NaNoWriMo

It’s November! You know what that means?

Surfacing will be out in less than a week. 😀

It also means that it’s NaNoWriMo time. If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, you can visit the website to find out all about it. I’ve been NaNo-ing since 2001. I did it steadily for several years, until deadlines and other things got in the way for a few years. This year I’m back at it again and I’m working on the sequel to Surfacing. I love NaNoWriMo. It fits my writing style really well. I don’t outline before I write a first draft. I used to try to outline for years because all the writing books say that’s what you’re supposed to do. I used to try to create big notebooks full of character sketches and plot ideas and neatly typed outlines.

You know what would happen after all of that? I would never actually write the book. My passion for the story would get lost somewhere between character sketches and outlines. I finally realized that the way I write best is to figure out the story and the characters along the way as I write the first draft, and I like writing first drafts quickly. So NaNoWriMo works well for me. I can focus on just getting the basic story down for a few weeks and not worry about how well my plot threads work together, how developed the characters and setting are, or how many grammatical errors and plot inconsistencies I have.

After I have the first draft written, that’s when I do the real work. That’s when I create a detailed outline and character sketches. That’s when I do all my research and then use that to deepen the story. I’m kind of strange in that I actually really like revising, and I think it’s because once I start revisions I can really see where my story is headed and who the characters are. During my first fast-draft, I’m just letting words flow out to give me a very basic idea of the main plot and the main characters.

If you’ve tried to write before, but get stuck on all the details that writing books say you SHOULD do before writing, try just diving right in and discovering the story as you go. Try a  NaNoWriMo style of writing and just focus on getting words down without worrying about the details the first time through. I’m a firm believer in NaNoWriMo–Troy High was my 2006 NaNoWriMo novel! Of course, the finished product looks very different from the original draft I wrote back then, but that November let me figure out the basic story I was trying to tell. Putting it all together into something that actually worked was what happened after NaNoWriMo ended.

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My website got a makeover this weekend! I’m really happy with it and I hope you all like it. Also, I’ll be adding more information about Surfacing this week leading up to the ebook release next Tuesday!