NaNoWriMo with a Tini Twist
It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog post. It’s been a conscious decision–one I’m happy with. Although I will tell you, I do miss blogging from time to time.
Where have I been?
I’ve been writing and growing. It’s that simple. I’ve come to realize that my blog (no matter how much I love it) takes time away from two very important components of life as a writer.
- Writing
- Improving craft
So, I made a new contract with myself when it came to my blog. I would only be spending time posting when I had a topic I was passionate about sharing. I would no longer be taking time from writing a manuscript and improving my craft, to cultivate a blog post. All posts would either be on the tip of my finger tips–straining to become a link in my blog chain–or they wouldn’t be written at all. Because, let’s face it, there’s nothing that I have to blog about that so important the world will stop spinning if I don’t show up every Tuesday and Thursday. In fact–I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you haven’t even noticed I’d gone MIA. And that’s okay. I’m hoping you’ve been busy doing productive and inspiring things, too.
But today I do have the urge to check in and to share a bit of info with you. Guess what today is????
November 1st.
NaNoWriMo 2016
Others wise known at the kick off to National Novel Writing Month!
Just to be up front–I am not a die hard NaNo-er. I’ve attempted the challenge on a few occasions. And once I even completed it. Score!
But my inability to be a NaNo Winner–more than that once–was rooted in all kinds of complexities.
*Sometimes I wasn’t in the right spot in my WIP to participate. Bad timing.
*As a die hard PANTSTER I often wrote myself into a corner that I couldn’t dig my way out of if I’d been driving a back hoe. Depressing and a waste of time.
*And sometimes real life, company and obligations severely challenged my writing time. It is what it is.
But despite all these very legit speed bumps. And despite more failure than success in this venture, I still find myself fascinated and addicted to the frenetic group mentality. It’s exciting, supportive and motivating. And by golly, I want to be able to order the NaNoWriMo T-shirt at the end.
So, I’m doing NaNoWriMo again this year. Starting today.
But if I’m being honest with you–I’m doing it with a Tini Twist. (Play on words oh, so deliberate.)
*First–a confession. I am no longer a DIE HARD PANTSTER. And I will NEVER go back. I’m not judging you if you like to pants the hell out of everything you do. I’ve just had my own epiphany. And there are two books that have been instrumental in rocking my writer world…
and
These books were complete and utter game changers for me. I ADORE THEM. In fact, I could blog post for days about them both. But you’ll be better served by reading them than listening to me wax poetic. Just know they’ve made me a better writer. Which leads me to my next point…
*I’m going into this year’s NaNoWriMo Challenge with two months of foundational work on this project. SLICE was a twisted little scrap of an idea that flew down and inspired me over a year ago. It’s been sitting in my recesses, incubating and waiting to grow into something more. The moment I found STORY GENIUS–I figured out the tools I needed to put this story together. And with the support of SAVE THE CAT, I’ve found my way from PANTSTER to BOOKSTORMER. I’m not calling myself a PLOTTER deliberately. I feel like both of these methods offer so much more than just plotting. They are helping me to take my book, my writing, my story telling and my ideas by storm. So, I’m a BOOKSTORMER now. It’s my thing. And because of the books’ positive influences on me, I’ve been developing my own hybrid method of drafting, culled and pasted from these two great approaches. I’m finding what really works the best for me. And because of that, I have never been more ready to take on NaNoWriMo
*And lastly, I have adjusted my expectations for this year’s challenge. I’m confident I can write the 50,000 words after all the pre-planning I’ve done. In fact, I think I’m going to find it rather enjoyable to finally start this thing. But I’ve also wrapped my mind around the big picture for this project. This book storming process is a fluid one that requires me to write the draft from beginning to end, but it also demands that I’m constantly moving and planning with fluidity over the whole project. It requires creativity and flexibility as I move forward in my process.
And because of that, my mantra is…The Work Will Not Suffer. What does that mean to me? Basically, it’s an acknowledgement that I will benefit from the challenge, but I will not write less than my best work just to complete the challenge. I am using NaNoWriMo to my best advantage, but I will never forget my true goal and purpose and the real finish line for me is the one that creates the best book I can write.
But hopefully, my writing, even with it’s Tini Twists will make me a winner at NaNoWriMo and with the bigger picture.
Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month? If yes, do you have any “Tini Twists” that you use to enhance your NaNo experience? Any NaNo tips you want to share? Have you read SAVE THE CAT or STORY GENIUS? I’d love to know what you think. And if you’re looking for a NaNoWriMo Buddy–you can find me at Kimmiepoppins. Let’s do this!
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Happy writing. Can’t wait to read yr new book. Thanks for being so active on my blog.xx
Thank you!!! And I love your blog and trust your book choices–we have very similar tastes. <3 I'm always finding great new reads because of you. <3
Good luck, Kim! I like your term, Bookstormer – that describes how I work. I could never be a pantser because I would sit there too overwhelmed with too many questions to figure out and probably give up after a few pages or the first chapter. But outlining too many details takes all the air and magic out of an idea. Like talking about it too much with somebody means you’ve already *told* the story so why write it? My drive and excitement for the idea deflates.
So I do a combination of both, where I’ve been thinking about my MC for months while figuring out the direction she/he is going and what the major plot points will be. Then, when I begin drafting I can see the end goal in the distance and write with fury toward it. It still usually means a lot of revision afterwards, but avoids writing into those walls or black holes and having to throw away enormous chunks or chapters.
Hope this year’s Nano is very successful for you! I’ve been doing major drafting at other times of this past year so I’m now in revision mode for 3 projects. 🙂
Thank you!!!! Glad to know there’s more Bookstormers out there!!!! And good luck revising. I LOVE the revision process. :o)
I love the outpouring of ideas and the inspiration that can come during drafting while revision actually breaks my brain trying to figure out how to fix a great, big mess. . . 😉