Wednesday, November 30, 2011

NaNoWriMo success

Yes, I finished my NaNo novel in 28 days, clocking in at 50,800 and some odd words. Not bad! Now, to get to the revision process. Revision can either be very "Yay!" or very "Ugh" for me, depending on how much work there is involved. I hate it when I get to revising and discover a massive, and I mean MASSIVE plot hole. You feel like you can hear your inner editor snickering, "Bu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-m-m-m-m-mer!"

This book that I did for NaNo (which, by the way, is the sequel to the book I wrote for Camp NaNoWriMo in July) will need a massive rewrite, because it actually turned out to be a book with two separate stories, told from the viewpoint of two MC's. What I actually wrote turned out to be a very well-thought-out rough draft, with a lot-a-lot of side notes, diagrams, and maps. (I LOVE drawing maps!) So, what I'm doing from here on out is the second draft of the book, smoothing out the rough edges. I'll need to stitch the two parts together so that there's continuity and motion in the tale, and no weird disjointed fragments. I'll probably end up printing out the entire thing so that I can have a physical copy in my hands to muck about with. I love scratching bold pen lines through sentences that I really don't like.

I like to do my revision on paper, with pens. There's something much more tangible about doing editing with a hard copy. I feel like I can actually see how the story is supposed to go if I have a printed copy to work with. How about you? Do you do better with computer or paper?

So, my list of "What to do" this week:

1.) Rewrite at least seven chapters of NaNo novel (I've already completed two)
2.) Do some research for an article I'm thinking about.
3.) Finish the short story I've written up and submit.
4.) FINALLY get to that critique I promised my sister I'd do.
5.) Drink some more tea and get better. I caught the world's nastiest cold from the rest of my sisters, who insist that the best way to get rid of a cold is to give it to someone else. Come on down, my friends, and I'll share with you!

What's on your agenda for the rest of the week?

15 comments:

  1. You did it! Woo-hoo! And with a day to spare…
    But surely now you have earned at least a month off. No? Maybe just a week? Seems not.
    Your plans for this week don’t include even a day off, it seems. Maybe a paltry afternoon off, just to make the rest of us feel less like utter slackers?
    Congratulations again.

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  2. Maybe one day... today... I think today's a "READ-ALL-DAY" kind of day. :) and maybe draw. That too.

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  3. Way to go Cat! And lots of luck with your revisions : )

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  4. Well done! Good luck with the rewrites.

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  5. Wow, you got so much done! I had to bail on Nano this year, as I am getting ready to publish my YA thriller! Good luck with your revise.

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  6. Congrats, Cat! I had no doubt you'd finish though. ;) I'm revising a novel right now, too. My second this month. Eek! Like you I have to do one revision in print. I revise on screen a few times first. Then I revise in print. And then I go through on screen again.

    I hope you feel better soon!

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  7. Wow congrats! My good intentions for the month netted me less than 1,000 words...But I guess I've been too busy looking for a day job!

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  8. Thanks so much, Claire and Brenda.

    Catherine, WOW! Congratulations on you YA thriller. How awesome!

    Kelly, yep, that's how I have to revise, just like you. I really am trying to get better, but this is the nastiest cold. It just sucks all my energy away. And I have to go up and down stairs all day at work. Bummer.

    Trev, 1,000 words is, after all, 1,000 words, and you might not have written them save for you good intentions. Be proud of those words! :)

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  9. Congrats on Nano Success!!! I didn't do Nano this year, but I am actively in the process of finishing my novel. I've given myself three months to do it and I plan to be finished, with a solid first draft anyway, by mid-March.

    On the agenda for this week? Writing, writing, writing! (and trying not to self-edit too much)

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  10. Self-editing is my BANE, Miranda! As soon as I write a chapter, I want to edit it. That's why I like NaNo... it forces me to keep going forward! :)

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  11. Congrats! I always revise on paper. It's so much easier. Some say it's "not green" but I use both sides.

    This week, and the rest of the month, I will be working on my first draft of a first novel, and revising all of my short stories and articles to submit.

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  12. Yup, I can't stare at a computer screen that long either, Ricky. And yes, I print out the ms, and do corrections and make notes on that paper, and then I take those notes and go into the computer and make changes. Besides, paper makes excellent fire fuel for winter. Yanno? *There goes that draft, up in smoke!*

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  13. Congrats on the NaNo finish! Bask in it for a while, and I agree, while much writing can be done onscreen, you have to have hardcopy to read, re-read, and mark up.

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  14. Hi Beverly, thanks for coming by! And believe me, I'm basking.

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