Tag: nanowrimo

NaNoWriMo is the annual merry madness of Camp NaNo and the big event, November is National Novel Writing Month.

Whither NaNoWriMo

I must have first heard of it in maybe 2011 or so. And it was a great idea and an event. But at the time, I did not have anything original to write. I just had fan fiction.

Now, I could have written fan fiction. But at the time, I did not want to write something long if I would not be able to truly do anything with it. And this has been the case ever since.

It is not as if I make so much money on any of this. But it is better than absolutely nothing.

Also, I love being original and feel my writing has improved and developed enough that I can comfortably be original.

In fact, I believe that even my imagination has developed, in a way.

Practice Makes Perfect

Every time I have ever done NaNo, it unfolds something or other. It is almost as if it unlocks an advent calendar in my brain.

I has taught me how to create a plot and stick with it. And it has also taught me how to come up with a universe. I have also learned the fun and importance of serendipity.

I am not 100% a discovery writer, AKA a pantser. However, at the same time, I am also not 100% a planner. Creating only part of an outline seems to work the best for me these days.

What I have also learned is that, to get to 50,000 words, I have a tendency to front-load my work. This gets me to win the challenge, yes. But it also creates some editing issues.

These days, one of the ways I edit is simply by counting. That is, I keep track of how long certain parts of a book are. I do my best to balance them out. And, for the really juicy stuff, I want it to dominate a piece.