Sacriledge!

Okay, I admit. I have a simalar sentiment. I wrote a novel, revising awful sentances (but not just normally bad ones) as I went, and ended up with 91 pages that were not all crap.
As for editting, I sent the novel to a bunch of my friends after basic editting for typographical errors, before I could change my mind. None of them have returned it to me yet. Hm.

Everyone's different. I don't pad, either, and look at my wordcount. As with every first draft, there's stuff that doesn't work, or doesn't make sense, but there are no dream sequences, etc. I'd rather have a coherant story rather than one that I have to cut half of it out before it begins to make sense. Frankly, I don't edit while I write, except to correct grammar and spelling mistakes. There have been times when I've deleated stuff (generally not more than a paragraph or two) because it isn't coming out right. But I always keep moving forward.

Speed does not mean a lack of quality, but it does help many people get beyond writer's block if they think it. The other thing to keep in mind is that many people who do Nano have never written a novel before and may very well never do so again. Knowing that they can do ridiculous things with their manuscript may very well be the difference between them finishing and them quitting. Those people want to prove to themselves that they do/complete something, and publishing probably isn't even a goal for them. In other words, padding doesn't have to be a part of the Nano experiance, but many people enjoy doing it.

I think NaNo gets a bit facetious with the no-editing rule. They say "never edit anything", but really, it's mostly to keep you from getting stuck on editing one sentence for half an hour, or from saying, "character X is supposed to be a nurse, but I want him to be a firefighter instead", and now going back and editing the 30 pages you already wrote, instead of writing new pages.

I handled it just like you. I also don't pad, and don't want complete crap out the back end. I might edit the current sentence or paragraph, and if I really needed to change the person from a nurse to a firefighter, I'd just put in some searchable tags [[change Nurse Ratched to Firefighter Ratched instead]] and keep going. But I'd try not to spend too much time in any one spot.

Later, during editing, I can search for "[[" and find spots that stuff needs to be done. I'd also use [[ in spots where I have new scene suggestions that I want to backfill with, and can search for those on "slow idea days" to work on as filler.

Yay, I'm not a freak!... and no pitchforks are forthcoming! =D

Independence1776: *nods* Yep, I totally understand that. I did that my first year - I didn't want to publish, or even make it better on principle, so I just let loose and padded like a maniac. (I haven't even opened it since. XD) This time I was all business, though.

Really, what it gets down to is that everyone has a different writing style. For some people, trying to edit as they write will make it impossible for them to finish. I've seen people in the forums who are like that. For other people, editing as they write is perfectly fine.

I took the middle road. I gave myself a word count goal for every day. As I started each day, I just wrote. I might fix a typo or re-word a sentence if it was terrible. However, I didn't do any major revising. Then, at the end of the day, after I'd reached my goal for the day, I went back over what I'd written and revise. The result, normally, was that I end the day with more words than I would have if I hadn't gone back to revise. I won and I won easily, without unneccessary padding. I answered some challenges - if they already fit into the plot, but I didn't throw in pirates or ninja or dream sequences that didn't belong in the story.

(For some reason, it amuses me to no end that last year's NaNo had pirates, ninjas and a dream sequence that actually were important to the plot.)

Over January I wrote a LOT...well compared witht eh amount that I wrote over November. Now I've printed it out and have started editing it... This is pretty much only due to the fact I have hit a wall in my story and am hoping to find something in my 38K that will lead me to a breakthrough!

Editing is ok, though it is difficult when you some to something you don't really like. Like a whole chapter...you need the chapter but you hate how it was written.

I also edit as I go. And although I didn't even get halfway through my story, I got to 50'000 words. Yay!! I always edit as I go because I hate seeing sentences and paragraphs that are utter rubbish, so I just HAVE to fix them. And my story did not turn into 50'000 words of something so terrible I can't even think of a word.

I will definitely not be beating you down with pitchforks, and I guess people who do will also be beating me down for agreeing with everything you said. :)

I also edited a certain amount. I moved some things around to different chapters, when it seemed that they worked better that way. I made notes for later editing, unless it felt to me that if I didn't edit it then it would impede the further flow of ideas, i.e., sorting out some piece of the plot so it would make sense.

If there was a word or so that I didn't like I just erased it. If I started writing a sentence and afterwards, or part way through it, decided I didn't like it, I didn't erase it but put it in a different color, skipped a line, and rewrote it or left it out. That was the only padding I did, if you can call it that. No extra scenes or dreams or tangents --at least, not on purpose. Going back later, who knows what will seem like it needs to come out.

So far no Nano vigilantes with torches have come calling. I only finished a few days ago--I did my Nano in February--but at 88,441 words I can definitely say that this minor amount of editing didn't blow my word count. BTW, how do you actually get your word count to appear in that purple bar?

