Now that you’re at the end, and either reveling in success or suffering in defeat, you’re in a good position to look back and decide if it was worth it. There are two sides of the story that I generally hear. The first is positive. It helps show people who don’t write that it’s possible to write a novel. It grants extra motivation. It teaches good habits. I also hear the opposite. It just burns people out. It tries to force people into a pace that some can’t handle and teaches them that they can’t write. We are already authors, we do this every day. We don’t need some stupid contest to show us something we already know.
So, what do you think? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Give your reply in the comments and lets see which side gets the better arguments.
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but when I first heard the term “NaNoWriMo,” I thought maybe it was a Star Trek species or a riff on Robin Williams’ “Nanu, Nanu” alien catchphrase from 1970’s sitcom Mork & Mindy.
In case you don’t already know: it is neither of those things.
NaNoWriMo is an acronym for National Novel Writing Month. And, lest you assume (as I would) that it’s some random meaningless designation like Bacon Appreciation Week or Balloon Animal Day (not to downplay the importance either of those deeply important celebrations), I can assure you that this is serious business.
During the month of November each year, thousands of people all over the country commit to writing about 1,677 words a day sans outlines and without editing. At the end of the month, each person is meant to have a relatively short (about 50,000 word) draft of a novel. And some of those novels eventually get published. My book Semi-Charmed Life was fortunate enough to be among those.
Being largely based on free association, that resulting first draft is generally a bit of a mess. At least, that’s true in my case. In 2009, I participated for the first time, moved by the desire to find out if I could write fiction. I am, after all, a journalist, whose forays into creative writing had previously been relegated to personal essays, memoirs and creative nonfiction. But I was craving an outlet without deadlines or specific guidelines for my voice. I was in the mood for a different kind of challenge.
For me, NaNoWriMo was a game changer. And I am not alone. Not even close. This wasn’t the first time I’d toyed with ideas for books, usually getting all excited and then deciding a mere week or two later that the concepts were lame, would never go anywhere and were not worth months or years of anyone’s time. But this was the first time I was offered a structure for writing a novel, that I was instructed to pick an idea (even if just for the first page or chapter) and stick with it … no matter what.
Though I am disciplined as a writer (I have to be as a freelance journalist), I’m not big on enforced structure. So, for me, it was relief not to have to have to outline or research much, elements that NaNo discourages. And, as goofy as the supportive exclamation point-filled NaNoWriMo emails sometimes seemed from the cheerleading staff of fellow writers, knowing that thousands of others were attempting the same feat did keep me on track. And don’t even get me started on the graph: Participants sign up online, create profiles then watch a graph that tracks their word count accomplishments grow and shrink. I can’t quite tell you why, but that graph kept me honest. I couldn’t bear fail it! It kept me writing even on difficult days.
That is to say; as much as I enjoyed the process, I also found it difficult sometimes. Like everyone else, I started on November 1st of that year. Which was my first wedding anniversary. Which was the day I was traveling via plane with ten buddies back from a best friend’s wedding in Mexico. Which was the day after their wedding, when I was a lot hungover from too much tequila and Churros. As you can imagine, I can’t say it was the most productive writing day of my life. And it would not be the only one that was rough going.
For most of us, no matter how much we adore writing or how much time we have to dedicate to the task on a given day, there are always times when the words just don’t flow, where what we scribble or type is pure crap. If I’d gone about writing my book through a different method, I would have, of course, had the luxury of taking a pass on those days, but that’s how you get stuck and give up. NaNo forces you to push through the less creative moments to get to the next thing. After all, you can always go back and edit when the month is through.
I won’t bore you with talk of my addiction to Cherry Coke Zero during that time or the explanations to my husband that got me through that time and out of certain holiday obligations, BUT suffice it to say that a plot emerged despite my total belief that it would not. And afterward, when I reread the draft, which truly was a big mess, I saw some elements that seemed worth pursuing and I started the rewriting process.
The Rewriting Quandary
For me, rewriting can be easier than writing for the first time. After all, there’s no blank page staring you in the face. But not everyone feels that way. So, how to keep yourself working on revisions long after the NaNo process has ended?
Well, first of all, I know that many colleges and continuing education institutions offer classes on taking your novel to the next level and so that structure and accountability can be helpful for some. I personally felt that I’d already put so much work into completing the draft. To abandon it then would just have felt wasteful. I wanted to see where it could go.
My book in particular was a strange mix of genres, part coming of age, part mystery, part humorous satire-that was never what I’d imagined I would write. And I was proud of it … and a little intrigued too.
