find it by being with it every day, and 1000 words (four pages) gives you enough space to remember where you were, settle into the flow, and move forward.
It's the SAME THING is a yoga or meditation practice. Sure, a few minutes a day is better than nothing. But the point is to do it regularly and build from five minutes to thirty minutes to whatever your goal it. To find that rhythm.
I used to hate outlining, but now that I'm juggling series and trilogies and stand-alones and short stories, not only does the outline allow me to drop into my word as soon as I sit down, but I've now accepted the wisdom given by wiser writers who recommended the Series Bible. I simply can't remember all those details in all those individual worlds. It takes forever to re-read everything. The outline, the Series Bible — succinct, specific, well-organized information that allows me to solve the problem in front of me and let the creativity fly again. Because readers will catch those flaws and call you out! 😉
I treat my fiction and non-fiction the same. They're both deadlined. The deadlines I make for myself are as sacred as anything on contract, maybe more so.
Totally agree with the editing — if you keep going back and editing, you get lopsided, because the first section is over-edited and you start hitting the point of diminishing return, the middle is kinda sorta where it needs to be, and the end is too raw.
Working through full drafts with an eye to specifics in each pass keeps it balanced and flowing.
I'm like you – I struggle with an outline or bits of a project. I just do the whole thing at once. Just wrote a research paper that exact way. My professor wanted us to turn in bits throughout the semester so we didn't get overwhelmed at the end (and we're graduate students, so seriously, if you haven't learned time management by now, you'd better learn FAST). So I ended up writing the entire paper just so I could turn in the required thesis statement last week. But that means I have the introduction done that's due this week 🙂 And I have plenty of time left for all the edits I want to do!
I'm that way with magazine articles and other writing too. If the lede doesn't come to me immediately, it will often be the last thing I write. Don't know why that works for me, but it's going well so far.
Paula, that indeed is odd. I cannot be more organized in my work life or personal life, but my fiction life is just not working with the outlines. I've tried so many times and just gave up – sometimes on the ideas even.
Devon, I hear what you're saying. I hear also that the rhythm is important. Lord, is that ever true. It's just there have been times – and I'm very guilty of this – that when I sit down and can't get out that 1,000 words because it's just not in me that day, the guilt takes over. (recovering Catholics never fully recover)
You sell many more books than I do, so I'm definitely taking heed of what you're saying. And I like the deadline aspect. THAT is my motivation, and it's why Nano works for me. If I start it with a clear deadline in mind – a fixed one that can't be moved – I'm going to finish. Period. Germanic side of me won't compromise on that.
Ashley, that's a great outcome. 🙂 You know the weird part? I outline my articles – in my queries! But try that with a book and I'm lost. Fiction, for me, is so very fluid, unlike nonfiction. I can't tie myself down. 🙂