Somewhere around the end of October, Jake and I decided we were going to give another go to NaNoWriMo. For those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s organized and hosted by a non-profit with the goal of each participant starting on November 1 writing 50,000 words (Novel length) before December 1. Jake and I have tried before, but never really gotten it off of the ground.
This year was a little different. Not only did we both get it off the ground, but we won! Well, in so much as you can win at NaNoWriMo. With our 50k words written, we are now beginning the process of expanding the novels to a little bit grander scale. It seems that about 80,000 words is a more publishable size, so that’s the goal we’re shooting for through editing and additions. Then? Well, if all goes well, we’ll be looking to find agents and publishers. Hard to say whether it will happen or not, but I’d like to think it will. (btw, if any of you are agents looking for a couple of fantasy novels…) 😉
A few things that I learned this November, not necessarily in order.
- 50,000 words isn’t all that much once you’re written them.
- Sometimes, it’s best if you let the characters do what they want to, not what’s on your outline.
- November isn’t necessarily the best month to try and write a complete novel.
- 50,000 words is a lot! (completely counter to point 1, but both are true.)
- If you have any intention of completing, you have to write when you don’t want to.
That’s the short list. There are plenty more than that.
That’s the short of it. Perhaps as time goes on, I’ll add some more of my thoughts. But for now, it’s back to editing!
Also, here’s a link to my profile, and also to Jake’s profile at nanowrimo.
About Shane Ede
I tried Nanowrimo too this year. Didn’t win, but it was a great experience. I wrote 11,000 words that I’m really proud of that I probably wouldn’t have written otherwise. Definitely doing it again next year.