Friday, December 6, 2013

I Lost ... No! I WON!

Well a 72 hour work week will kill your NaNoWriMo word count, like dead. So for those who like to keep score, I "lost" at NaNoWriMo.

But when my raw output goes up by a multiple of four and I get a third of a book out in 6 weeks  (remember, I was cheating.) ... I'm calling that a personal best and moving on. 

If I keep that up, I'd still hammer out a novel in under 6 months. There was a time I'd go "phhhhhft. Never. Not from me." But now I can see there's a light at the end of the tunnel. 

I'm taking a break, though. I going to work on some self-published short stories that I'm aiming to have up early next year. ... which is like more like a month. 

And according the always crazy, beardthulu being, Chuck Wendig, it never hurts to get some space between you and your work.

So ready or not Behold!  The crazy wisdom of Chuck on NaNoWrimo!

The NaNoWriMo Dialogues:

I took more than just an increased first draft writing speed away from this go around. 
  • If you're doing NaNoWriMo right, you don't have time to kibitz with other writers about NaNoWriMo.
    • Ergo, make any month your own personal NaNoWriMo
  • That characters drive plot. That interesting characters with conflicts and drives that have to overcome a challenge creates plot.
  • World building that the reader never sees is a safety net. Learn when you don't need it.
  • Even people who support your writing sometimes just don't get it
  • Writing is all mental, thus it's all mind games when your stuck.
  • On the first draft, there is no right answer. It's the "right now" answer that keeps you writing.
So, I'm off. I got a lot of editing ahead of me.