I also edited a certain amount. I moved some things around to different chapters, when it seemed that they worked better that way. I made notes for later editing, unless it felt to me that if I didn't edit it then it would impede the further flow of ideas, i.e., sorting out some piece of the plot so it would make sense.

If there was a word or so that I didn't like I just erased it. If I started writing a sentence and afterwards, or part way through it, decided I didn't like it, I didn't erase it but put it in a different color, skipped a line, and rewrote it or left it out. That was the only padding I did, if you can call it that. No extra scenes or dreams or tangents --at least, not on purpose. Going back later, who knows what will seem like it needs to come out.

So far no Nano vigilantes with torches have come calling. I only finished a few days ago--I did my Nano in February--but at 88,441 words I can definitely say that this minor amount of editing didn't blow my word count. BTW, how do you actually get your word count to appear in that purple bar?

The first time I tried Nano, in 2006, I followed the 'No Editing for any Reason' rule, and ended up with a little over 20,000 words of complete crap. I hated it, and vowed never to try anything so stupid again. It was so bad that I pretty much vowed never to do Nano again. However I decided to give it a second chance for 2007. I wrote as I normally do, editing and reworking, and I managed not only to get to 50k, but to write a story that actually flowed and had some potential. To me editing is a natural thing to do as I write. Not editing just to get to 50k seems dumb, like running red lights to get to work 5 minutes sooner.

I think people get their knickers in a twist about certain NaNo "rules" that aren't really rules at all.

Padding of course isn't essential. I didn't need to do any padding in 2007 as I had way more than enough story (ended up at 114k by the time I finished!) It has got a short mention of a dream or two, since after all people do dream, you can't ignore that. But no long, involved sequences. Well, there's this one bit where a character describes her dream, but it's way too fun to take out! I'm editing that bit tonight in fact. Hey, it's not padding, it's a "character moment." And it's funny. Leave me alone.

Er... right. On the other hand, the 2006 novel, my first NaNo, I was worried I wouldn't have enough story to hit 50k and I did give the lead character this recurring dream. Yes, recurring - uber-padding! But... that started out as padding, and ended up the key to his entire character! :D When I wrote the chapter with the whole dream in it (it only had snippets up till then) I actually cried. So don't totally eschew something that's interesting, but initially seems like padding. If it ends up being pointless, take it out later and no harm done, but it actually just might work! Oh and that ended up at 62k, so any genuine padding that never became meaningful came out later.

Editing, well I think the "don't edit" advice isn't NaNo specific anyway, lots of writers advise it. It's valuable for many people for NaNo simply because of the short time you have to reach the 50k. People who've never written any fiction before are the ones who might find editing before they finish the thing to be dangerous, as they'll start to get worried over the lack of instant perfection. Getting over the perfectionism is an important aim of NaNo, I think.

My "editing" was limited to a bit of backspacing when I wrote something that I saw at once made no sense, or didn't come out right. And sometimes I spell checked that day's output as I was putting it on my Live Journal, for some gluttons for punishment... I mean friends to read. But also, I'm a planner, so while the prose might not always have been wonderful, I at least knew what I was writing that day and didnt wander off down blind alleys. I'm a believer that more outlining means less editing, since hopefully you solve most of the plot problems in the planning stage.

But we just have to remember that most advice is generalised. It won't fit everyone. Also, people have different goals for NaNo. Not everyone wants to produce that coherent a manuscript in the end. Maybe it's just a way to pour out pent up creativity. Or they write "sensibly" the rest of the time and want to go a bit crazy and try out lots of silly ideas for NaNo. Nothing wrong with that.

So if the advice fits, take it, if not ignore it. The end result is what matters. When you read a good story you don't care HOW the writer got those words whipped into shape, you're just glad they did.

You can only get your word count on the bar in November, during "official" NaNoWriMo. But it's the words that count, not the bar, so well done on your 88,441 words in February! You chose the shortest month and still got way more than the 50k. You the man. ;-)

You write for you, whatever way it works!

(Cheerfully)

No padding.

Minute editing. Rewrote a couple scenes, spell checked, grammar checked--admittedly not during word wars where I didn't care--and I'll share pieces of the novel with people without cringing too.

Why, yes, I have a fairly large word count.

The no editing rule keeps people from getting hung up. I'd like you to meet one of my friends who can't write two thousand words in a day, who can barely write a page in a day because she edits every sentence five times and goes for a dictionary for every third word.

The no editing rule's for those people.

I still went crazy with it this year. I enjoyed Nano. I let the words come. It's a first draft. But it's not a bad, padded to death draft. You don't need to pad to make it.

You don't need to pad to double it.

You just need to be a very fast writer on your feet. I've been clocked at, I do believe, 111 words per minute in a 15 minute word war. 1300 words. Believe me, I didn't edit there. It was full of mistakes. But that was fast. I can write fast on my feet, I can produce really, really fast. For me, 50k was never a challenge. 100k was for me what 50k is for other people. What it is for you others in this thread. I was capable of writing it, and even making it readable. So yeah. Not really sacriledge. Just a guideline for the perfectionists at heart who won't give up finding that one perfect word to produce more words.

