Novel Progress: NaNoWriMo

This year I participated in my first NaNoWriMo. I'm pleased with what I accomplished, and thrilled that I exceeded the goal of 50,000 words. Thinking it over these last two weeks, I'm undecided if I'll attempt NaNoWriMo again next year. If I do, I'd like to take a different approach.

I was surprised at how many forums and events there were associated with NaNoWriMo. Those were fascinating, but I didn't give them much attention as I was trying to reserve every spare minute for writing. If I were to participate again, one thing I might do differently is setting aside time for getting to know my fellow writers.

With the focus on hitting a challenging goal with regard to word counts, the conventional wisdom is that you turn off your internal editor and simply write. Then starting in December you edit. I understand the thinking behind that advice and took that approach myself, but that's the main thing I would do differently if I try again next year.

My normal writing approach is to write something, to read it a few times, and then to move forward. It doesn't take me long to read, even though I do pause to make notes about things to change. For me that break to read a scene before writing the next one gives me clarity. It makes sure I don't have silly inconsistencies or massive plot holes because I lost track of what I intended to do next. And beyond that, it inspires me to tackle the next scene.

By skipping that part of my process last month, I have a daunting editing task in front of me. I think I'd be happier to have written less words but also to have less editing needed. However, I wonder if I could still have hit the goal with my usual approach. I did write a LOT of words for the Caffrey Conversation series with that approach, essentially writing a new chapter a week, while at the same time polishing the chapter that I'd be posting the next week.

There were times in NaNoWriMo when I got stuck, and struggled with what to write next. That doesn't happen to me as often with my usual style. Once I get started and have a vision for what's going on with the protagonist, I normally make steady progress.

Although, I'll admit with Flashback and Disclosure I did eventually hit a wall when I needed to think through the antagonist's motivations and actions in much the same way I had for the heroes. That was one of the roadblocks I hit in November -- I had a set of bad guys and needed to decide who was manipulating the rest, and if any of them could be redeemed or at least have a motive to turn on the others.

Is the lesson here that I need to think through the bad guys' story earlier in my process? Or should I stick with figuring out the good guys, writing some scenes and discovering as I go what the story needs from the bad guys?

Decisions, decisions. I'll keep pondering those questions as I make edits.

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