Nano Reflection

I went into Nano Nov 2013 knowing I could do it. I had written 50k in 30 days on my own using a spreadsheet word tracker as my accountability.

It still was a huge rush to reach 50k in 15 days though.

Nano taught me that I need to pre-plan like I'm OCD. I am not a panster. I need a loose outline to get through the writing.

There is a such thing as writer's block for me. It happens when I have vague notions of how one scene connects to another and when I am indecisive. Inspiration doesn't rain down like manna. For me it comes with a lot of day dreaming and planning.

I have to love the story.

I have to enjoy the adventure of writing.

As much as possible, I need to pace myself. I change my mind often and will end up re-writing over 10k of words repeatedly.

My Nano will get cut, edited, and probably shelved. As it is, I would not want it published, but hey, it is still in the rough draft.

Now, the story I'm in love with right now...oh yeah, it is totally publish worthy. Once I get it nailed down in an outline and written that is. =-)

What helped me was having a few people to send notes to and chit chat with during the madness. I bragged, I whined, I shared.

I had a friend who loves my genre read my chapters as fast as I would send them to her.

Did I mention having an outline helped?