NaNoWinner
I had a most successful NaNoWriMo this year. Not only did I surpass the 50,000 word count goal completing most of a rough draft of my book, Babble, but perhaps even more valuable were the many lessons learned from my participation including:

  • How to track character’s POVs using Scrivener’s color coding feature. (More detailed post forthcoming.)
  • Combining Outlining with Discovery Writing (More detailed post forthcoming.)
  • Use the Support Features on NaNoWriMo  to stay inspired.
  • Write Early and Often (and keep it a high priority)
  • Use October as R&D Month for the New Novel (More detailed post maybe forthcoming.)

 Staying Inspired

I’m a big believer in the power of inspiration to keep moving forward with a project and that you don’t need to wait for the Muse to show up on your doorstep. You can nudge the  inspirational Muse to find you, and NaNoWriMo’s web site offers a rich assortment of resources to help. I decided to use several of them this year as well as a few of my own to start each day inspired to be a writer. These resources included:

  • Regular email updates — Once you create an account on NaNoWriMo’s web site you’ll receive a steady stream of updates. Unlike so much of the emails that find their way into my inbox, NaNo’s messages were generally short, to the point and right on for what I needed at the time.
  • Inspirational articles and videos — I’d often wondered if any novels written during NaNo were ever published. By reading the blog articles and videos that are included in the emails, I learned that quite a few have been polished and published and not just by self-publishing authors. Very good news.
  • Google+ community — Yes, NaNoWriMo has an active community on Google+ where you can further connect with fellow insane writers attempting to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
  • Writing buddies – (I even did Google Hangout with a few of my buddies): Another feature on the NaNoWriMo web site is the ability to connect and become buddies with other writers. While I didn’t utilize this as fully as I could (and as I intend to in the future), I did add some people to my buddy list and even had a fun Google Hangout with some of them about midway through the month.

I also listened to several episodes of the Writing Excuses Podcast. These short, 15-minutes podcasts are a perfect way to start the day. I listened to them often either as I was preparing coffee or while walking my dogs.

Write Early and Often (and keep it a high priority)

Typically I play softball two days a week starting around 10 am, and I wanted to continue to play so I made it a point on those days to awaken early and get my 1,666  (50K divided by 30) or more words in before going to play. I kept the writing as one of my highest priorities knowing that I needed to maintain that level for only thirty days (though I knew I’d likely renew it for another thirty or more days when it was time to start the revision process.)
I also made sure my wife and friends knew that I was involved with NaNoWriMo and might be less available than usual. I’m lucky to be married to someone who’s as committed to my commitments as I am (and I’m committed to hers as well).
I also found it very helpful to take some time later in the day to outline the next several scenes so I was rarely at a loss as to what I would be writing the next day.

Use October as R&D Month for the New Novel

In previous years I let  NaNoWriMo sneak up on me so I really wasn’t prepared to give it my best shot. This year I started preparing for it by the first of October. Truth be told, I actually started earlier even though I didn’t know it at the time. Babble started out as a short story that didn’t seem to have an ending, at least not one that would fit into the confines of a short story, so it seemed like a natural for NaNoWriMo to expand the idea into a novel length project. I also was able to incorporate a good bit of the original story into the novel. (Now, we’ll have to see how much of that survives the revision process.)
I’ll probably write another post in the near future about the ‘pre-writing process.’
The great thing about theses NaNoWriMo lessons is that they can all be readily adopted for the other eleven months of the year, and then before you know it, November will be here again with a new NaNoWriMo and new lessons to learn.

Now It’s Your Turn

Did you participate in NaNo this year? What lessons did you glean from the experience? What are your plans for turning those NaNoWriMo words into a finished product? Which of these lessons I plan to elaborate on do you think I should write next:

  • How to track character’s POVs using Scrivener’s color coding feature. (More detailed post forthcoming.)
  • Combining Outlining with Discovery Writing (More detailed post forthcoming.)
  • Use October as R&D Month for the New Novel (More detailed post maybe forthcoming.)

Leave your comments and questions below.

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