A Novel in Thirty Days. Am I Mad?

My writing world this week has mostly been working on National Novel Writing Month. Anyone who has taken part in it before knows it’s a marathon. It’s frustrating and hard work but it’s such good fun all at the same time.

After wondering whether to work on a new idea, I decided that due to my false starts, I was close enough to the beginning of my current work in progress to work on it for National Novel Writing Month in the hope that it will get me far enough into the draft to not be able to start again (and thus the end of the false starts.) There is some logic in my madness I am sure.

I am about 10,000 words into it now (at the end of the first week) – so far so good. One trap I have nearly fallen into though is to allow the tone and the quality to overshadow the draft, which is usually what makes me start again. I am back to that hard task of telling my internal editor to stop it and go and lock itself away until 1^st December. That’s the beauty of National Novel Writing Month is that you get so focused on making the 50,000 words in the thirty days, that you aren’t allowing your internal editor to get its opinion across (no matter how much it is trying to.)

I happen to love National Novel Writing Month for that reason. The deadline also helps and having other writers (friends) writing a novel in thirty days means you can take part in some healthy competition. For me, it spurs me on. Some writers don’t or can’t write in the confines of NaNoWriMo. It’s not for everyone but it’s worth trying at least once if you’re trying to write a book but, like I have, got stuck and need a huge kick-start into your first draft.

Do you take part in NaNoWriMo? Why? Do you find it helpful?

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.