Time to Prep for National Novel Writing Month

Posted by Jennifer Jensen Oct 14, 2008

I first heard about National Novel Writing Month several years ago, but wasn't at all ready to do it. It's a different story this year.

I have two finished-but-needing-revision novel manuscripts under my belt, but after all I've learned in the last year, I've been wanting to try a story with characters and a situation, but without planning the entire thing. And NaNoWriMo seems the way to do it.

To write 50,000 words in a month means you write without editing. Some people start with a fully plotted synopsis, some start with nothing but a basic idea. My goal is to begin with some well-formed characters, write to see where the story goes, and end up with a massive amount of pages from which I can pull the structure of the story. Followed, of course, by rewriting it into a smooth-flowing draft.

By taking away my internal need to edit as I go, I hope to free myself enough to write for the story's sake, but still be writing with a purpose. I guess I'm not enough of an "artist" to write without a goal or purpose.

What about you? Ready to set aside time and really focus on a book? If so, I may see you on the NaNoWriMo forums (but only if we're caught up on word count). If not, think about next year!