Comments on: NaNoWriMo – Some Preliminary Thoughts

By: Bill Henderson

Bill Henderson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:14:57 +0000

Thanks, Chet, great system. I’ll be interested to know if it will be as easy to maintain it without the structure of going to work outside the house. You’d think so, but I struggle with that.

By: Chet

Chet — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:58:29 +0000

Hello from Malaysia.

Two things have worked for me in most of the years I’ve done and won NaNoWriMo – have a few writing sessions each day, and have the first session as early in the morning as possible. With the daily 1,667 word count in mind, I usually aim for around 600 words each session. So with the first session done before leaving for work, I only have 1,200 words to write before the end of the day. And it was worked for me.

Now, I work from home, and I don’t need to leave for work in the mornings, but I shouldn’t change this tried and tested routine.

By: Bill Henderson

Bill Henderson — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:47:39 +0000

Sounds good, Katie. Don’t worry about losing the “romance.” 30 days of novel writing is a tough haul, no matter how you look at it, and the most effective way to go into it is without illusions. Novels are sustained performances–not sprints but marathons. They are best written with a cool head, some planning, and a practiced hand. These things free the mind to make the most of the moment, while writing. As for romance, and like a childhood crush, it will probably end in disappointment anyway. Your approach sounds ideal.

By: KatieK

KatieK — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:55:42 +0000

I’ve done NaNo twice, and “won” twice. I had never written any fiction before, much less a novel, so along with the physical act of writing I was figuring out how to write a story. You are right, less is more. To “win” NaNo. It is important to remove the drama — and hysteria. To win you must complete 50,000 words. Period.

I limited myself to the daily minimum of around 1640 words and left it at that. A couple of days I wrote more so I could have a couple of other days free to rest. It worked for me. After NaNo I expanded each manuscript by 50-70,000 words, and that was a pleasure as well.

This year I am doing some planning, trying out the Snowflake Method. I have 16,000 words in notes/plot development. I can’t decide if it a good thing. I’m afraid it will take the romance out of NaNo for me…but maybe not. We’ll see.

Thanks for the post