Howdy and happy FriYAY!
On Tuesday, with thousands across the nation, I began a novel. I don’t have a name for it yet, but I’m happy with my progress so far. The goal of NaNoWriMo (not a huge fan of the shortened name) is to write 50,000 words during the month, roughly the length of The Great Gatsby and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Why? Firstly, I have a story I am excited to tell (see: http://therealzsmith.com/2022/10/27/national-novel-writing-month/). Second, this seems like a great way to break myself into the habit of sitting down and writing a lot of words. 50k words in 30 days is 1,677 words/ day. Ever cautious, I factored in 10 days off for myself. Maybe I want to set it aside and work on the Saga some days; maybe I hit a slump. Maybe I have a bachelor party to go to this weekend… 10 days off seems like more than I need. That pushes my daily word count to 2,500 words. That’s a lot of words- a work email you most certainly wouldn’t read. I’m finding out writers & publishers use word count as a metric, because pages vary so much. I just highlighted some words, and 2,500 is about 3 pages single spaced, size 10 font, including some dialogue. But again, not sure that’s entirely representative of a book page.
On today, Friday November 4th, I hesitate to call myself ‘on pace.’ Yes, this morning I wrote my 10,000th word. But looking at my story layout, I’m not nearly far enough! That’s probably okay though. The idea of NaNoWriMo is to vomit 50k words, not produce a literary masterpiece. There will be editing to do, and it’s always the case that I pare down my work. Which is why it is also important to vomit 2.5k words/ day….
I wrote more last month than I had since I took a creative writing course at Simmons my junior year of college (I loved it, incredibly formative, may talk more about it later). I didn’t post too much in October, but I hammered through many chapters of The Saga de Hotonoma, and feel confident about self publishing it before the end of the year. Most of my writing the past few years has been the opposite of book writing, though. I’ve written a lot of raps, which I think of as dense, long form poetry that is difficult to perform. I’ve also typically written short stories, where the mindset is “don’t include any words that aren’t vital to the storytelling.” So, I need some practice if I’m going to write a book.
This Novel November is exactly the kind of sprint I need to build a habit of churning out work. If it takes 10,000 hours to master a subject, the best way to start is by putting in the hours.
I’ve found myself looking at it too closely. ‘What happens after this scene?’ ‘I have to show when this happens…’ I really needed to take a step back a few times this week and make sure I was choosing scenes carefully, asking myself if each scene contributes meaningfully to the overall story I’m aiming to tell. Moving plot can be done quickly, and I can’t let it bog me down.
I’m very excited about the characters I’ve imagined. I’ve thought my character writing is a little weak, but I think I’ve developed some engaging arcs and likeable, interesting characters that will be enjoyable to follow. The story might get away from me a little bit; I may have set myself up with a story that just can’t be told in 50k words. But I’m excited to be on the journey, and I already can’t wait to share it!
Zack
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