And
Now The End Is Here. #NaNoWriMo
Picture courtesy of the NaNoEdMo website
It’s
official! Another #NaNoWriMo is over and in the books. If you
participated, I hope that you enjoyed the crazy, hectic, stressful
but satisfying experience and accomplished every goal you set for
yourself and your novel. If you didn’t participate this year (like
me), then I hope that you at least cheered for the participants. Some
of these writers were doing this for the first time and giving it
their all and that should always be commended.
The
idea of finishing a novel in under a month is, hopefully, not as
daunting now that many of you have done it. You are now part of the
small group of people that have gone from saying, “One uh dees
dayz, I’mma write me a novel,” to, “Holy crap! Dude, I wrote a
novel.” (side note: Quotes may not be direct). So feel proud that
you are no longer one of those if-I-only-had-timers and that you are
officially a doer.
So
what next? Well, unfortunately, now comes the hard part. I know, some
of you are like, “What? The hard part comes now?” Trust me, if
you weren’t having some real fun while writing, then you’re never
gonna get through this next part: editing and revisions. Remember
what I said in my previous #NaNoWriMo post: “Stray far away from
attempting to do any editing and revising during the primary writing
process during the month, even if you finished your goal early.”
People will always try to argue for stopping and going back to fix
things but I’m telling you that it can mess you up more than help
you. With December being a month full of cheerful holiday greetings,
sweet stuff, family and all-over holiday busyness, this month happens
to be the month of nothing. Sit back, relax and enjoy yourself, your
family or whatever other work that you do.
But
even while relaxing, always be open to any little details, facts,
factoids, or just cool twists that can impact the story you’ve just
written, whether those things come to you on the back of mythical
muse’s wings or if you overhear them at a party or wherever. Sponge
them in, because January happens to be National Novel Editing Month
(or something like that). That month will challenge you to edit,
revise and re-edit the book that you wrote in November. You will have
had a month to sit on the book and either think incessantly about it
or not worry yourself with it at all. And when you come back and read
what you wrote, and read all of your notes and whatnot, you might
have a new perspective on what you wrote that could completely change
your vision of the book or strengthen the vision you already had.
Editing
a book that you’ve finished and getting it ready for people to read
is the most trying, pressing, stressful work that you can do in this
industry, so it is important to make sure that you give yourself
every advantage you can. Indulge in your favorite activities and
desserts this month, be around people that you love and care about,
but also make sure that your mental acuity stays precise and razor
sharp, and that your wit is not lost in the mire of sugar-sweet
holiday sentiment because the real work, the not-so-fun part of
writing a novel, the month where everybody who knows about National
Novel Editing Month is a little on edge because half of them are
realizing that maybe they need to toss a quarter of their book—that
starts in January.
But
again, don’t worry. If you are unable to finish the challenge, it’s
OK. Many people are never quite able to finish said challenge because
as long as it takes to write the book, it oftentimes takes twice as
long to edit it on average (my observation). But this is the point
where you can really shine, because as great as all of those
cheerful, positive quotes about how “if you want to be a writer,
then write. Now you’re a writer,” are, the truth is that anybody
can write something, but that doesn’t mean they should be
considered writers. Real writers take the time to try to polish their
work to as pristine of a shine as possible. Here is where we will see
if you will be one of those, “Oh, I wrote a book once,” people
and that’s where the conversation ends, or if you’ll be a “I
wrote a novel and edited it and sent out letters about it and tried
to get it published and/or self-published and...” and the
conversation gets interesting. Don’t just be a writer, don’t just
be an editor, be interesting!
So,
how was your #NaNoWriMo experience if you participated? Was it fun or
a slog? Was this your first time or are you a veteran? Actually, I’m
quite intrigued by that third question because it seems like most of
the people I ran into out here on these internet streets were
first-timers and I was wondering if people ever really sign up to do
it a second time after either succeeding or failing at the challenge.
I succeeded but didn’t do it again this November because I had
other projects that needed tending to first, but I’m curious about
others’ experiences. Anyway, leave a comment below about your
experience. If you didn’t participate, then tell me why. Oh, and
I’m still looking for people willing to review my new psychological
thriller/mystery in the vein of Gone Girl, The Girl on the
Train and In a Dark, Dark Wood, so please leave a comment
below if you are interested because I would love to have 50 reviews
for this book by the time I release it. Thank you. In any case,
whether you just want to comment on NaNo or if you are interested in
reviewing my book, I would love to hear from you.
Check
out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep,
I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend.
#AhStalking If
you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel
#AFuriousWind, the
NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or
the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen.
For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult,
check out #TheWriter.
Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected
here for updates on season 4 coming summer 2018. If you like fast
action/crime check out #ADangerousLow.
The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the
mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary
on Amazon. Season 2 of that coming real soon. And look for the
mystery novels The Knowledge of Fear #KnowFear and The Man on the
Roof #TMOTR coming this fall/winter. Twisty novels as good as Gone
Girl or The Girl on the Train, you won’t want to miss them. Join us
on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow
my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, “Hey, Mom, Dad, I
was readin’ in a book that—”
‘Holy crap! You read a book, son?’
(dad)
“Yes, I read a book and—”
‘He said it again. He admitted to
reading a book. Like, a full book?” (mom)
“Gah! Yes, a full book.”
‘Hmph! Probably had pictures.’
(sister)
“No... OK, well, yes. It had three
pictures, but it was really long. Like, 300 pages.”
‘Well, what was it about?’ (mom)
“I don’t know. It was a mystery.”
P.S.
Just admit it, you liked that joke. You liked the whole thing. You
liked the setup and lame payoff. You snickered. Admit it. Admit it!
I’ll try to come up with a much better, much shorter sign-off next
time.
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