So, I’m back to blogging now that Nanowrimo is wrapped, and I thought I’d take a minute to reflect on my second experience with the great novel writing mayhem.
Being my second time attempting this challenge, I went into it with the confidence of knowing I can do this. I knew it was going to be crazy, but possible. I chose to write a sequel to my novel from last year, a historical YA with a fantasy twist. So the main characters at least were familiar, although I did have a lot of historical research to do. Note to self: do this before October 31 next time.
One pitfall I came up against last year that only slightly affected me this time was running out of story before my word count was done. Last year this was a big problem, taking days of precious typing time to figure out. This time, I didn’t lose a day. In fact, I finished two days early. All in all, I’m feeling pretty good about my ability to turn out raw story.
That brings me to my next step, and my least favourite. The dreaded burn and slash. Editing. Gulp! The only problem with fast output is that it is in every sense a rough draft. I’m going to need a lot more than polishing to get this manuscript ready for the world. Wish me luck!
Check back here tomorrow, and I’ll share an excerpt with you from my “winning” Nanowrimo novel and you can tell me what you think. 🙂
Erin E. M. Hatton 