And Now The End Is Here. #NaNoWriMo

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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