Merits of NaNo

tomothecat said:

Every page I write is redrafted. Most of my sentences are, too, but usually as I write them, not much later. There is no one entire novel I've completed that is a first draft. The day I write the last sentence is usually the same day it's ready to go out to my agent. What I'm saying is that I don't write an entire first draft and then rewrite it once it's done.

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If that works for you, tomo, then go for it!

If I were to do that, I'd spend years on the first chapter, trying to get it right. I know, because I've been there and done that, and it drives me nuts.

The other reason I don't do it your way is that I don't start with an outline, which means that I don't know exactly what story I'm writing when I start to write. My NaNo novel was supposed to be light fluff with very little in the way of plot and nothing in the way of "message," but it really turned out to be something quite different. If I'd been editing as I went, I wouldn't have known what to put in or take out.

But if you outline, especially if you so extensively, than I can see where your method would work well. I use the same method when I'm writing non-fiction, where I always have a clear idea of exactly what it is I want to say.

To everyone out there, I'd say: Do what works for you. Writing is such an individual process that once you're past the basics of grammar, spelling and sentence structure, no-one can really tell you what to do. You have to experiment and find out what works all on your own.

Vikas Swarup wrote Q & A in two months while he was a full time diplomat. Now they have a movie about it called Slumdog Millionaire. He actually didn't even finish the book when he sent a query to an agent.

So, unless your some big shot bestseller, who says a good book can't be written in a month?

Even some bigshots write quickly.

Now me, I've never written a book in a month.

I've written a number of first drafts in a month, though. And you can't have a manuscript until you've written a first draft. So it's a start. NaNo gets me finished (well, the first draft at least) and it's far easier for me to edit a draft than it is to get to the end of said draft in the first place.

I guess what I'm saying is NaNo gets me through the hardest part of the process, after which it becomes less like work and more like fun.

I'd also say that some big shots don't write at NaNo speed. I was at a book signing a few years back, and Tamora Pierce said that while she admires those of us who NaNo, she gets out a 60,000 word novel in three months, not one.

NaNo speed works for me and many others, but it's not for everyone.

NaNo to me is writing half a novel, because of the length in the first place.
Once I have 50K for NaNo, I have to expand and fill in the missing bits until it's 100K. And then the real rewriting can begin. So I do need several months before I can call a WIP completed.

I'd never done NaNo before and found it an amazing experience, not necessarily to be repeated. I just wrote. Fingers to the keys and zooming through the plot. I viewed it as 1/2 a novel, but 50,000 words is a huge start. As I always pour the plot onto the page (or rather, screen) anyway, NaNo works for me because then I revise and revise 15 times. I also find that if I get the plot down, I have a framework for the rest of it. My first draft of my NaNo novel ended up at 68,000 words, and then I revised it to 98,000.

Just hadda jump into this... I've done Nano twice and while I am not writing my current book that way, I found it incredible for getting over my own humps and just getting the dang words on the page. Started two novels in Nano and went on to finish and polish them to full-length manuscripts. And I loved doing it.

I am a professional, full-time writer/journalist, but I still needed the kick in the pants that Nano gave me.

I guess all I can say is, whatever works for you, do it... because what works for one person will probably not work for another -- and that's okay.

I'm looking forward to it. It will be my first time. I'm working on a book now in the traditional sense, outline, characters laid out etc. Since I already know what book 2 is about I'm using it for NaNo. I like the idea of just letting it flow. Gives me that old "author at the typewriter" feeling, tearing out the pages they don't like, throwing a new sheet in and keep on going.. It will be interesting for me when its done to compare the two.

Me too, HistorySleuth. This will be my first time and I cannot wait to start typing. I 'm spending my time researching. For me, the NaNo is a new experience (in more ways than this being is my first time) in that I'll devote the entire month to writing, no work and not feeling guilty about not working or fixing up my place or doing anything job-related. The whole month is about the novel and getting that 50K+ words in the laptop.

Also, this NaNo will be the first time I will force myself not to edit as I go. I'm real bad about stopping my work, fixing a misspelling or grammar error, or finding the perfect word before continuing on. I look forward to that new experience of just writing, going forward, not back, and see how I like it.

I love Nano, last November I got 50k and there was very little crap in it. When it was beta-read, the beta was surprised it was a first draft. I write quite 'clean' first drafts and I don't polish as I go. I don't word-pad either. 50k isn't so much, some writers usually write 2k a day, I am not normally one of them.

So in November I wrote a cohesive, clean and good first draft. Now I want to made it better. Which is what editing and rewriting is for.

I first did NaNo on my own and by myself in January 2007. I finished a 65k novel 1st draft in 35 writing days. I participated, somewhat, in the 2008 NaNo, but failed miserably there as I had just finished an 1800-mile move and started a new job.

NaNo is supposed to assist your creativity and give you permission to just write. It's also supposed to give you a dealine and a commitment to write to. You'll have deadlines in the future if you get to be a professional writer ever. It's also a helluva' lot of fun. You get to meet people and come into contact with folks you'd never meet otherwise.

I'm participating again this year. I'm hoping the same group here where I now live are also participating. I'll try to be a more active participant in the group this year.

Well I'm getting antsy here, getting ready to type and not go back and rework as I go will be so liberating. I too go back and look at what I've done before going ahead, I think a bit too much. So this will be great fun to start and not stop till I hit at least 50k. I forwarned my family too.