Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!
Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the November 1 posting of the IWSG are Tonja Drecker, Diane Burton, MJ Fifield, and Rebecca Douglass!
Click here to view everyone in the Blog Hop.
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November 1 question – Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published?
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Remember, remember, the [first] of November, the gunpowder, treason, and plot…
Oh, is that just my novel?
Anywho…
This is my eighth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and my fourth year as ML (Municipal Liaison if you’re unfamiliar. Fancy term for region organizer) for my budding group. Five years ago I took over the region unofficially. As crazy and as hectic as my life is, I love NaNoWriMo. I can’t imagine skipping a year despite the absolute craziness. My significant other jokes around the end of October that he’ll see me in December, which is pretty much what happens. It is what it is.
The truth is, though, without NaNoWriMo, I don’t know where I’d be as a writer. I know we all have different journeys. NaNoWriMo isn’t the right journey for everyone, but for me, it’s been the perfect journey. The only reason I have finished drafts is NaNoWriMo. My first project, Alias, was written over two years of NaNo in 2011 and 2012. My second project, Phoenix Rising, followed a similar pattern and was written during NaNo 2013 and 2014 with the last 5000 or so words finished up over the summer of 2014.
NaNoWriMo gave me the motivation and the SUPPORT I needed to write “The End” on two manuscripts. These manuscripts still sit in NaNoDraft form (which is even below first draft form), but they’re there. Without this event, I don’t know that these drafts would’ve ever come to fruition. I do wonder, however, if I could apply that motivation year-round, where I’d be. The thought that I wrote two full 80-100k word novels over the course of two months, but it took me four years to do it, is a bit frustrating.
I know some people don’t participate NaNo because they never use the drafts that come from it, but my experience has been the opposite.
This year, I’m going to be a NaNo Rebel. I am rewriting the 2011/2012 spy thriller project, but with a lot of changes! It is an 85k word draft in two parts. I realized while trying to figure out how to pitch it in a Twitter pitch party, that it was impossible to pitch as one book in a succinct 140 characters that made any sense at all. This led me to believe that maybe, just maybe, it needed to be two separate books. That and the addition of a new antagonist leaves me with a three-book narrative. My original NaNo project is going to become a trilogy!
This breakthrough excites me to no end! I think this is finally what I need to make the rewrite happen, and hopefully see it through to publishing, either traditional or self-pub.
During November, I will be rewriting Book 1. I have a lofty goal to rewrite the entire book during the month. About 40k words exist from the original draft that will be modified, and I plan to add at least 40k more. I may be a tad bit insane, but I think that comes with the territory of being an ML.
I feel strongly about this project (and Phoenix Rising) and want to see all of my work in print, sooner rather than later.
Also, for more reading on NaNoWriMo and the importance of getting involved in local (or even virtual) writing or creative groups, read my blog about the Creative Collective here!
Happy writing!
-RJP