NaNoWriMo WrapUp

As the National Novel Writing Month closes, I thought I’d fill you in on my progress. I managed to write what I call a test draft for this novel in sixteen days, so I spent the whole month of November, and a tad of October, running through making edits and revisions based on how I thought the story needed to develop. I removed several scenes, changed a major plot and added nearly 10k words. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds. This story has already caused me anxiety, stress and frustration and it’s barely off the ground, so to speak.

However, now that the month is practically over, I have a novel I feel is in a nice first draft form, ready and waiting for betas.

I do have a secret for how this tale came so easily to me, though. I spent years thinking about this concept. And a solid few months developing ideas and characters and so forth before ever writing a single word. Sure, a lot changed as I wrote and some characters surprised me, but more or less, it was what I had envisioned for quite a while.

By not forcing it to happen when it wasn’t ready, say a few years back, or even a year ago, I was able to slip into the character and her world each day and knock out an average of 4k a day. Yup, that’s right. Granted, my editing was much slower and more tedious, but ultimately I came away with a draft I’m happy with and very proud of. Stay tuned for more updates!