What I’ve learned from Nano

Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month, the better part of a complete manuscript. This was my first year to take the challenge, and this is what I know about myself now.

1) I can write 1000 words in the morning before I go to work. 2000 words a day is doable. I never could do more than 3500, though.

2) I don’t need no stinkin’ plot. Heck, I barely needed characters. The story took a life of its own and never slowed down.

3) I can lose myself in a story and be late for work. I can lose myself in a story and forget to go to bed.

4) I like counting by word count instead of page count. Goes faster. I can also use cooler fonts.

5) If I’m too focused on word count, I tend to skim over emotions.

6) I can plan a story to go one way and it can turn out to be something totally different – and more interesting.

7) I can only work on one project at a time.

8) I can skip my favorite TV shows because I’d rater write.

9) Even though this month has been CRAZY – PTA, Science Night, my brother’s play, visitors from out of town, I got my butt in the chair every day and felt good about it.

10) I will need big revisions when it’s done. My hero changed, and I need to even him out. My heroine fell in love with him too fast, so I need to work on that, and flesh out her relationships with the other men in her life, including her son. But I’ll have a good skeleton to work with. While it may never sell (the hero changed, after all), I’m having a blast writing it.


I will definitely do it again next year if I don’t have any other obligations. It is a great boost, though, just what I needed at this point.

posted by MJFredrick @ 12:44 AM