I sent the draft to friends and family for feedback, made revisions, then sent it to more people I knew for notes. Of course, it’s not always easy to hear that feedback, but you just try to remember that its all in pursuit of a greater goal. People are only expressing opinions and, while you may not like everything you hear (in fact, you definitely won’t!), it’s helpful to give the manuscript to many people of different backgrounds and interests. That way, if they all give you a similar note or point to a similar problem, you know that it really does need to be addressed.
On Picking Readers For Notes
Another thought: we all have relationships in our life with people we love that are complicated. (And, yes, that’s probably a euphemism for something worse.) If you can, avoid sending those people the manuscript for feedback. It may seem obvious, but its’ really easy to make that mistake.
Ask yourself, will I be able to hear negative thoughts from this person and do I trust him or her to give me honest feedback without twisting the knife or trying to make me feel small? Does this person truly have my best interests in mind, in this context, or is our relationship competitive in some ways? Often people don’t even realize that your attempt to write a novel pushes emotional buttons for them, so it’s important that you consider everyone’s feelings, so that you don’t end up feeling angry, defeated or upset.
Once You Get Published
Anyway, a bazillion revisions later, the unimaginable (for me) happened: I found an agent who was excited about the story and she sold my book Semi-Charmed Life to Macmillan’s St. Martin’s Press. It hit bookstores this July 2012.
The day they handed me the galley and I actually held the bound manuscript in my hand in the form of a book was probably the proudest of my life. Of course, what’s amazing these days is that we can sell to publishers or self-publish and, either way, get to see our work in book form.
I spent most of the summer touring around like a crazy person, doing everything I could to promote the book. That’s harder than you’d imagine these days. Since Borders closed, the chance of someone just coming upon a book accidentally while browsing is down something like 25%. The greatest challenge is just letting people know that you and your book exist, then hopefully encouraging them to give it a chance.
My novel’s cover is pretty and sort of looks like a water color painting and it certainly has the components that suggests, but it has a darker, more literary, almost cartoonish side (compared sometimes to The Royal Tenenbaums in tone) and that’s something a person would only know from actually picking it up and reading it. So, the trick is getting people to try it out, to take that step.
The other night, I was at a cocktail party and was introduced to a fellow novelist. He told me the title of his book and I told him mine and we both vowed to buy copies. That’s a vow I’ll keep: as we both admitted, once we realized how tricky it is to get a story out there, we started buying books by every author we happened to meet. It just seems like good karma, like the right thing to do. And I’ve ended up reading some fantastic new books that way too!
While traveling around teaching writing workshops, giving readings and even calling and/or Skyping into book clubs around the country to discuss Semi-Charmed Life (something I am still enjoying very much), I often talk up the NaNoWriMo process. Sometimes I feel like I must sound like some crazy cultist because I am such a believer. But the process worked for me and I think, even for writers who care less about the outcome and more about the experience, it can be incredibly enriching on an emotional and creative level, like writing Morning Pages while doing The Artist’s Way. It’s an escape from the everyday, a chance to let your mind (as cheesy as it might sound) do its thing and run free without constrains.
For me, it was a chance to discover that I had a much wilder imagination than I’d assumed. Who knew? It’s been a new way for people to get to know me, as well. Friends and relatives have read the book and said things like, “I feel like I understand you on a whole other level now. And I think maybe you’re crazy.” Nice.
I have been using the NaNo process to write my second book for the last six weeks. It’s longer than 50,000 words and I couldn’t wait for November to start because I have an actual deadline this time from my publisher, but the basic principles still make sense.
Interestingly, this time is harder. That surprised me. I’m more inhibited by what I know about publishing and by expectations. I can let my mind run rampant to some extent, but I also have to make sure that I stay on track, so I don’t horrify my publisher. But its working, or I guess I’m working, and that’s what’s important.
Ultimately, I like to think I wasn’t entirely wrong about the definition of NaNoWriMo, when I first heard it bandied about. While the acronym may not refer to some alien species, it is sort of a strange cultural community full of people who allow their minds to take them to lands far, far away. And that’s a unique thing.
Meanwhile, I should be getting back to writing. Better say goodbye.
Or as they don’t say, but totally should, during National Novel Writing Month:
Nano Nano.
Good luck!
Nora Zelevansky is a novelist, freelance journalist, essayist and editor, whose writing has appeared in publications including ELLE, Vanity Fair online, Salon.com, Cosmopolitan, Travel + Leisure, the Los Angeles Times, Martha Stewart Weddings, Town & Country, Style.com, SELF, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post and Daily Candy to name a few. She is a contributing writer for C Magazine. Semi-Charmed Life info, My website, Book For Sale, Facebook Author Page
Twitter handle: @missnoraz
This book is for you if:
You’re new at plotting and you don’t know where to begin;
You want a concise yet usable refresher course on plotting, character and world building;
You’re revising your novel; and
Especially if you’re a pantster!
