Newsletter, October 2021
Hooray for Autumn and some NaNoWriMo advice which (mostly) applies to any time of the writing year
October! It's still autumn!
(In the UK. Apologies to antipodeans.) And I still say hooray. All the things are good. Hand knitted socks. Thick tights. (Not hand knitted. I'm not a fool.) Hot chocolate. We've resisted the temptation to light the fire, but this weekend could be It.
What I'm saying is: it's perfect reading-and-writing weather. Remember: words in, words out.
I shouldn't say 'remember', as I just made that saying up. But I don't know a writer who wasn't a reader first. I read away from my writing zone when I'm writing - I'm way too suggestible - but I still read. Crime, YA, a Naomi Novik series about the Napoleonic wars BUT WITH DRAGONS. (The Fighting Temeraire series. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.)
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo): thoughts
I am inadvertantly doing NaNoWriMo this year, in that I need to hand in a manuscript at the beginning of December and if I have a good end-of-October I'll be at 30k by then.
I wrote the idea of my first novel while having a go at #NaNoWriMo, probably a decade ago. So I see the value of it, but usually I'm more of a slow-and-steady than a sprinter. Still, when life gives you deadlines, make deadlineade.
It's unlikely, then, that my desk is going to get any tidier between now and December.
Which leads me neatly into my tips if you're embarking on writing 50,000 words in 30 days:
Lower your standards. And do it before you start. Expect to feed the kids on pasta three nights running, and wear a hat instead of washing your hair. (Maybe not for the whole month. Also, time spent cleaning teeth is never wasted.) Don't even think about whether things are tidy or not. You can tidy in December, and you'll be able to see where you've been.
Clear your diary. Ask yourself, 'is this more important than writing in November?' If it is, do it. If it isn't, defer it.
Don't let participation make work. Decide how much of the #NaNoWriMo stuff you're going to get involved in. You don't have to put yourself on the website. You don't have to track and share your daily stats. You don't have to tell anyone at all that you're doing it if you'd rather not. We write for ourselves, not for the internet.
Look after yourself. Early nights (especially if you're doing early writing mornings). Good, nutritious food. Also, Many Writing Snacks. Don't be mean to yourself if you didn't hit word count.
Remember that planning is writing. Thinking today is words tomorrow. Post-its today is structure next week. Planning time is never wasted time. I'm not saying you need a beat-by-beat spreadsheet. But try to have a rough idea of the direction you're heading in, and the characters you're taking there. It will save you time and tears in the long run.
Be happy with whatever you get. If the net result is 20,000 words and a clearer idea of what you want the novel to be - you're a lot further on than you were a month ago. This is precisely where I found myself after my first #NaNoWriMo. Those 20,000 words became my first novel, which was published less than 3 years later.
Be proud. You're not talking a good game. You're playing a good game.
Be happy. We love writing, remember?