Friday, October 2, 2009

NanoWrimo 2009

One month from yesterday is the beginning of National Novel Writing Month 2009 and I can't wait! Actually I can wait because I have more prep to do. I need to get to know my characters, figure out the villain and think about plot.

I did NanoWrimo the last three years and I've made the 50K goal only once. This is the year, I can feel it. And even if I don't make it, I will still have a great time and get in some great writing.

The first year I didn't do any planning. Instead I started with an image and built characters and a story around that. It was fun because there were so many surprises and twists that I didn't expect. Characters came out of nowhere and did crazy things I hadn't planned on.

The next year I spent a couple of months planning. I drew a map of the world I created, I formed character profiles, I wrote back story (which I did not include in the final word count). It was a very different experience and because I had more of an idea of who my characters were they didn't surprise me too many times. I also had plenty of story to tell so it was easy to make the 50K mark. I love that story and although it still needs a lot of work, I'm not giving up on it.

Last year I decided to do Nano at the last minute. I didn't commit totally and I struggled with my work. I didn't make the goal and when it was over I felt like it was complete trash. I started with a concept I believed in but I didn't feel like I did anything with it. But a couple months later when I reread that project I was surprised at its potential. I've be working with it and hope that it will turn into a great project. So something good came of it after all.

Bottom line: I heart NanoWrimo and you should, too!

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