What a Month!
After thirty days of frenzied character creation, plot-building, and shameless word padding, it is hard to imagine what December will hold. We see a squeaky clean land of showers that can last more than three minutes, clothes that are neatly folded, and food that doesn’t come out of an ice-encrusted box. Sounds like heaven, right?
Well, sort of. We're going to miss the intensity of the past month, too. We got pretty wrapped up in the lives of our main characters and their travails, even if the plot holes were big enough to swallow a small country. Without our imaginary worlds, where will we pour all of that great creative energy?
The good news is that there is another equally intense and satisfying journey ahead: revision! It is drastically different from the drafting process, but is ultimately just as rewarding. The “I Wrote a Novel, Now What?” page is devoted to this next stage. The post-NaNo-novel, pre-editing stage that will happily consume us Wrimos throughout December and long after.
To get the writerly ball rolling again after your mojo recharges, we've also added the December and Beyond forums to the site, dedicated exclusively to life after NaNo.
Next up on the Office of Letters and Light's rollercoaster of creative adventures: Script Frenzy, where we write a 100-page screenplay, stage play, or set of TV scripts in April. You can even collaborate with a partner! Bonus: You can use your NaNo username and password to log in to the Script Frenzy site.
Free Proof Copy of Your Winning NaNoWriMo Manuscript in Book Form
CreateSpace, an Amazon.com Inc. owned company, is generously offering every NaNoWriMo 2008 winner a "free proof copy" of their 2008 manuscript. What this means: A free proof copy of your manuscript in paperback book form---just by following the instructions below. They'll even cover the costs of basic shipping to you.To redeem the offer, you'll need a special NaNoWriMo winner's promo code. To get your promo code, you must be an official NaNoWriMo 2008 winner, and be signed into the NaNoWriMo site. Once you are, your unique promo code will be displayed at the bottom of this paragraph. Note that this code will not be used in the "referral code" box when setting up a CreateSpace account, but will instead be used after you've uploaded your manuscript and are actually ordering your proof copy.
If you are a winner with a code, here's how you go about using it:
1) Go to http://www.createspace.com/nanowrimo and create a free member account. If you already have an account, just sign into it.
2) Set up your title: you will be asked to fill in information such as title, author name, page count, etc. CreateSpace now has new tools to help you create a cover, format your text and complete your title!
3) Submit your title: make sure that your title's information is accurate and complies with CreateSpace's Submission Requirements.
4) When everything's uploaded and perfect, just request a proof copy and use the above discount code at check out. Presto!
After you receive your proof copy, you can then choose if you want to make it available to the public at large—everything from showing up for sale on Amazon.com to complete invisibility.
Tips on Rewriting
Ah, rewriting. It hurts so bad, but it helps so much. If your book was born in November, it's going to take many, many months (if not years) of revision before it's ready for the bookstore shelves. That's the bad news. The good news is that novel rewriting is even more rewarding than novel writing. Whether you end up self-publishing or getting an agent and selling the book, there's nothing more satisfying than taking your manuscript as far as it will go.
We asked several novelists who have moved their NaNoWriMo novels along the path from rough draft to book contract to answer some questions about the revision process.
Here's what they said:
First, S.A. Bodeen. She is the award-winning author of eight children’s books, and a young adult novel, The Compound
For thirty days you worked very hard, neglecting your family and alienating your friends. You have a completed novel to show for it. But here’s the truth: this puppy is nowhere near ready to be seen by anyone. Not even close.
Don’t kid yourself. Sure, there are flashes of brilliance, but there are also gaps; gaps in the plot, the logic, the flow, and the characterization. Plus, in order to beef up your word count, you’ve created a boatload of narrative summary. (You won’t find this out until mid-January, but your story doesn’t actually begin until page 39.) So put the draft away for a bit. Then be ready to work, because you will have to cut. You will have to revise. You will eventually have to admit to yourself that a lot of those 50,000 words are nothing but crap. (The wallowing that accompanies this realization lasts about a week. High-quality chocolate eases the pain.)
But don’t despair. You will regroup and get your second wind. Somewhere, hidden in that first draft, is a story. And after a lot of work, you do find it.
Up next, Jessica Burkhart. Twenty-one year old Jessica Burkhart’s debut middle-grade novel, Take the Reins
I’d advise myself not to panic on December first and think, “Oh, no! This is not a perfect draft that’s ready to be sent to an agent this instant! I’ve failed NaNo!” Umm, no. The goal of NaNoWriMo was NOT to write a perfectly polished in 30 days. The objective was to draft a novel in a month. I did that. I’ve got 50,000-words that might not be poetic or dazzling, but there is a draft that’s ready for editing.
I’d remind myself of one of my favorite sayings—“You can’t edit a blank page.” I’d tell myself to celebrate the fact that I have a draft and that it’s okay to take a few days off before plunging ahead to editing. Let the manuscript breathe. It'll still be there next week.
