What I Wish I Knew on My First Nanowrimo - Our Best Advice for Starting Your Dream Novel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- It's #Preptober! Many of you may be getting ready to start writing your novel for National Novel Writing Month, fondly known as NaNoWriMo - or perhaps you simply find yourself thinking up or beginning to pursue a new story idea altogether. Either way, Abbie and I are continuing our Preptober series today by delving into what advice we would give to ourselves about doing our first NaNoWriMo, or writing our first novel. We're very excited to share these insights with you, and even more excited to hear what YOU think below in the comments! Grab a notebook and a coffee (or tea) and let's delve into this fun topic. #NaNoWriMo2021
Keep this podcast alive and free of interruptions: / thekateandabbieshow
✨Be sure to check out our other podcast episodes on self care for writers:
Create a Healthy Mind for Better Writing #NaNoWriMo2021: • Create a Healthy Mind ...
COZY HYGGE SELF CARE FOR WRITERS: • COZY HYGGE SELF CARE F...
MENTALLY PREPARING for NaNoWriMo: • MENTALLY PREPARING for...
Staying Nourished in Times of Stress: • The Kate & Abbie Show ...
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Connect with Kate on Instagram (@lonehawkwriter) or her blog: www.heretocrea...
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This is Literally perfect because this Year will be my first nanowrimo
That's awesome! We are cheering you on!
Congratulations!!!
Same! I hope it goes well for you
Congratulations and good luck with it!
Same! Good luck!
It's so sad to see two genuine creators who want to help people with writing not get the views they deserve!!! Keep it up though girls!! Your guy's videos help me and so many others immensely
Help them by sharing!
I have to write at my own pace. I’ve accepted that I’m a slow writer.
I always think of a personal challenge as a friction zone. Too little difficulty and you don’t move forward, too much and you grind to a halt. Love both of your insights! Thanks for sharing! :)
Thank you for sharing!
I love Nano because it's the time of year I feel the most connected with the writing community. I am almost always a rebel and work on the project I want how I want to do it rather than limiting myself to the current format. I feel the most successful with Nano when I focus on brainstorming and practicing with the story. I tend to write multiple versions of the same scenes and type out my thoughts on the characters and the stories to help push myself to go deeper and flesh stuff out. Do I end up with an actual first draft: no. Do I spend lots of time with my story and end up with a great, fleshed out idea: yes! Cheers to everyone doing Nano this year!
Trying my first NaNoWriMo this year. Super excited and am already setting up goal posts and word minimums. Thank you so much for this!
Yay!!
I'm gonna save this for NANORIMO. This is my second time. I really want to use it as a launch pad to write this story I've been thinking of.
We're cheering you on!🙌
Me too!
@@KAEmmons thank you
The first time I tried November Madness, I “failed.” The second time I “succeeded,” but I *HATED* it. (To get 50k in 30 days requires 1667 words per day every day, on average.)
Years later, I decided to try to increase my word count from my usual 1k-1.25k/day 6 days/wk to 2k/day. I tried to be smart about it, and increase my word count by 250 words/day every 66 days. Everything went fine until I hit 1.75k/day. At that word count, I started to falter. At 2k/day, I died. The result was that I couldn’t write at all for 4-6 months afterward.
I think it’s more important find out what your most comfortable daily word count is, and then simply be consistent. That will make you the most productive for your writing goals, whatever they might be. It is possible to do too much and to burn out. It’s better to avoid that, in my opinion.
I have a tendency to pressure myself to write and vlog daily. I couldn’t do it. This is my third nanowrimo
@@Neil-writer-author Some writers can’t, or don’t want, to write everyday. And that’s perfectly okay, because even amateur athletes also don’t play their favorite sport every day, either. But recognize that it will put some limitations on what you can or cannot do.
I personally have no problems with writing 6 days each week. I _do_ want time off, though. Even Stephen King - although he admits in his memoir that he writes 7 days per week, including his birthday and Christmas (though he never admits _that_ in interviews) - recommends writing at least 5 days per week.
The question is, _why?_
I believe that if you want to be your best, you have to be consistent at what it is you want to do (that’s also King’s point, as well as keeping your WIP fresh in your mind). Consistency is what makes for successful athletes as much as it also makes for successful writers.
