Day 9 of NaNoWriMo

All you participants should have at least 15,000 words written by the end of the day.

Are you going to reach it?

If not, don't freak out. It's really not the end of the world, and if you don't "win" NaNoWriMo, it doesn't mean you've failed. It might mean you weren't prepared for it, though.

There's a lot of different advice out there for completing this month of word vomiting, so I'm not going to bore you by repeating it all. For one, this is only my second year participating (and admittedly, I'm cheating this year because I'm just finishing something I'd already started--Yes, you can throw your pitchforks and flaming torches at me). So, I'm not an expert by any means. And two, a lot of that advice is just plain bad. Like, not using contractions? What's the point of that? Okay sure, if you're not really hoping to send this book to agents or editors some day, go ahead. Use those little tricks that will add minimally to your word count. But if you ARE planning to submit your work, don't make your life harder.

It is possible to come away with a decent first draft in a month.

Let me repeat that.

It is possible to come away with a decent first draft in a month.


There are arguments to the contrary, although I don't understand them. Professional writers complete first drafts in a month or two all the time, but because they don't do it during NaNoWriMo, it's taken seriously. Whatever.

The problem isn't going into NaNoWriMo with the goal of writing a book in a month. The problem is going into NaNoWriMo with the goal of writing 50,000 words in a month, even if they're all bad. And let's face it, 50,000 words is overwhelming. Really, REALLY overwhelming. And it's way too tempting to just start putting down whatever you can think of to get to the end of that goal.

And really, going from beginning to end can be overwhelming, too. So don't do it. Instead, read Story Structure--Demystified, by Larry Brooks. Reading this book has literally changed the way I approach writing the first draft. Instead of writing beginning to end, I write beginning to first Plot Point, first PP to first Pinch Point, first Pinch Point to Midpoint, Midpoint to second Pinch Point, second Pinch Point to second Plot Point, second Plot Point to end. It looks like a lot, but each of those sections is only a few thousand words long (ranging from 7,000-15,000--depending on the projected length of your novel). And when you're done, you have a first draft that looks like this:

Got it from here

Instead of this:

And yes, I still consider myself a pantser. I may have all those points generally figured out, but I let the story shape itself to get to them. So no arguments from all of you who say you can't outline. It's not outlining. It's preparing the story.

Have you noticed that in the second picture there's some green and purple, and that the blue and red don't even touch each other? Some serious editing is required to get that one to even begin to resemble the final product. Because you can't get that to this:

Got it from here, too.

The first one is at least on it's way there. A first draft that has a complete story in mind with connecting parts just needs a little more fine tuning to finish. The lines need only some embellishment, some more connective tissue.

So if you're freaking out because you think you need to vomit out words to be successful this month, calm down and remember what you're really doing is writing a story. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Let the life of your characters be the goal, not the numbers.

So, with all that in mind, how are you guys doing with your writing? Are you in love with the story yet? 

Don't forget to check out my 300 Followers and Elemental has a Sequel Giveaway!!! There are prizes! Glorious prizes!