I've gone on a writing hiatus while I decide what my NaNo novel will be. I've
gone through files of the more developed ideas I've collected (I have a ton of
short text message story ideas that, but I've left those alone for now in favor
of concepts I at least spent a few minutes to jot some notes down on.)
Narrowing it down helps, but now I have to decide not only what inspires me,
but what I'll actually stick with.
More than once in the
passion of NaNo, I've started a novel, got ten thousand words in, changed my
mind, and started over on something else. When I've been part of a writing
group, I drove them nuts. I don’t mention it now so I can avoid those dirty
looks. It wasn’t like I put their word count in jeopardy, but they took it
personally.
Hubby keeps giving me pointed
looks and reminding me that I’m trying to finish The Thousand Words series. Um,
no. I have to do something different. Something I can play with. NaNo is a time
for experimenting. I’ve explained this to him. So then he goes to Plan B:
hinting that I could do a first draft of the next Genie in Your Pocket novel.
That would be the crossover novel. I’m mulling that over. It would be
different. I wanted to avoid romances, but it’s not a typical romance, and it’s
not like the other genie books. It should have much more from the genie’s point
of view. Maybe. I do need to get that done, he has a point. And it’s mostly
outlined.
Okay, so assuming I go
with that idea (and stick with it, I’m choosing a backup as well) it helps you
get your word count easier if you outline. I’ve got that mostly done, but I’ll
look it over to refine and fill in anywhere I can. This is hard for me, I’m not a plotter/outliner
by nature. My writing is organic and comes to me on the fly. Since I have time
now before the writing begins, I can force myself to do it.
Also, since I’ll have an
outline, I’ll be able to see now what I need to research. That’s a whole other
blog post. I have my spreadsheet set up for tracking wordcount, and my book
bible ready for making notes on character names/features/details. I’ll make a
playlist on my phone this weekend, so I’m being reminded of my book even while
I’m doing dishes/taking a shower just by listening to music. Any little
motivators you need, prep them now.
Prepare a practical word
count goal. Officially, it’s 50,000 words in 30 days, so 1667 words/day. If you
can’t write on the (5)Sundays, Thanksgiving just isn’t going to happen, and you
know you won’t write on Black Friday, then subtract those days from the 30, divide
50,000 by your new number, and modify your daily wordcount goal. Don’t lie to
yourself, it will cause stress later. I personally recommend padding the goal:
round up. Instead of 1667 words, make your goal an even 2000. It’s easy to
calculate, remember, and it will keep you ahead of the target for some unforeseen
difficulty. Come to terms with your goal now, so it’s settled in your mind by
November First.
Finally, make sure you warn
your family and friends. Let them know
what you’re doing so they can either support you or stay out of your way. I don’t
know about you, but those who interfere risk being written into my novels. And
then written back out…
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