My point above is that NaNo and that one time I tried to increase my daily word count both taught me my limitations. I think it’s important that we learn and willingly recognize/accept/embrace our limitations. But I now know that I _can_ produce up to 1.5k per day consistently, if I want to, but 1k-1.25k is still the more comfortable range for me.
I’ve also learned that it typically takes me 1.5-2 hours to reach my daily word count - sometimes a little longer. (That doesn’t include time spent editing.) When I’m tempted to write more because things are going very well, I try to resist the temptation. I think it better to make notes to myself, and save that enthusiasm for my next writing session. That practice preserves my momentum.
The one thing I have to watch out for is writing just for the sake of hitting that word count, and pushing myself instead to produce the best writing I can for those 1k-1.25k words. It’s too easy just to write crap simply for the sake of hitting my daily word count goal so I can quit and do something else.
Also, at 6 days/wk, 1k-1.25k/day will produce 26,000-32,500/mo, and 1.5k/day gives 39k/mo, on average (6 days/wk gives approx. 26 writing days per month, depending on how many Sundays there are). Those are good monthly totals, in my opinion, even if they are technically “failures” compared to the NaNo goal of 50k in 30 days.
On an annual basis, my daily word count goals mean 313k/yr @ 1k/day, or 391.25k/yr @ 1.25k/day, or 469.5k/yr @ 1.5k/day. That’s a *MINIMUM* of 3-4 novels per year, plus some short stories. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
Years and years ago, Lawrence Block wrote in his book _From Plot to Print_ (published in the 70s) that in an informal and unscientific survey he did of something like 100 writers, most pros wrote 3-5 pages per day. Using old manuscript practices - double-spaced pages using 12-pt Courier - 3-5 pages/day amounts to 750-1250 wds per day. A friend who is a pro novelist/editor told me that one study showed that most pros who had a long-lasting career never wrote for more than about 4 hrs per day. That those who wrote longer were the ones who tended to burn out. That information is what drove me to aim for 1k-1.25k/day. (Block, by the way, has since updated his book and it is now titled _From Plot to Print to Pixel_ )
My first try I only made 30K words and that was ONLY because I'd been preparing for a few years prior with researching the subject :-/
Pressure as a pantser just doesn’t work for me. I’m gonna join this year but I am gonna adjust my goals accordingly ❤️
I can relate to Abbie's first NaNoWriMo. I did my first one in 2017 and each day I fell behind on the 1,600+ word count the more I lost hope and stopped focusing on my story. I have since learned it is about preparing myself for creative output generation as opposed to word count generation. Thanks for these videos!
AMEN!
I love the way you listen to each other. Thanks for the tips! I really like the idea of writing flow days, and have always really craved days like that. As you say it's hard to arrange that as a mum and wife, but I am encouraged to try and make it possible a couple of times in November.
I've never tried nanowrimo before. And I don't feel ready. But this year I'll use this event my own way and finally have a "motivation/excuse" to show up every day and create this ritual of taking some time for writing (even just a few lines or ideas) or doing something related to writting my stories ideas.
And maybe next year will be the year I actually finish one of them.
Thank you both of you for your channels!
I used to try the actual nanowrimo goal but I found it actually burns me out creatively (couldn't write for months after my first two attempts). My goal for this year is to write every day without fail but without a set word goal (something I know is more achievable for me).
Great podcast and great advice!!
Same, your goals inspire me and I might try that for myself. When I push myself my well dries up so quickly
Ooh! Great points! A lot of your discussion I do find myself doing. Even before I did NaNo I've notice habits that hinder my creative process. With word count I tend to tiptoe between the lines of thinking it's not important and eh, I could do better than yesterday. It really depends on how I feel and how impressionable I feel that day.
Great advice ladies! I look forward to seeing everyone on there, I’m wishing you all the best. Thank you for the awesome advice
suggestion: Do one of those guided meditations Abbie did before on November 1st. Very helpful.
Thanks you guys for being so helpful and inspirational. Out of all the writing channels you guys really sand out!!!💖💖
Thanks for another great episode!
You guys are amazing! Thank you for giving me some helpful tips. I am writing a novel at the moment and this really helps! Thank you.
It’s my first nanowrimo and I’m having a panic attack because I’ve spent months trying to plot the first book in the series and nothing ever seems to work out lol. Thanks for this episode it really helped!
