NaNo Update – 52K, Because Why Not

~ crossovercreativechaos

In my experience, if you’ve hit 50 K and it’s not the end of the month – or the rough draft – yet, then keep writing.

Seriously, the momentum of having pushed this far on an idea cannot be underestimated. It’s much, much easier for me to add a few more thousand words now than it will be if I put it down for a bit and try to come back to it. It can actually be easier to keep up a high word count at this point because all of it is gravy; I have 50 K, I don’t have to drag out a few extra hundred a day if I don’t want to, I can relax a bit.

I’ll need to check my “list of things I still need to get into the story”, but I’ve finally gotten it to just a few days before Halloween. Now a bunch of stuff can get crammed in to a short period of time, as the bad guys try to crush the heroes physically and emotionally, and all the good guys fight back.

…And if I really need motivation –  monster deer. Really. Mwah-ha-hah….

12 thoughts on “NaNo Update – 52K, Because Why Not”

  1. Yeah, every bit of writing advice I’ve seen says keep going until you finish the rough draft. Because writers procrastinate. Especially if they are trying to get through the bit of writing that isn’t their strong suit.

    They also add don’t stress about the fact that isn’t very good – that is what your second and third drafts is for. Try not to worry about it being perfect. They say try because while nobody is perfect, a lot of writers are perfectionists.

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      1. *nods* Preferably before you convince yourself to give up . . . or find someway to procrastinate. Like doing research or something else you like. Or getting lost in TV Tropes . . .

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  2. Karen Chance I think sums up the writing process the best on her website in her advice to aspiring writers:

    Question #5: What advice does the Author have for aspiring writers?

    As a service to anyone who, undoubtably lost, wandered across this site, we have distilled her ramblings into five main points:

    1) Read. A lot. Then read some more. Decide what you like to read best. Decide what you like/don’t like about what you like to read best. Convince yourself that “I could do this!” Ignore anyone who tells you otherwise (this was especially easy for the Author who rarely comes out of her fantasy world long enough to listen to advice or, indeed, to notice that someone is speaking).

    2) Write. Write some more. Look at what you’ve written and decide it’s complete crap. Shove it into a drawer and continue to write. Eventually cobble together something you don’t completely despise. Send novel to hundreds, if not thousands, of agents and editors. Have them write back thanking you for the scrap paper.

    3) Repeat steps one and two until someone offers you a contract. This may take rather a long time. Possibly decades. However, for those of you less lazy than the Author (a number we confidantly estimate at 99% of the population) it may not take quite that long.

    4) Receive publishing contract in mail. Dance about merrily and purchase large amounts of alcoholic beverages. Drink yourself into a stupor. (We would like to point out that this final step is not absolutely necessary and is, in any case, the Author’s reaction to most news, including the fact that the sun inexplicably continues to rise in the East.)

    5) Shake off hangover and face grim reality that having a book accepted is only the first step of the process. Go through editing stage and tear out hair. Buy wig. Finish editing process. Submit finished novel. Buy more beverages. Start sequel.

    *My Note: Self-publishers don’t have to do all of this but quite a bit of it is the same.

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  3. Ooh~. I know it’s not for everybody, but I LOVE the point in a story where action starts happening very rapidly, with successive meaningful events crammed into a one-or-two day count. I’m…not actually sure why? Maybe something about the dense momentum.

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  5. Monster deer huh? Sounds cool though I have to admit my first thought was “damn the moose have finally migrated south enough to reach Georgia”. ( Look it up if you have the spare time, they are moving further south and into populated areas and that’s almost as scary as the deer)

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