That’s my
word count on my NANO project. Yeah, way under what the word count should be at
this date – which is like 25K. But the
good news, I’m totally okay with where I’m at.
Why?
Because I’m
hearing the voices. You know, when you’re at a stoplight or just before you
drift off to sleep—and the conversations start up. Your characters talking in
your head.
It’s been a
while since I worked on anything since Bix and it’s so nice to hear the voices.
Not that I don’t love my boy, Bix, but sometimes you start wondering if you can
write anything else after three years of unwavering loyalty to one character’s
story.
And another
big milestone came today—I stopped myself from editing. Usually I’m an edit as
I go gal. My first drafts are reasonably clean—especially the first few
chapters—it’s usually the murky middle as I scramble toward the ending that
fouls me up.
So, today I
started thinking maybe I should make this a NA book as opposed to YA. New Adult
is an up and coming genre that features college-age adults as they make the
transition into adulthood. Changing it now, though, would stop my forward
momentum, so while I’m going to consider it, I’m not going to go back and start
rewriting what I’ve got.
Like I said,
major personal milestone. So, while I may not win NANO officially—I’ve won some
personal battles and that’s more
important than turning out 50K in 30 days.
Anybody else
win a battle this week?
Whoa, good for you! I got edits done, which means going back to my ms. in stalled progress--there's a battle I haven't won yet. But I will persevere. I'd never even heard of "NA" but I'm anxious to see what you have.
ReplyDeleteYay, Liz! NA is similar to YA but done a bit older :) There's no real classification of it yet, but there are some agents interested in representing it.
DeleteLook for some pages come December :)
Great to hear about your progress, Margie! I think no matter what lesson(s) to learn from participating in NaNo, as long as they help you move forward, they're well worth it. I am a bit further, but still behind where I should be--which is the norm for me and this contest. But over the holidays I'll be caught up, and have a great start to my WIP. Best of luck along your journey with these characters who are "speaking" to you!
ReplyDeleteKyra--I totally agree. I think just getting a good start on a new WIP is a good thing. Good luck on your NaNo project!
DeleteI'm doing NaNo for the first time, and so far it's working for me! 25k in, so right where I should be, although it was a struggle for a few days last week.
ReplyDeleteI always think leaving the editing until later is the best way to do things. Glad you're resisting doing it whilst drafting!
Yay, Ruth! Keep it up! I'm so glad you got over your hump.
DeleteI'm finding Nano much slower going this year. I'm still editing one book and having to get the synopsis together. Also, I'm building a social medial platform that's taking time. Last year I fnished in 2 weeks, this year it may take the entire month.
ReplyDeleteTwo weeks! That's insane. I wish I had that kind of speed.
DeleteMy current WIP is also in stall mode. Hopefully, by next week that will change. Good luck with the NANO project and may those voices continue.
ReplyDeleteMaybe now that the hustle bustle and excitement of the last couple of weeks is dying down, your voices will return. Fingers crossed ;)
DeleteCongrats, Margie! I'm proud of you!!!
ReplyDelete