Finally, I’d encourage myself not to be disheartened by the people who would eventually tell me, “There’s no way a book written in 30 days will ever be published!” C’mon, we all know that’s not true. I’d tell myself to direct those people to the roster of published NaNo authors. It’s an encouraging list!
Next up, Gayle Brandeis. Gayle is the author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write
First of all, no novel is irredeemable. In my NaNo pep talk, I likened writing a novel to being pregnant and giving birth. The metaphor of novel-as-baby doesn't always hold once the novel is in the world—especially since you often have to tear your novel apart to help it find its rightful form!—but there are still some parallels.
Some parents will stare at their newborn for hours, proud and amazed at what they have created. Other parents suffer through post-partum depression; they question themselves, their ability to raise these strange, scary vulnerable new creatures. If you're reading the answer to this question, you most likely fall into the latter camp. Babies often do look a bit frightening right after birth—their noses are smooshed against their face; their heads are misshapen from their journey into the world; they are covered with all sorts of slimy fluids. But remember—you clean them off, and their heads eventually find their right shape, and then one day they'll smile at you and your heart will melt like it's never melted before.
It all comes down to love, really. You have to learn to love your sticky, bloody, misshapen novel. Even if a lot of it makes you cringe; even if much of it feels monstrous, find something in it to love. It could be one sentence. It could be one image. It could be one plot twist. It could be one character. Whatever it is, start from there. Love it with all your heart. And with this love, plus a lot of attention and patience, you will give your novel the care it needs to grow into itself, to learn to walk and talk and carry its own weight. Love it, even when it makes you crazy, and one day, it will make you proud.
Next up, Kelley Armstrong. Kelley lives in rural Ontario, Canada with her husband and three kids. She has participated in NaNoWriMo since 2005 and organizes an online group of readers to join her each year! After graduating with a degree in psychology, she went on to study computer programming. She is now a full-time writer and the author of the popular Women of the Otherworld
The first step toward a productive revision is to read your manuscript as a reader not an editor. Just curl up and read it, and make two lists. One is the parts that don't work--a character so dull you can barely remember his name, parts you were tempted to skip (or sleep through!) The second list is for things you did like, because that's important, too. At the end, if that first list looks too daunting, read the second and remind yourself of all the parts that worked—all the great stuff that deserves an equally great novel.
Once you have the list, copy the file under a new name, so you've always got a copy of the original.
Now, it's time to get ruthless.
If a scene/page/paragraph doesn't move the plot along, cut it. If possible, don't re-read it, because you're going to find lines and bits of character in it that you love, and that'll make you start thinking "maybe it's not so bad after all..." Trust that initial reader instinct. Cut it and save it in another file—that'll help with the pain of the loss, knowing you still have that scene should you ever decide you need it back.
If a character doesn't add to the book, cut him out. If you loved him, save his parts for another book. If you REALLY loved him, give him a more meaningful role so he can stay.
If some part of the plot doesn't work, brainstorm a list of three alternate routes to achieve that goal (different paths, different character motivations, etc). Pick the one that will provide the most conflict or "emotional bang for your buck."
Remember—be ruthless. Don't ever think about how many hours you put into writing a part you're cutting out. Think of how much better you'll feel knowing you did your best—however hard it was—to make this novel shine.
Sara Gruen, whose published NaNoWriMo manuscripts include Flying Changes
My advice would be to try and work on your book every day if you can, and definitely not take more than a two-day break from the book until you've finished your first draft. At the end of November, you've got some momentum. Keep going, and keep your head in the book so you don't lose it. If I'm away from my book for three days I forget what my characters are all about, and it takes me several days to recover from it. So even if I don't have time to do anything major for awhile, I'll commit to reading and editing at least three scenes a day, just enough to dip my toe in, until I've got a draft. It works the same way for revisions. I might take some time off between revisions, but never during.
And finally, our own Chris Baty, author of No Plot? No Problem!
I've now spent seven years revising my various NaNoWriMo novels. From all my adventures and misadventures in revisionland, the three tips I would give would be…
1) Know that it will take longer than you think. This doesn't need to be discouraging! Eating a five-pound donut also takes more time than you'd suspect, but that just means you get to spend quality time with a large donut. That said, you can help keep frustration at bay by setting a realistic timetable for completion. For me, moving a 50,000-word first draft to a 90,000-word second draft takes about a year of weekend and evening work. Doing a third draft takes about six more months, and it really isn't until the third draft that I feel like the manuscript is good enough for anyone to read. As you revise, stay as focused on the project as you can, but don't beat yourself up if it takes longer than you'd originally planned. It will.
2) Let a friend (or friends!) with a good sense of story help you nail down your plot down before you start revising. This has shaved months and months off my editing time, and I've been amazed at how much better my book gets from having another set of eyes on it. And your "readers" don't need to actually read your manuscript to do this. In fact, it's probably better that they don't, because then they may get caught up in offering editorial tweaks, which you don't need yet. To get good story help, consider creating a 10- or 20-page book synopsis that travels through your whole novel, laying out the key things readers learn and see in each chapter. Share this document, rather than your manuscript, with your story consultants, and try to make this outline air-tight before moving on to revisions.