Writing Fiction for Dummies is all about making sure your novel has all the right components for success. As author Randy Ingermanson says in his opening notes in Snowflake Pro, a design program for novelists:
Good fiction doesn’t just happen, it is designed. You can do the design work before or after you write your novel. I’ve done it both ways and I’ve found that doing it first is quicker and leads to a better result for me. But you may find that doing your design after you write your novel works better for you. It doesn’t really matter when you do your design work, as long as you do it.
And this book covers all aspects of the writing from finding your target audience, to choosing your creative paradigm, using the principles of powerful plot, editing and getting published. However, it’s not for dummies – it gives credit that the reader is intelligent by succinctly providing information and tips. I like that I don’t have to read an entire book on character or plot or revision and then have to distill the information I need. Plus, the book has great examples to illustrate each point.
These authors are masters in taking you through the steps logically. For example, Part II: Creating Compelling Fiction takes you from building your story world, to creating compelling characters, plot layers and examining theme. Part III gives you the tools to edit and polish your work by analyzing characters, story and scene structure and then editing scenes for content.
Truly, I always thought I was a panster at heart until I realized that I was simply plotting and outlining in my head. Writing fiction for Dummies has given me the tools to put those points on paper. Now my plots are multi layered, my characters are deeper and I don’t have the headache from keeping all that information in my head! I still can’t write a detailed outline – it’s just not me. But, I’m a more organized pantster now who has lots more fun brainstorming the deeper “what if?’ scenarios.
I’ve started a new series and I can’t keep five books worth of information in my head. Chapter 8: Story Line and Three-Act Structure is my starting point for the basics and I brainstorm from there. I planned the big picture first – key points for the beginning, murky middle, climax and ending for each novel. Now I have an idea of plot arc, character arcs, emotional arcs and where each story in the series needs to end. I still have lots of room for random creativity as my characters take me on unexpected turns in their journeys and I can let them do that with confidence because I know I have enough of a plan so that key story elements aren’t derailed. Most importantly, I know that if the novels grow in unexpected ways, I can revise the plan because as our characters evolve, so do we as writers and so must our plan.
Whether you’re writing your first or tenth novel, revising your draft or reviewing, Writing Fiction for Dummies is a resource every writer must have. It’s a quick reference guide filled with checklists and thought provoking questions on critical elements … and I can hardly wait for the revision process because now I know what I’m doing!
Happy writing and revising! It’s always a joy to create!
One of the wonderful things about NaNoWriMo is it forces thousands of writers to get the writing party started. This raises the question of: Now what?
The answer is deceptively simple: FINISH IT.
Okay, I can’t leave it at that. Simple answers just aren’t in my nature. Why? It’s because the simplest answers often hold the hardest truths, and most difficult objectives.
The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in a month. Keep in mind that the goal isn’t 50,000 immediately publishable words. I’ll circle back to that point in a moment. Most adult-reader novels (and no, I’m not taking about those at the top of the rating system, but all books that fall outside the picture, children’s, and middle grade markets) these days are more than 50,000 words. Young Adult novels use to fall into the 50-60,000 range, but with the breakaway success of the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises, Young Adult often exceeds this mark as well. Books in the fantasy genre tend to be on the higher end of the word count spectrum. If you’re not Brandon Sanderson or George R.R. Martin, your likely word count is between 80,000 and 120,000 words. Romance and Thrillers tend to ranger closer to the70- 80,000 word mark. So, our task isn’t done when at the end of November we hit the magical 50,000 words. We can’t spell check and e-mail the partially-finished manuscript out to our top ten fantasy agents and expect them to rush to represent us. Seriously, don’t do this.
Tip #1then is to write until done. Whether you need another 20,000 words or another 60,000 words, you must finish the story and type “THE END.” Having the privilege of typing that phrase a number of times, let me tell you it’s the best feeling. Revel in it for a day or two. By typing “the end” you’ve done what most of the want-to-be writers never do. You’ve finished the story. Congratulations. It’s a huge accomplishment.
But, you’re not ready to hit send yet.RULE 1 – and unlike pirate “rules” you are not allowed to ignore this one – No story should go from the first time you type “the end” immediately into an agent’s or editor’s hands.The story isn’t ready, and worse, if you had a connection with that person, you might have wasted your “big chance” on an inferior product.Hopefully, your first draft isn’t far off the mark, but everyone needs some editing before publication.
