Novel in a Month?

Tens of thousands of writers are racing through their pages during National Novel Writing Month this November.  Thousands will cross the finish line to complete a manuscript of 50,000 words or more.  Now, what can you do with it?

In a nutshell?  Rewrite it.  Revise it.  Edit it.  Make sure it’s the best book it can be.  Then start looking for an agent.

That’s what I did.  It took me a month to write that first draft of Tracks: A Novel in Stories, then a few years to take the spillage and sculpt it into a novel I could pitch to agents.  The result?  Representation by one of New York City’s top ten agents! 

And a book deal with Atticus Books!

But it all started with a month of intense writing, as you can read in Ally E. Peltier’s story about the beginnings of Tracks as a NaNoWriMo novel.

Here’s a snippet from her article:

Eric began writing Tracks five years ago, during NaNoWriMo. He wrote about 60,000 words that year, then went on to add and subtract stories, rewrite and revise, until he had a final draft ready to take to publishers. “The nice thing about NaNoWriMo,” Eric says, “is that you’re forced to write even when you’re not sure you have it all figured out. And for a first draft, that’s good. Tracks is a different, and better, book than that original draft. But the original draft helped make it possible.”

She also uses Tracks to teach some writing lessons, such as the importance of staring small, reading other writers, avoiding traps like procrastination and perfection-seeking.

 

I’ve attempted and won NaNoWriMo five times. I’ll admit I don’t do it every year, because I have enough rough drafts to sculpt into presentable prose. But this year, I sort of did it again. But this year, it was EarlNoWriMo—Early Novel Writing Month! I wrote my most recent draft novel, a literary thriller set in China, during the month of October. It fit my schedule and deadline better than NaNoWriMo.

Read Ally’s article about Tracks and NaNoWriMo, published in her monthly newsletter, at the following link.

 

www.allypeltier.com/blog/2011/11/success-story-eric-d-goodman

 

 

NaNoWriMo One Month Early

Do you do NaNoWriMo? It’s right around the corner. NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, takes place every November—a month of pens and paper, desktops and lap tops, coffee and creativity. The goal: to write a novel of 50,000 words or more in one month’s time.

I used to be a perennial participant. I won NaNoWriMo five years in a row. Then I realized that I had lots of decent first drafts of novels, but not enough polished final drafts, so I stopped.

I had thought of participating again this year, but I just couldn’t wait. So I decided to do it one month early. I started writing when the calendar turned to October, and I expect to have a draft completed before the trick-or-treaters arrive on the doorstep.

NaNoWriMo is more motivator than contest. It’s sort of like a marathon. You have to be a regular writer who practices, have to train yourself for the event. But if you do, and if you’re driven, you can write a novel in a month. And it’s a great feeling.

Then comes the rewriting and the editing. But there are plenty more months for that.

Whether you decide to participate in National Novel Writing Month or you decide on the month that best fits your schedule and mood, write on!

Look for more details on my latest novel, set in China, in the months to come. Until then, check out some of the places I visited earlier this year that found their way into the novel!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wk7nLxBlYA