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| Insecure Writers Support Group |
To NaNo, or not to NaNo? That is the question.
I'll not make the Bard roll any longer, but the question still stands. Tons of writers will join in the writing orgy that is November and the National Novel Writing Month. I'll be cheering them on, but I'll only be participating from the side. See, I know myself. To get obsessed with numbers of words drafted is a sure want to shut my production down. I've leaned to participate unofficially. I'm actually in the midst of a drafting stage, so I'll be putting down words. Only, I will not total them up. The words will still be drafted, but I will never know how many were added. That way, I can join the push without losing my way into the counting of words at the expense of writing them. Back in 2010, I wrote 22,000 new words using this method. (I see your question...how do I know how many there were that year? As a member of a group who posted our raw words to threads, the counting was done for me. See, no counting on my part. ;-)
Let the word flood begin! And good luck of all of us toiling with story stuff this month.
Links!
- First up, a bit on editing--what to find and replace: "Words and Phrases to Cut from Your Writing Right Now: The Definitive Test"
- We all hope we need this info: "So You Received an OFFER OF REPRESENTATION"
- We all need this one: "Setting Self Doubt On Fire"
- And if you're thinking about a small publisher, read this one: "What to Look for in a Small Publisher"
- "How to Vary Your Sentence Structure" is another good one.
- Dear Diary has a great post about why "Some People Will Hate Your Book and That's Okay"
- When everything goes splat, try this from Oprah and find your "Next Right Move"
Good luck with your non-counted words.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteYou just have to roll with what works for you.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the truth!
DeleteThanks for the links. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
You're welcome!
DeleteGreat links there. Thanks. I'm not obsessive (too much) on word count, but I like to know what I've done each day, and how far I need to go. I set up a spreadsheet that automatically counts my words. Easy, peasy now. I like your idea of doing NaNo from the sidelines. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you, too, Diane!
DeleteHello, Z-M! I'll be sitting out this NaNo as well, since I'm deep at work in a manuscript that's close to finished. November is also bad timing for me due to family visits--I'll be on the road for half the month. Here's my compromise: for the month of November, before I can write a single word, I have to do some kind of exercise for my abs. Since I write daily, that should help with my writer's pot.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea! Happy Travels!
DeleteI've enjoyed our modified NaNo on the forum over the years, but for me the real NaNo really lights a fire under me. My first year I wrote two novellas at 15000 words each. The second time I did it, the first draft of Cutting to the Chase emerged. I love competing with myself, not with others. I exercise in the same way. It's great that we can all not just find our groove, but recognize it too!
ReplyDeleteThat's the truth! We all have our own ways. More power to us all as writers!
DeleteI've never participated in NaNo nor have I ever had the desire to. In some cases it is not the number of words that have been written but the fact that you've written at all. So kudos to you for participating on the side. Hopefully you are able to accomplish all of your NaNo sideline goals.
ReplyDeleteWith Love,
Mandy
Thanks, Mandy! May your goals be reached, too.
DeleteThank you for the helpful links!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I try to collect good ones between IWSG posts.
DeleteNaNo only works for me if I'm writing a brand new story, and for the past few years I've been able to structure things so that I have a new story each year about that time. But it's all contingent on not procrastinating on my editing for the rest of the year! [g]
ReplyDeleteEdit, Deniz, Edit! ;-)
Delete