National Novel Writing Month is fast approaching. In preparation for the big event, I’m working with several writers who plan to write the first draft of their novel in a month. A couple of the writers are veterans to the event and eager to utilize their time more efficiently than they have in past years. The other writers are undertaking the challenge for the first time.
As the official NaNoWriMo site explains: “National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.”
This approach works best for “pantsers” or those writers who prefer to write by the seat-of-your-pants, in other words, to work things out on the page with little or no pre-plotting. Typically, these writers allow their characters the freedom to determine the direction and flow of the story. These writers are often more right-brained, creative types who abhor structure and plot (well, maybe not abhor and definitely not all of them, but I’ve been slammed by enough stanch “pantsers” who believe their way is the only way and that the work I do stifles the creative process — which it might true for them, but not for all writers — that I’m a bit touchy about the subject!)
Left-brained or more analytical writers find NaNoWriMo only works for them if they put a bit of time and thought into what they hope to write before jumping into the actual writing.
For any of you who wish to take take part in NaNoWriMo and wish to prepare ahead a time in order to make the most of the upcoming month, I recommend that you create a Plot Planner or a Scene Tracker template now for the project you wish to produce then.
Both templates — Plot Planner for the overall story plot, and the Scene Tracker, for plot at the scene level — allow writers to stand back from their projects in order to see the entire story as a whole. As writers we spend the majority of our time at the word level. Many writers end up drowning in their words or stuck down a dead-end dark and scary alleyway with no direction out. A Plot Planner is like a road map to help guide you on your journey throughout the story.
Yes, you have to be flexible and toss the pre-plotting if/when the characters bully you into taking a different route. However, many writers find the pre-planning structural support comforting and allows them to persevere all the way to the glorious end.
Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter’? Are you going to participate in this year’s NaNoWriMo??
Great good luck to all of you who are……
I don’t think so. I’m going to continue with my WIP and not wander off.
Martha, as you well know, I'm at my heart a 'seat of the pantser' which works beautifully for me when I write poetry and short stories. We both remember Kate Braverman's Fragment File suggestion. For anything I write, I start out that way with lots of fragments. Then I organize the fragments into categories and keep like things together. From there, the characters seem to come to life for me. Last year was my first NaNo and it is where I began my first novel, 'Night Surfing – A Story of Love & Wonder in the Waves of Malibu'. I'm about halfway through now and hope to finish a rough draft in this year's NaNo. Your book was my Bible last year.
I put up butcher paper on my office wall, named a few of the main characters, gave them unique characteristics and even tried to think about what they most wanted in the world and what was standing in the way of their getting it. Nothing was written in stone of course because we all like those 'aha' surprises that come out of nowhere that make our stories fabulous but it sure kept me going on the days when the plot and the characters seemed to be at a standstill. I'm very much an intuitive person and writer but that doesn't mean I don't see the merit in your well thought out approach to writing. When I used to work in advertising in New York City, whenever I had to give a presentation I always used index cards listing the major points I wanted to get across. It made for a succinct presentation and got me some hefty bonuses when the client gave us more business. So fellow NaNo-ites, start your engines, grab a copy of Martha's book and let's all take a chance at writing the next great novel (that immediately gets made into a movie!!!) Mary Kennedy Eastham, Author, 'The Shadow of a Dog I Can't Forget'
NaNoWriMo here I come. I’m a panster for the most part, but I do enjoy a little ‘push’ before I get running. I like to plan a few things out, but only the basics because some things I know I will otherwise spend days trying to conjure up (names spring to mind).
Good luck.
Hi timber beast and rg sanders, don’t remember seeing you around these parts before — welcome.
Mary, thanks for your kind words. I’d love to see your butcher paper Plot Planner — I had to change from calling it butcher paper to banner paper because vegetarians objected, especially when I called it slabs of butcher paper…. Who knew…..
The excitement grows…..
Oh, and, timber beast, good luck with your WIP.
I’m a pantser, needing to become more of a plotter. I’ve done Nano twice before, each time getting about halfway through the month before I had other obligations get in the way. I was going to start an entirely new project this time. Something I haven’t even begun to think about it. A tiny germ of an idea.
I’ll keep you posted. Right now having just finished book five, I’m the definition of burnt out.
I haven’t done NANO, but I did BIAW (BOok in a Week) with about two weeks of plotting (with my Scene Tracker!) ahead of time. So I’m a pantser, when I’ve been a plotter, if that makes sense. I thought I might go for NANO this year, with my YA historical, but not since the new project took over. I’d rather use any extra space on the MG revision. 🙂
I’ll be blogging a bit about this next week–what kind of first draft different people write. Thanks for the reminder that NANO is coming up!
Hmmm, thanks for reminding me. Maybe it’s a good time to rededicate myself to my WIP.
Hmmmmm, maybe….
Fall equinox, in the wheel of life, is both a time to reap the harvest of all we have accomplished for the year and also a time to reflect on whether we actually planted the seeds we intended and nurtured them to fruition.
In other words, if you started your writing project and finished — this is a time to celebrate.
If you started and haven’t finished, this is the time to do so and NANO is a great structure to help you do so now before the year’s end.
Oh, and to all of you, announcing — tatata!!
terri thayer’s most recent mystery release: Stamped Out, the first in the Stamping Sisters mystery series. Stamped Out received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly AND 4 Stars! from the Romantic Times magazine, which also reviews mysteries.
Congratulations, Terri.
Hi Martha, I generally lurk and follow your Plot Whisperer blog. I like it very much. Thanks for tending to the plot side of the equation.
I’m a plotter trying to write like a pantser, participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time. I took this on to get myself writing more extensively, since I tend to be very efficient in my writing. I have a great idea of the world that I’m writing about, but struggling with the plot. I don’t think that I’ll “win” because I’m writing about 200 words per hour at best, but writing regularly will be good exercise for me.