Better to write without a complete plan and discover as you go then to not try, the plot that you've created will definitely help and you can fill in the gaps as you go! You've got this!
@@atlantistalamantes9262 Thanks!! I'll probably try this!
First time doing nanowrimo, I have been writing for a long time, but never participated. Thank you for the advice !
My problem is not word count. My problem is making it continuous without any gaps in between. I tend to write all the most important/dramatic/emotional scenes first, what‘s done is done - and then it can become hard to sew it together.
My brain can’t handle not having a set out plan, but I always have trouble sticking to it😪
Same. Now, after wasting a few years.
I'm a huge perfectionist, so I'm just repeating, "I need 50,000 words. That doesn't mean they have to be good."
It helps because it reminds me that I can always go back and edit. But first, I just need to get something down.
Yes you said it perfect! The main goal is to just get it down you can always go back and edit. The last time I tried NaNoWriMo was in 2016 I’m trying it again this year. But good luck to you hope to see you on there
@@SXYKITTEN1974 Thanks! Good luck to you, too!
I have 77,000 words. I want to do NanoWrimo just so I can see what it's like to try something new! Instead of word count, I'm going to aim for writing for an hour per day (on average) and cutting back on word count! You can do it whichever way suits you, right?!
Abbie I learned not to pantz the hard way too it was an awful trip! It's taken me YEARS to finish that book and I could have finished it in a year, had I planned it.
Doesn't it look like the hardy boys book are behind Kate? That would have me dying XD
I enjoyed this and found it very helpful!
I like the shirt, Abbie.
Can you please share the a to z method to be a part of nanowrimo and terms and conditions ...you are my inspiration ...you both are really helpful
Still doing wintery calm character book series going to start firey chaotic characters in a fire themed book series to.
First comment!
I wish I knew that when I published my first book "Bad Luck Larry" on amazon
Love you gals.
Thank you :)♡
new video yay!
I did NaNoWriMo grades 7 through 10, but this year I don't have a novel I'm working on :/
👍Keep it up!
pull your mics forward and turned more toward each of you--so you can speak to each other without leaning into the mics and not looking at each other..
Abbie, you look cute!!! 😍
Hello, wonderful writing community, hehe!
I need advice on something I've been mulling over. My friend and I have been planning to write a book together for Nanowrimo. (Or start something.) She has the best imagination that I know it's going to be very fun to write with. But I've been writing for a while, and she's tried, but never succeeded. (I've seen her work, and I liked it, hehe.) The only problem is, I want to make this, and I don't want to say good, but yeah, I like story structure and character arcs, and I have criteria on how I like writing, haha.
I want to share all these little writing nuggets with her, but I don't want to shove all these ideas down her throat. (But, really, if I find a gem like the Emmons sisters, then, like, why WOULDN'T you share it???) I also don't want to overwhelm her or try to take control, because I want it to be TOGETHER project. Not an I-take-control-of-everything-and-basically-write-everything project.
So, after this long-winded . . . thing, I guess my main question is should I share all these things with her and show my process? (Theme, character, misbelief, outlining process, etc.) Or should I step back and just let my imagination run free? (Meandering plot line? Bah, I'll edit it later, hehe.) I dunno if anybody knows anything about this, but if anybody has advice, please share. Thank you!
Maybe you can ask her if you two can get together and talk about your writing process, so that you can find the best way to work together. I recommend that you check out Brandon Sanderson's youtube channel. In a recent live signing session, Brandon and Janci Petterson, who recently co-wrote with Brandon a few novellas set in the Skyward universe, discuss their co-writing process. It might help you approach the subject with your friend - perhaps you can even watch it together as part of your prep? Good luck!
@@tatli3630 Yay, thank you for the advice!
Maybe encourage her to listen to Kate and Abbie
Yes, agreed :) this would be a good episode about co-writing: th-cam.com/video/R1-aQYqqybE/w-d-xo.html. Ultimately, though, the two of you need to come up with your own system, that works for both of you.
@@Neil-writer-author Fingers crossed that slowly luring her in with the writing romance videos will work.
💜
♥️♥️♥️
Most importantly: Don’t do NaNoWriMo and No-Nut November at the same time. It’s going to show in your writing. And I‘ll be able to tell 😂.
Wow, @14:00 NaNoWriMo sounds like something I don't want to join.