A very wise and funny lady once told me “give yourself permission to write a crappy first draft.” Thank you, Lisa Scottoline for that advice. The saying isn’t unique to Lisa, but she’s the first person I heard it from where it sank in. I mentioned above very few people can write 50,000 publishable words on the first pass. I think outliners have an advantage over pantsers like me because the outliner already beta-tested, as it were, the story’s structure. For most of us, the hard work comes after we type “the end” and start the editing phase.
Tip #2 – Put the draft away.
We fall in love everytime we write. I love my characters, even the really horrible people, and their story by the time I type “the end.” I’ve spent months or years with them. Like any other parent, this unconditional love means I’m blind to the characters’ and story’s flaws. I generally need at least a month before I can objectively look at a novel I’ve written before I can wade into the forest of words with a machette. Take at least a week. Longer if you can. The distance will grant you objectivity, and you’ll need that for the editing/ rewriting process.
Tip #3 – Outline the story.
Okay, this is where opinions will vary widely and you’ve going to need to experiment to find out what works for you. Tip 3 is where the editing process starts. Whether you are an outliner or a pantser, my recommendation is to outline your completed story to ensure you hit all the “beats” you need. I’ve written about the Hollywood Formula of story telling here before and we just had a great review of Blake Snyder’s Save The Cat which uses this formula here so I won’t replow this ground. Please check out those two posts because the outlining and story telling techniques set out in both are helpful in structuring a story or fixing one when it’s leaped the tracks. If you use this method to dissect your story, the “what’s missing” to take this from fair, to publishable, to kick-butt runaway sucess become obvious which makes the editing process less painful.
Tip #4 – It’s okay to delete.
This tip is a version of Stephen King’s imfamous phrase, “kill your darlings.”
I had a professor who was also a playwright. He’d adapted a well known classic novel that hadn’t been previously adapted to the stage. One of the reasons, I think, this particular work of this very well known and revered writer hadn’t been adapted was the “novel” was originally published week-by-week in a newspaper. Sometimes the week’s episode fit into the overall story arc and sometimes it didn’t. The professor overlayed a plot line of the writer’s actual life with the story. The idea was brilliant. The first act’s execution suffered because the professor wouldn’t kill his, or the original writer’s “darlings.” The tech crew (of which I was one) spent the act-break telling the audience the one scene they needed to know from the first act, and begging them to stay for the second act. On a good night we only lost half the house at intermission. The second act was brilliant, beautiful and heart-breaking. The problem was almost no one saw it. Instead of listening to advice, killing the scenes which were neat but interrupted the story, and making the play a long one-act, the professor insisted on his version which kept all these odd-ball bits. Because he wouldn’t “kill his darings”, the professor killed the entire play.
If you have a bit you love and that’s the only reason you’re keeping it, use the cut and paste function. Cut it out of the current story. It’s a cancer that will infect the whole work. Paste it into a file named “darlings” or “neat bits” and save. At some point that darling will rise from its technological grave and be given new life in a story it belongs in. Have faith in yourself that you’ll find a home for it in some other work. If a bit isn’t advancing character and plot, it doesn’t belong in this story. Take it out.
Tip #5 Stop editing when it’s time.
People who advocate for limited editing have a valid point. You can edit a story to death. At some point, you have to say it’s as good as I can make it and let it go. Do you send it to agents and editors now? No.
Tip #6 When you’ve gotten it as good as you can, phone a friend.
Remember when I said writers are parents who are blind to their child’s faults? This is where that maxim comes into play again. You need a trusted reader or six. These people are new to your story and can see what you can’t. Whether you’ve had other readers in the editing process, this group’s purpose is to give you impressions (not line edits). This is the group I want to come back to me with emotional comments like “hu?” or “I cried here.” and not technical ones. You want cheerleaders out of it. If you get people who finished only because they are your friends or, worse, get the DNF (“did not finish”) comment, you have a problem that needs to be corrected before you go past “Go” and collect your book advance.
Tip #7 Send it out.
A professional writer’s light at the end of the tunnel is publication. You can’t get published if your story languishes on your computer’s harddrive. You must submit. Do your research. Meet agents and editors. Send the story to the person it is a good fit for. Self-publish if that’s what you want to do. Then the waiting begins.
Tip#8– Start all over.
While you are waiting, guess what you need to do. Yup. That’s it. Write another story. Kismet happens, but you need to put yourself out there. Finish more stories. Give them wings and send them out to the world. Keep at it long enough and you’ll suceeed, whatever that term means to you.
For me,. suceess means writing another 2,500 words today. I best get started.
