With the release of my brand new book ‘Frost Hands’ finally out of the way, I’ve suddenly become very aware of the next big event in my writing year, which is the impending arrival of November and NaNoWriMo. This will be my tenth year participating, and every year I think I fall a little more in love with the whole process. It’s a whole month dedicated to creating with the wildest of abandon. These days, I tend to draft all my novels during November, and then spend the other eleven months of the year editing and polishing them to perfection.
With NaNoWriMo so ingrained into my writing life, one might think that I would be most of the way ready for it by now. After all, there are only three weeks or so until the start. I should definitely have all my ducks in a row, ready for the big even. And yet, despite all my best intentions, my prep has been derailed more than once by very worthy enterprises, like switching jobs, and releasing ‘Frost Hands’. I don’t regret the time spent away from my NaNo prep one bit, but I am now sitting on an outline with exactly two scenes in it, which something tells me isn’t really going to be enough to write a whole book from.
Of course, theres always the option of just winging it and pantsing my way through the first draft, figuring it out as I go along. That’s always been a favourite method of mine, jumping into a brand new book with nothing but the initial idea, and my own boundless optimism to carry me through. I’ve written literally dozens of first drafts that way. It’s the most fun you can have while writing. I love discovering the story as I’m writing it, almost as if I’m reading it. Sure, it’s easier to get stuck when you reach a sticky spot in the plot, but it’s nothing that a bit of creative thinking and handwavium can’t get me past.
However, since I discovered the wonders of editing and actually finishing and publishing some books, I’ve changed my approach. Writing a first draft without a solid outline might be fun, but it does tend to leave me with an almighty mess of a book, which I can spend literal years trying to clean up. Whereas, even though writing an outline is a bit of a bother, and certainly not my favourite part of the process, I’ve found that when I write with an outline, I end up with a book that’s a lot more cohesive and more like an actual novel, rather than a pile of discarded words on a page. It’s definitely easier to write quickly when you know where the plot is going too.
So at the moment I’m pouring all my free time into piecing together an outline for my next novel. It’s not my favourite part of the writing process, but has its own sort of fun, like putting together the pieces of a puzzle, except that you’ve also got to make all of the bits yourself and pray you’ve got all the shapes right. With this outline in hand, I’m going to be able to smash my way through this draft in no time at all, and my hope is to come out of the month with a good first draft in hand that I can then edit and lovingly craft into a book I can really be proud of. I can’t wait for November to begin!
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Have you ever taken part in a writing challenge before? Are you an outliner, or do you prefer to figure it out as you go?
If you want to read one of the books I’ve written during my many NaNoWriMo adventures, might I recommend my latest book, ‘Frost Hands’? It’s an awesome YA sci-fi book about mutants, secret agents, rebellions, and awesome abilities. It’s available on Amazon right now in both print and ebook form. Pick up your copy today!
