Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? In November, a whole lot of crazies from around the globe attempt to write a novel within the confines of a calendar month. (National Novel Writing Month = NaNoWriMo.) The goal is 50,000 words in 30 days; a brutal pace to keep for an entire month. You learn a lot about yourself when you’re pushing that hard. I heard about and participated in Nano in 2009. I succeeded, just breaking that 50,000-word barrier. I skipped it in 2010 (my second daughter was born 11-11-10, so I’m thinking that’ll work for an excuse). Can’t wait to Nano again this year — although I’m trying not to think about my project yet, because I have another in the works at the moment.
Which brings me to today’s topic: my May writing goal of 30,000 words. Time to write the first draft of my second Children of the Sidhe novella. I am so excited! This baby’s ready to roll, the need to put pen to page is overwhelming my sense of balance. Whoa, girl. Keep it together. 🙂
Why make it a goal to write the entire draft in a month? A few reasons.
A quick write means less editing later. The first novella in the series was written over about 10 weeks. Since it basically flooded into my mind, through my fingers and onto the page, it felt complete and didn’t need any major rewriting. A first for me, and one I’m grateful for. The toughest writing is trying to cobble together sections of a story written over years.
The plot for the second novella came to me while editing the first. I have a complete outline, which means all I need to do is carve out time to write. For some reason, when your life is full without active pursuit of your dreams (in other words when you’re crushingly busy as a lifestyle), sometimes a big goal is just what you need to get out of your day-to-day rut and get motivated. This big goal will mean a lot of 4 a.m. hours at the computer, but what better reason than my dream?
As an aside, I don’t mention 4 a.m. to gain pity points. I do my absolute best productive writing in the wee hours, before the world rises and seeks to distract me. However, my two-year-old is taking after mama, and gets up in the 5 o’clock hour, so if I want to write… You can do the math.
Let’s return to my point. Finally, I need to knock out this project so I can, for one, publish it! The first two Children of the Sidhe will come out in 2011. I need my first draft done and the first edit complete by July for a release toward the end of the year. Also, next I need to think about and outline a Nano for November. Yes, Nano is brutal, but it is also amazing. I can do with more big goals — and May seems a perfect time since it’s exactly six months from November.
I’m sure I won’t be able to help blogging about my progress.
Let’s hear it for good work in May! I’ll be cheering for you.
Thanks, Erin! My May word count is now 5,341, so I’m right on track.
Just read your short story “A Pile of Feathers” in the Tower Journal. Very nice work, my friend! 🙂