I have decided to do National Novel Writing Month once more. I successfully completed it in 2011 and 2012. The aim of NaNoWriMo is for a writer to write a 50,000-word novel in November. My main reason for doing NaNoWriMo again is to motivate myself. Apart from the actual month, I know from previous years that my writing output is greater in the months after NaNoWriMo.
What Will I Write?
I intend to resurrect one of the stories I started writing during my Master of Creative Writing. One is a young adult novel, Branded. I wrote the first two chapters of it for a Writing for Young Adults subject. It is a different take on alien abduction as it is more about the actual abduction and trying to escape than the aftermath. The other manuscript is based on a short story I submitted to a publisher during the course called Me, Arizona and the Spike. The story is about the transition of humanity during the technological singularity. I started to expand that short story into a novel during a vacation break in my masters, writing the first 10,000 words.
Until I started writing this blog post, I was committed to the technology singularity novel. But having just remembered how enthusiastically the lecturer responded to Branded, I am seriously considering returning to it. It has a lot clearer, at least in my head, journey to travel, than the adult novel. I have no idea where Me, Arizona and the Spike will go, let alone finish.
Critics of NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo has its critics. They say it is just about quantity and not quality, which is true, but that is where editing and redrafting come in. They also say that 50,000 words does not make a novel. The typical adult novel is over 80,000 words. But young adult novels can be around 50,000 words, which is another reason to choose to write Branded (but from previous experience it will probably run well over 100,000 words).
The novel I started in the 2011 NaNoWriMo ended at over 200,000 words. One of my NaNoWriMo buddies plans to write some short stories and articles for his 50,000 words. There is no need to be pedantic about writing a 50,000 word novel.
As I finish this post, I am drifting towards writing the young adult novel. If I choose it, I might actually finish the first draft of a novel in November. That would be fantastic. It also has the advantage of being fantasy/science fiction, so it will involve little research as I can invent much of the world it is set in. I have found in previous NaNoWriMos that research can get in the way of writing 1666 words a day. But, if research is skipped it can lead to doubts over potential plot holes.
You can join me by becoming my buddy.
One Response
I hope it goes well Graham. It does provide discipline, not that you need it as you've already proved that you can do it.I hope it works out successfully for you.