The NaNoWriMo site has been up for about a week and that means it's time to start planning for my novel this November.
My novel for this year is going to be a bit shorter than it was last year. For the 2011 NaNoWriMo season I wrote a 90,000 word novel. This year I'm just sticking with the minimum 50,000 words because this November's going to be a very hectic month.
This year I'm writing a literary fiction novel, something I've never done before.
The question is, what is the best way to plan your novel?
The first time I competed in NaNoWriMo, I didn't plan at all. That was mostly because I didn't remember until November 1st. That year I had a little bit of trouble finishing my novel, but I eventually did.
The next year I wrote down a plot summary of my novel and it worked well. I didn't have enough detail, though, so I ended up running into a few bumps, but not enough to slow me down. I still finished the novel in 10 days whereas before it took me about 25.
Last year for NaNoWriMo I wrote about five pages of very detailed descriptions of what was going to happen, including what would take place at the 10,000 word mark and so on. I knew just about how many words I wanted to have and where I wanted to be at different parts of the story. For that I finished the 50,000 words in 8 days and went on to finish my novel in about 19.
For Random Genre Month, on the other hand, I never really planned that far in advance. Both years I knew how the story was going to begin but I had no idea how it was going to end. I made it to the finish line in time, but both instances had me reaching the minimum word count goal at a much later date.
So I am more of a planner when it comes to novels. Some people, on the other hand, like just going with it. They like seeing where their novel takes them. I like that too, but I like having an idea of where I am going next also. The problem with that is, it takes some of the fun out of, as the writer, wondering where the characters are going to take the story.
There has to be a line somewhere between planning and just going with it, but as of now I haven't found it.
This NaNoWriMo, since my story tends to be more character-driven, there won't be as much detailed planning and that may work out for me, but I guess we'll just have to see.
Jack
My novel for this year is going to be a bit shorter than it was last year. For the 2011 NaNoWriMo season I wrote a 90,000 word novel. This year I'm just sticking with the minimum 50,000 words because this November's going to be a very hectic month.
This year I'm writing a literary fiction novel, something I've never done before.
The question is, what is the best way to plan your novel?
The first time I competed in NaNoWriMo, I didn't plan at all. That was mostly because I didn't remember until November 1st. That year I had a little bit of trouble finishing my novel, but I eventually did.
The next year I wrote down a plot summary of my novel and it worked well. I didn't have enough detail, though, so I ended up running into a few bumps, but not enough to slow me down. I still finished the novel in 10 days whereas before it took me about 25.
Last year for NaNoWriMo I wrote about five pages of very detailed descriptions of what was going to happen, including what would take place at the 10,000 word mark and so on. I knew just about how many words I wanted to have and where I wanted to be at different parts of the story. For that I finished the 50,000 words in 8 days and went on to finish my novel in about 19.
For Random Genre Month, on the other hand, I never really planned that far in advance. Both years I knew how the story was going to begin but I had no idea how it was going to end. I made it to the finish line in time, but both instances had me reaching the minimum word count goal at a much later date.
So I am more of a planner when it comes to novels. Some people, on the other hand, like just going with it. They like seeing where their novel takes them. I like that too, but I like having an idea of where I am going next also. The problem with that is, it takes some of the fun out of, as the writer, wondering where the characters are going to take the story.
There has to be a line somewhere between planning and just going with it, but as of now I haven't found it.
This NaNoWriMo, since my story tends to be more character-driven, there won't be as much detailed planning and that may work out for me, but I guess we'll just have to see.
Jack