Oh How I Miss NaNoWriMo!

Now Playing: INSIDE THE FIRE by Disturbed
Just Read: GREEN MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson--Tons and tons of sci-fi worldbuilding that really got me thinking about my own worldbuilding skills, especially beyond the physical. So much politics! 
Reading Now: THE EVENING AND THE MORNING by Ken Follett

Congratulations to all you NaNoWriMo winners out there! 

I've won NaNoWriMo twice, and both times were amazing experiences. I loved the feeling of being submerged in the story, thinking about it all day for a month, and writing writing writing alongside so many peers. The community on Twitter was inspiring and really helped push me to get to 50,000 words. 

This November, I had to focus on my doctoral project, so I didn't have the time to dedicate to NaNoWriMo. But following along on Twitter made me remember sitting up late at my desk, listening to music from a hundred different film scores, and typing from one plot point to another. For me, it was a magical time, when writing felt more like play and less like work than ever before. 

What was really amazing, though, is how much NaNoWriMo taught me. Maybe it was just by virtue of word count--I've heard that your first million words are just practice, and I think more and more that that's true--but I think it was more than that, too. It taught me the skills you need to write a novel, such as how to construct it, how to foreshadow, how it can be broken into different acts (or beginning, middle, and end) and what those parts need. I had written novels before NaNoWriMo, but they were a different kind of fun. This was like being a part of a masterclass, with all the Nanoers as my fellow students trying to accomplish something together. 

My program is finished next August. Who knows what next year will bring, but I hope I can do NaNoWriMo again in 2022. 

Pacing Yourself

Now Playing: GOLD GUNS GIRLS by Metric
Just Read: THE RACKETEER by John Grisham--Kind of a slow pace for me, but it picked up when we learned the narrator wasn't telling us everything.
Reading Now: GREEN MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson

There are a few aspects of writing that I find continually challenging to self-evaluate, and pacing is one of them. I've always approached it instinctively when editing--does this feel right? It's all very subjective; I feel as though pacing lacks some of the other more definitive mechanics of other aspects of writing. Things like tone, theme, and points along the character arc also fall into this category for me. Spotting where such changes are needed is probably the part of fiction I struggle with the most.

Editing myself is something I've been working on improving all year. I read a book on the topic, scanned some helpful blog posts, and listened to a number of (very generous) podcasts by published authors. I've also allowed myself more time between composing the first draft and editing it into a final draft, which is a tip I've seen pop up again and again, and I'm hopeful it will pay off. 

So now what I'm doing is writing a story each quarter for the Writers of the Future Contest, letting it sit for a month or more, and then revisiting it and editing it before the submission deadline. In this way, I've earned a Silver Honorable Mention in three of the last four quarters. I've earned a minimum of Honorable Mention every quarter for the last two and a half years. I'm so extremely hopeful to get a win that it's painful sometimes, but all I can do is keep writing the best story I can and submitting. 

If you know any good books on self-editing, leave the title in the comments! Thanks!