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I didn't finish my edits by last Monday, but I'm still taking this week off from writing. It's odd timing, to be sure, considering all around me (at least online) NaNoWriMo is in full swing. It's infected most of my social networks. Which are like, three. No, four, if you include LJ, but LJ is so dead these days... :/
This is the first November since I started doing NaNo waaay back in 2004 where I have consciously decided not to participate, and it's weird but long in coming. Previous years I'd see-sawed between not and doing, landing usually on doing at the last moment and then not actually completing anything. The momentum of so many people all writing first drafts together is nice, but not nearly as useful anymore, since oftentimes I've found myself wanting to edit or half-finished with another first draft come November first. Breaking that momentum off to start something new just didn't work. And neither does the mentality of finishing 50k in one month. I've since established my own daily rhythm which is a mite slower - between 1 and 1.5k works well - but I can keep at for longer. Also not a one of my stories has ever been anywhere near finished at 50k, so the last day of November always felt like a lot of useless words.
Not to disparage NaNo - I love that shit and it was awesome at teaching me that getting words down first is important. That doesn't work for everyone, but it helped me write my thesis and the last few stories. It also taught me that even fifteen minutes grabbed here and there can add up fast to your daily wordcount. If anything, I might even work better in smaller chunks because then I have no choice but to focus.
It also taught me not to attempt querying in December, because so many people finish their first drafts and turn around and try to query them. :X I know there are real people out there who can write a first draft very, very well, but usually not even in thirty days. For that reason, a lot of agents have ended up closing their doors to new queries and taking all of December off from the slushpile. So instead, I'm going to query in November. I still have 42 rejects left to receive if I'm to reach my goal by the end of this year. :3
This is the first November since I started doing NaNo waaay back in 2004 where I have consciously decided not to participate, and it's weird but long in coming. Previous years I'd see-sawed between not and doing, landing usually on doing at the last moment and then not actually completing anything. The momentum of so many people all writing first drafts together is nice, but not nearly as useful anymore, since oftentimes I've found myself wanting to edit or half-finished with another first draft come November first. Breaking that momentum off to start something new just didn't work. And neither does the mentality of finishing 50k in one month. I've since established my own daily rhythm which is a mite slower - between 1 and 1.5k works well - but I can keep at for longer. Also not a one of my stories has ever been anywhere near finished at 50k, so the last day of November always felt like a lot of useless words.
Not to disparage NaNo - I love that shit and it was awesome at teaching me that getting words down first is important. That doesn't work for everyone, but it helped me write my thesis and the last few stories. It also taught me that even fifteen minutes grabbed here and there can add up fast to your daily wordcount. If anything, I might even work better in smaller chunks because then I have no choice but to focus.
It also taught me not to attempt querying in December, because so many people finish their first drafts and turn around and try to query them. :X I know there are real people out there who can write a first draft very, very well, but usually not even in thirty days. For that reason, a lot of agents have ended up closing their doors to new queries and taking all of December off from the slushpile. So instead, I'm going to query in November. I still have 42 rejects left to receive if I'm to reach my goal by the end of this year. :3
