Part of a special month-long event featuring writing tips and NaNoWriMo strategies from guest writers and fellow NaNo participants.
I
am not a writer!
Programmer,
musician and a photographer but a writer I am not.
I
wrote my last story, back in school around 1986.
In
2006, by accident, I stumbled upon the word Nanowrimo online and followed the
link. Write
a novel in a month. How hard could it be?
So
I ordered Chris Baty's "No plot? No problem", added a task to sign up
in October and almost forgot all about it. October
came around so I signed up and joined my local forum and to get motivated, read
Chris' Baty's book.
Then
my first problem hit. I was set to move to another town in the middle of
November. There was no way I could pack up, move, unpack, do the day job and
write a novel in a month. I'd leave it for a year, once I'd settled in. Disappointed,
I posted to the forum, I was pulling out. Sorry.
A
lady replied that she had successfully completed Nanowrimo, as well as giving
birth the previous year. I
felt a bit silly for quitting without even starting. Following
the book's lead I told everyone I knew and posted on social networks, that I
was writing a novel. Fear would get me through this.
Being
a maths geek. To me, writing a novel in
a month, comes down to numbers. A
story needs a beginning, middle and end. Let's say two chapters each. With a
prologue and an epilogue that is eight chapters in total. So
two chapters a week. Alternatively, If I could do 2000 words a day, that would
give me five days off to do the house move.
2000
words a day seems a lot. Split that into three sessions a day (morning, noon
and night), means only 666 and a bit words a session. Not many at all.
So
at 22:00 on October 31st 2006, I started to plot, using a downloaded novel
workbook some dice and a list of dares from the Fantasy forum. So
my plot consisted of six set pieces for the six chapters, a prologue scene and
the idea of an epilogue to tie up any loose ends.
Characters
took ten minutes to create. Following the handbook, and using a die to come up with their attributes for
strength, intelligence, looks, curiosity, patience, aggression, skills and some
other things. Then
chose their names from an online list of old Cornish names. At
midnight, I wrote the first scene then went to bed. Happy!
What
followed was the systematic, three sessions a day routine. The
five days I planned to take off to move, shrunk to three days, as once I followed
the "write a scene", "unpack a box" and repeat routine.
At
the start of each week, I read the relevant chapter in "No plot? No
Problem".
I
managed to make it to one local write ins, where I achieved over 3000 words
during the session.
At
the end of each day, I would brainstorm the next days scenes to get me to the
outlined set pieces and write the first line of the next scene. By
twenty four days I had moved house and also hit 50,000 words. rapping the book
up two days later.
I
had won. I had completed the challenge, amazed that I had time to spare and
that I actually liked what I had written. "Lies, Damn lies and
sadistics" was done. Sure,
the grammar was bad, the descriptions lacking, scenes changing points of view
in the middle and a plethora of other issues, but it didn't matter, I'd written
a novel.
I
never had any intention of writing another novel, or doing Nanowrimo again, but
found myself writing little notes about possible future scenes. The characters
just kept poking at me and pushing me to do something with them.
So
in 2008 I relented and signed up again, to write the sequel, "The stealer
of hearts".
I
spent most of the October plotting the entire story. Same system as before,
eight chapters, three sessions a day, but this time, I had a plot, I had a big
list of scenes, I had sub plots, I read a book on writing! Nothing could go
wrong.
And
on November 1st at midnight, I started writing.
Two
days in and I had to write a key scene. The death scene of two minor characters
at the hands of the main villain. The
problem was, one of the characters had other ideas and escaped. I tried to
write the scene again, but no, she didn't want to die. She wanted to be the
books main character. So I let her and threw about half my existing plot away. As
it turns out, she was much more fun to write for than my original main
character.
So
much for planning.
In
2010 I set out to complete the trilogy. I had a title "Demon Twist"
but I did no plotting at all this time, other than map out the opening scene. 5am
starts to write before work at 7:30 (45 miles away) and writing during my lunch
breaks. Plus I was packing to move house again, so the evenings were,
"write a scene", "pack a box", repeat. Speed
was of the essence with quantity over quality being key. I
ended up with unfinished story arcs, scenes with no conflict nor resolution,
but it didn't matter, a third win and the knowledge that I can always fix it
later. So
to 2013 and book four. Starting with no plot again. But I have dice and a workbook. So anything
is possible.
My
tips.
1) Even if you
don't do any plotting. At least know what your first scene is.
2) Go with the
flow. If a character has other plans than what you thought they were going to
do, go with it and see where you end up. You can always change things later.
3) When you
write your last scene of the day / session, write the first line of the next
scene. That way you won't start the next day with an empty page and it gives
your mind something to ponder over in the meantime.
4) Aim for 2000
words a day. That will give you a cushion and some days off in the month.
5) Have a set
writing routine. I try to write first thing in the morning before breakfast,
during my lunch hour and then in the early evening. 2000 words might seem a lot
to do in one go, but less than 700 per session, doesn't seem much at all and
the more you get down early on in the day, the less stressful the last session
is.
6) If you get
stuck, do a chore and come back to it. (Write a scene / unpack a box / repeat)
Most of my scenes are 300 to 1000 words, so that is two to four scenes per
session.
7) Weekends are
your time to get ahead. Try to get ahead in the first weekend, so that 666 per
session ends up around 500 per session.
8) When you get
stuck the dare section of the forums are a wonderful source of silliness and
inspiration. Or a ninja fight. That works.
9) If you can
make a local write in, do so. The ones I've been to have been inspiring and my
word count has rocketed.
10) Treats are to be used only as a reward. No
snacks until you a) you finish the scene or b) hit a word count set. That
includes breakfast!
11) Don't worry
about writing scenes in order. I will often, just writes scenes from a given
character's point of view. Then go back and fill in the gaps later.
Good
luck. Happy writings.
Chris
Rollason
PS-a
copy of the workbook mentioned in the post can be found here:
Love this story! Just goes to show it's never too late to start plotting for NaNo--and that when the muse wills, it's tough for writers to say no! Thanks for stopping by to share this inspiration.
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