NaNoWriMo Complete! Sort of…
Well, this is awkward.
Technically, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write at least 50,000 words during the month of November. Well, I just typed THE END on the first draft of my book. A first draft which is 40,861 words in length. So, technically speaking, I have not won NaNoWriMo.
Go on. Ask me if I care.
Over the course of 25 days, I produced a complete first draft of a middle grade fantasy novel. Like most of my first drafts, this one is an utter mess. (My son is disappointed I won’t read this version to him, and he has to wait until at least draft two.) But it has a lot of fun ideas, and is just begging to be rewritten and cleaned up into what I hope will be a publishable novel.
I’m thrilled. This is exactly what I hoped I’d be able to accomplish. There were several days I wasn’t sure I’d make it. We had some family issues, and I had to scramble to get the page proofs done and turned back on Revisionary. There were also times I think I might have pushed myself a little too hard. I felt myself skirting depression once or twice as I struggled to get things done in the real world while also chiseling away at the word count.
Lessons learned:
- I’m not the 25-year-old kid with no life who can do 80,000 words in a month. But I can do 40,000 in just under a month, and that’s pretty damn sweet.
- First drafts are allowed to be broken. Stop beating yourself up for not being perfect the first time. (I have to relearn this one with every book, but I had to learn it harder this time.)
- Have fun.
- Goblins make everything better. So do chainsaws.
- Concrete wordcount goals and public accountability (like the word count meter) work really well for me, but also increase stress.
- Don’t neglect self-care.
- First drafts, for me, are about throwing in every idea you can. Revision is for pruning some of those ideas and developing the ones you keep.
- Next book: chainsaw-wielding goblins…
For my fellow NaNo writers, whatever your goals this month, whatever your triumphs and setbacks, whether you “won” or not, I hope you had fun. I hope you discovered something new. I hope you grew as a writer, and I hope you feel good about the work you’ve done.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go print out a manuscript.
Julie S.
November 25, 2015 @ 3:05 pm
Jim, if you haven’t done so before, if you have time and inclination, could you go into more detail about how you tackle the revision process?
It’s a huge bugaboo for me. I mean, where do you even begin, and then choose which plot train to follow?
Mari Kurisato
November 25, 2015 @ 3:22 pm
Do.
You.
Care?
(( You said to ask! ))
Hey, I’m proud you participated. That WE participated. It made me feel like we were writing together, on a small boat made of desks and glowing screens while floating in a dark, churning ocean of plot.
Celebrate by storing acorns in your beard for the oncoming winter!
Marie
November 25, 2015 @ 3:52 pm
Congrats! I’m working on mine, but the outline is taking so long. I think some nasty little gremlin is adding stuff while I’m typing… 😮
Sally
November 25, 2015 @ 4:01 pm
There is nothing about Mari’s comment that I do not love.
Congrats! Screw word count, finishing is even better!
Karen
November 25, 2015 @ 6:15 pm
From your ‘Lessons learned’:
– Yes
– Double yes
– Yes, again
– Not sure about the chainsaws
– Yes. Totally agree
– Yes
– And yes again
– Still not sure about the chainsaws
Like you say, 40,000 words in under a month is pretty sweet.
Congrats
Deirdre Murphy
November 25, 2015 @ 6:45 pm
Sweet!
You do still have a few days to get in your word count, so if a short story idea hits, it’s fair to tack it on to do your NaNo verification. But you are so right that in the bigger picture, you won already, since we’re all hoping to read the book, and there’s every reason to think we’ll get to do that in a year or so! So we win too.
Jim C. Hines
November 25, 2015 @ 9:52 pm
Beard acorns, eh? As opposed to glitter-beard?
It was fun sailing with you 🙂 (Also, I saw your wordcount. GO YOU!!!)
Jim C. Hines
November 25, 2015 @ 9:52 pm
I hate those gremlins!
Jim C. Hines
November 25, 2015 @ 9:53 pm
Thanks! 🙂
And I think at this point, I’m just going to dive in on revision rather than trying to wrap my brain around something else brand new right away.
April
November 26, 2015 @ 2:37 am
Why is it held in November? I can barely get the usual stuff done what with the holiday and other stuff going on…! JANUARY–such a better month for trying to write!
April
November 26, 2015 @ 2:40 am
…of course, I could come up for excuses for all the months…
athersgeo
November 26, 2015 @ 3:23 am
Me, personally at this point in November, I would be deeeeeeelighted to have got to 40,000 words.
Heck, at this point, 20,000 would be a win. Unfortunately, I think the real winner this month has been utter exhaustion and brain fog.
Chris
November 26, 2015 @ 8:39 am
Two other things that make things better: Zombies and Bacon. So Chainsaw-wielding Goblins attacking Zombie Pigs and later eating them as Bacon??? Regardless, Happy Turkey (Bacon?) Day!
Rachel
November 26, 2015 @ 10:21 am
Maybe next year, you should offer to write one of the pep talks.
Last year, I attemted a middle grades novel, figuring I’d finish early, then move on to short stories. As of November 30th, I think it was at about 80,000 words… and not done yet. (Oops.) Sounds like yours behaved a bit better. I look forward to seeing what it turns into.
Jim C. Hines
November 26, 2015 @ 11:44 am
I wrote one for our regional group this year at http://nanowrimo.org/forum_comments/5667330 🙂
SherryH
November 26, 2015 @ 1:57 pm
Congrats!
I didn’t attempt NaNo this month because I had a few too many other things on my plate, but I was totally rooting for those who did.
It won’t have the group aspect going for it, but I may hold my own private NaNo some month in the coming year. And there’s always Nov. 2016!
Progress Update | One Writer Writing
November 27, 2015 @ 8:13 pm
[…] is probably more vanity than reality, but I feel like I got an honorable mention in Jim C. Hines’s blog as “the 25 year old kid with no life who can do 80,000 words in a month.” He’s […]