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Sunday 9 December 2012

Post-NaNoWriMo tips #1: FYS

Welcome to the first of my post-NaNoWriMo tips. I'm going to share a bit of advice based on things I've learned in the last few years. After the frenzy of November, it can be a bit bemusing where to go next. So, the first tip I have to offer is this: in the immortal words of Chuck Wendig, first up, finish your sh*t. (He knows what he's talking about, as you can see here).

It may seem like I'm stating the obvious, but the first thing to do is finish the first draft of your novel. I wrote 75,000 words in November but haven't finished the first draft yet, so that's what I'm working on this month. There are so many people on the NaNoWriMo forums who say "Oh, I really need to finish my novel from 2009...." - no no no no no. Finish it now. Don't start that new and exciting idea that's suddenly sprung up in the back of your head that is so much more interesting than this novel; get this draft finished first. By all means, write that idea down, don't let it escape, but stay focused on the task in hand until it's finished. You can't do anything with an unfinished novel, except complain about it being unfinished, and nobody but you cares about that.

1 comment:

  1. This is why I quit doing NaNo. I have enough projects that I haven't had time to finish, without starting another one!

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