Writing and editing are two separate acts. The old joke goes that you ought to write drunk and edit sober for a reason. One is about discovery and the other is an exercise in concision.
One reason I like the idea of National Novel Writers Month, which takes place each November, is that it is a clear call for writers to write now, and edit later. Since 1999, thousands of writers have written 50,000 words of a novel draft — about 1,600 words daily. With a simple novel concept, I participated back in November.
Since then, I’ve had a few discussions with friends about the process. I thought I’d share those simple thoughts here.
To be clear, though I’m a journalist and professional writer, I am not a novelist. I am not a published author. I write fiction for love and do so with friends. This was my first attempt. I am sharing tips that worked for me.
- Have a realistic goal in mind. You won’t write something great. That’s not the point. You have a draft. You’ll work from there.
- Get an outline together beforehand. It’ll help to have a skeleton, even though you’ll go lots of unexpected places.
- 100 words is better than 0 words. Some nights I wrote nothing of real quality. It was a journey.
- Build a habit during the month. I wrote at least 100 each morning and strived for at least 1,500 in the evening. Find your own.
- Keep a “spark” file. More than usual, during the day I found small ideas coming to mind. I kept these in a Note file on my phone to use later during my evening writing time.
- Peruse your favorite writing about writing beforehand. I spent a lot of October returning to some of my most valued writing advice to bring top of mind during the sprint. It won’t suddenly crystallize but I found it helpful as a kind of warmup. (Lots of essays like this)
- Consider space to think. During my bicycle commute and my shower, I let myself stretch more than I normally might into thinking through an upcoming scene I was due to write.
- Write with friends! Both in-person or even over video chat, write alongside someone else and use each other to be held accountable. I wrote Tuesday nights with a friend, so we made them cram sessions.
- Don’t edit. Save that for later.
https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/3e4cgq/tell_me_how_to_write_a_novel_advice/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1jltqn
Plot the Hero's Flaws Before Nanowrimo Starts w/ Character Pyramid Tool https://t.co/O023i1zPSO #nanowrimo #nanprep pic.twitter.com/fNjS1nLyBs
— Angela Ackerman (@AngelaAckerman) October 24, 2015