Editing as well, cant' help myself
I already have may outline and all my chapters , and I'm not writing it following the time line. Sometimes i had somethnig to a chapter, then i gi right to the end (wich almost written)

but i do find difficult writing a lot of words per day, my maximun is 1000 thousand (huge frome)

Editing as well, cant' help myself
I already have may outline and all my chapters , and I'm not writing it following the time line. Sometimes i had somethnig to a chapter, then i gi right to the end (wich almost written)

but i do find difficult writing a lot of words per day, my maximun is 1000 thousand (huge frome)

Well, look at my wordcount.

I didn't pad excessively. I don't particularly recall going back to do massive amounts of editing at any point, but I never got hung-up on the no using the backspace. I think that those rules are there to take as literally as you want, and if that's not at all, then that's fine. I think it's probably geared mostly (this is just my opinion) to NEW writers, who've never tried to write 50k before, and so need some way to push themselves to do it. If you've never written anything at all, it might help. Dunno.

I don't backspace to correct content. I do correct grammar/spelling mistakes, because it is so ingrained in me to do so that, to not do so, actually takes more effort. Besides, I worry that if it's really obvious, it won't be legible, and if it's not really obvious, I won't catch it when I go back to edit.

I tried the "no contractions" thing once and I will never, ever do it again. The amount of editing needed to make everything natural again later is overwhelming.

I only pad to get out of writer's block, as a sort of freewriting exercise. I have some really terrible passages that are basically me trying to work my way out of a paper sack. Much more interesting (as the writer) than staring at the screen and trying to get it to magically figure out the problem and come up with a solution.

As for content problems that I notice while I'm writing -- a sentence that sounds awkward, or a change of place, I add a comment about it. I suppose that's also padding, but there's nothing I can do as I need those comments to be there and not somewhere else.

Incidentally, I've found that to be helpful for ALL first drafts, not just NaNo ones, because they allow me to notice the problem AND THEN MOVE ON. Inner editor is happy, I'm happy, and the editing process will go smoother. So, I'm kind of glad for the "no edit" rule, since I may have never discovered this strategy before.

I don't do word padding, either. I tend to be a very serious writer, so doing things like making ninjas randomly appear on the street never appeals to me any way. I do edit, too. No formal, double spaced, red pen editing, but if a sentence comes out wrong (this past year I wasn't paying attention to what I was writing and my character observed that her fingers tasted good...) or I'm reading over my draft (yes, I know, another big no-no) and a passage doesn't seem clear, I'll attend to it. And you know what? I still won. NaNoWriMo is nothing more than just a fun activity that was created to encourage people to challenge themselves, and do whatever they need to to feel like they accomplished something. One of my NaNo friends doesn't really play by the rules at all. Her first year she only aimed to write a 30K novel and did it, and was proud of it. Then this past year, she simply revised her 2006 NaNo novel. And she did, and she was proud of it. So basically, don't worry about what works for other people. If you have a method that works for you, stick to it!

Not a big padder. Some might say I do because some of my scenes like of crime scenes or evidence HAVE to be descriptive, and I do tend to use flashbacks and will be using diary entries in book four [am considering doing something like this in book two to follow on from a trauma in book one], and this tends to up my word count - but I only use these as necessary.

Of the posters so far on this thread, 14 won, 3 did not win, and 2 joined after Nov 07. Something like that. So, that says that revision during writing can work for some. I don't think the "no editing" NaNo rule is facetious at all. I think they are telling you that creative content is far more valued than correctly spelled words... on the FIRST draft. Creative writing is from one side of the brain while editing is from the other side and whatever you do, please do not interupt the flow of the story!

I edit too. But for us, maybe we find it faster to get the synapses going on the creative side again. Maybe the mother of 3 who is working and going to Monday and Wednesday night school and running the carpool line at her kid's school every Thursday will need... 1) padding to finish the novel goal and... 2) no time to be spent editing and revising. Well, maybe it's not a mother but a teen who is in high school, band practice, math tutoring, and Art Club who will need these . Or what about the 60 hour a week working dad? Gawd forbid if we mention those who are writing in English as a second language.

And then, there are just the plain slowpokes. I'm a classroom teacher. I had been getting on to this little boy about turning in his work late... until one day at lunch, I watched him eat his hamburger. HE EVEN EATS SLOW! I realized I didn't need to punish him but give him "coping" skills for his turtle ways!

hmltwin... I love your idea of reaching your daily goal, then going back to revise/edit.
And others mentioned padding ONLY to find you way again, which probably helps avoid frustration and leaving yourself editing notes which calms the other side of the brain yet alerts you later that you had an editing claim at this spot.

Loved this post... Thanks.

jade