3) Do not spend a single second making your prose readable until you're absolutely, positively sure that you have your story locked down. This is the single most important bit of advice I have, and I ignore it all the time and have wasted years of my revising life because of it. The impulse to snappy-up dialogue and make sentences eloquent is almost irresistible at every point in the revision process. It makes sense: We're surrounded by so many big, messy plot and character problems that it's nice to seek solace in tidying up sentences. It's a finite task, it's instantly gratifying, and it makes us feel like we're making progress on our books. The sadness comes when we spend six months transforming our first three chapters into Pulitzer-worthy gems, only to realize that none of those chapters will actually end up in our novels because they don't work with the ending. This happens over and over and over, and it will kind of make you want to die. My advice: Think of your second draft as a house that you're building. You need to pour the foundation, frame the walls, and get a reasonably waterproof roof over your head before you start to think about putting art up on the walls and installing the basement bowling alley and aviary. Let the art-hanging and bird-bringing be the treat you give yourself for all your manual labors with the cement mixer and nail gun.
NaNoWriMo-style Events On the Horizon
There are also heaps of events run by other people to provide some structure and community for your post-NaNo endeavors. We're not affiliated with any of these (except Script Frenzy), but all of these events are free and open to everyone. If you know of any other sites or events we should be posting here, drop us a line!
NaNoFiMo.org - National Novel Finishing Month (December). Goal: 30,000 words.
FAWM - February Album Writing Month (February). Goal: Write 14 original songs in a month.
NaNoEdMo - National Novel Editing Month (March). Goal: Commit to 50 hours of novel editing.
Script Frenzy - NaNoWriMo's sister challenge (April). Goal: Write a 100-page screenplay or stage play in April.
NEPMo - National Epic Poetry Month (May). Goal: Write 5,000 lines epic poem in May.
SoCNoC - Southern Cross Novel Challenge (June). Goal: Write 50,000 words of fiction.
SoFoBoMo - Solo Photo Book Month (Between May first and June 31). Goal: Create a solo photo book within 31 days.
JulNoWriMo - July Novel Writing Month (July). Goal: 50,000 words for a new or unfinished manuscript.
24 Hour Comics Day - (Changes annually, lasts 24 hours). Goal: Draw a 24-page comic in one 24-hour period.
48 Hour Film Project - (Varies; operates via tours around the USA, lasts 48 hours). Goal: Create a short film in 48 hours.
Book in a Week - (Begins on the Monday of the first full week of each month, lasts one week). Goal: Write a novel.
April Fool's - (April). Goal: Set a word-count goal for yourself and fulfill it by the end of the month.
AugNoWriMo - August Novel Writing Month (August). Goal: Write a novel in one month.
3-Day Novel Contest - (September). Goal: Write a novel in three days. They've been doing this since 1977. So cool!
NaPlWriMo - National Playwriting Month (November). Goal: Write a play in one month.
NaNoMangO - The artist's alternative to NaNoWriMo (November). Goal: Draw 30 pages of sequential art in one month.
NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month (Year-Round). Goal: Post every day for a month.
NaNoPubYe - National Novel Publishing Year (Year-Round). Goal: Get that NaNoWriMo novel ready for publication!
Some Thoughts on Publishing
A growing number of NaNoWriMo authors have sold their November novels to publishers, or had them printed by print-on-demand companies. We love this, and have a collection of NaNoWriMo books in a place of honor in the NaNo office.
Publication is a great goal, no doubt about it. But we'd be remiss if we didn't also point out that there are some companies who make their living taking advantage of inexperienced novelists. If you're setting out to find an agent or publisher for your NaNo-novel, please familiarize yourself with some of the traps and pitfalls that you might encounter along the way. Some good places to start with this are the Preditors and Editors list of potential scams, and the Absolute Write Bewares and Background Check forums.
Novel Writing Contests Without Entry Fees
Almost all fiction-writing contests charge entry fees, but there are a handful of free ones out there run by reputable companies that have great prizes. If you know of any free contests we should post, please drop us a line!
Amazon is presenting its second Breakthrough Novel Award contest, offering a $25,000 publishing contract with Penguin. Submissions begin in February, 2009.
L. Ron Hubbard is presenting Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest. Started in 1983, the contest operates on a quarterly system and is open to novice science fiction and fantasy writers who have not been professionally published.
Webook.com runs Webook Vote an ongoing writing contest where users vote on manuscripts. WEbook will select books from the top ten percent for publication.
Thank you!
Thanks so much to everyone who participated in NaNoWriMo in 2008, and a special hug to our donors and Municipal Liaisons! We couldn't have done it without you!
