NaNoWriMo-ish: end-of-month check-in
Dec. 1st, 2018 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starfishstarHURRAH, congratulations to everyone who set a writing goal for the month of November and survived it! I've still never done an actual NaNo, but this is probably the biggest set of goals I've ever set myself for a month. I wrapped up last night on the dot of midnight, satisfied but exhausted. How, truly, do people do actual NaNo?
To recap, my goals for the month were:
–write 20,000 words (stretch goal of 30,000 words)
–complete at least three fics
–do at least a tiny bit of original fiction writing
–write every day
And I can now report that I did ALL OF THE ABOVE:
– Wrote 28,190 words! \o/ I didn't find my groove until late in the month, so it's a bit frustrating to think about how easily I'd have hit that stretch goal of 30,000 if I'd just had *one* more good day early in the month, in place of one of the bad ones. The entire last week was a strong run of 1000+ word days, so if I'd done a couple more of those early on... But, whatever, I'm still happy with it. The first time I ever set myself a month word goal it was only about 15,000, the next time was 20,000, so it's very much an upward trajectory. One of these days I'm going to achieve a true NaNo, I swear it!
– Completed not three but seven fics, in five different fandoms, four of them fandoms I'd never written in before! Also got lots done on two longer Harry Potter fics that had been languishing for a while, plus nearly completed a fic in another new fandom. Having a word count to meet, and thus being forced to keep casting around for anywhere I can keep putting words down, has been useful. :-)
– Did some writing for two different original fiction maybe-novel ideas that I've had around forever. Still don't know if anything will come of them, but at least I made myself think about them again, which was the point!
– Wrote every day of November.
Thoughts:
To answer my own question above, I think part of how people manage to do NaNo is that they pick ONE PROJECT for the month. They have to write a novel in 30 days, so every single day they just work on the novel. (I mean, not that that's easy by any stretch, but at least it's a clear and focused task.) I was trying to meet my word count goal via lots and lots of small fics, which was frenetic, always jumping back and forth between projects. And there just aren't as many words to be had in a one-shot, even in lots of one-shots, as in a novel! So I was always having to find a next thing I could work on, and a next thing. And the whole idea of NaNo is that you get a bad, messy first draft down, to be shaped into a proper work later. But because these were fics for fests with looming deadlines, I also spent a lot of time editing – which doesn't add much to the word count! So whenever I finally do NaNo, I can see why it really needs to be a novel-length project, not this scrambling around to find enough short projects to add up to a whole.
And please allow me to sing for a moment in praise of BETAS! Glorious betas! Writing in so many new fandoms meant many more than usual scrambles to find betas for each of them. I am always floored by the people who will step up and offer that, from friends to distant acquaintances to literal total strangers willing to take me on as a complete unknown. It's killing me that I can't name and thank all the betas who've been so kind to me this month (because that would compromise anonymity in the relevant fests), but, THANK YOU. You're the best.
To recap, my goals for the month were:
–write 20,000 words (stretch goal of 30,000 words)
–complete at least three fics
–do at least a tiny bit of original fiction writing
–write every day
And I can now report that I did ALL OF THE ABOVE:
– Wrote 28,190 words! \o/ I didn't find my groove until late in the month, so it's a bit frustrating to think about how easily I'd have hit that stretch goal of 30,000 if I'd just had *one* more good day early in the month, in place of one of the bad ones. The entire last week was a strong run of 1000+ word days, so if I'd done a couple more of those early on... But, whatever, I'm still happy with it. The first time I ever set myself a month word goal it was only about 15,000, the next time was 20,000, so it's very much an upward trajectory. One of these days I'm going to achieve a true NaNo, I swear it!
– Completed not three but seven fics, in five different fandoms, four of them fandoms I'd never written in before! Also got lots done on two longer Harry Potter fics that had been languishing for a while, plus nearly completed a fic in another new fandom. Having a word count to meet, and thus being forced to keep casting around for anywhere I can keep putting words down, has been useful. :-)
– Did some writing for two different original fiction maybe-novel ideas that I've had around forever. Still don't know if anything will come of them, but at least I made myself think about them again, which was the point!
– Wrote every day of November.
Thoughts:
To answer my own question above, I think part of how people manage to do NaNo is that they pick ONE PROJECT for the month. They have to write a novel in 30 days, so every single day they just work on the novel. (I mean, not that that's easy by any stretch, but at least it's a clear and focused task.) I was trying to meet my word count goal via lots and lots of small fics, which was frenetic, always jumping back and forth between projects. And there just aren't as many words to be had in a one-shot, even in lots of one-shots, as in a novel! So I was always having to find a next thing I could work on, and a next thing. And the whole idea of NaNo is that you get a bad, messy first draft down, to be shaped into a proper work later. But because these were fics for fests with looming deadlines, I also spent a lot of time editing – which doesn't add much to the word count! So whenever I finally do NaNo, I can see why it really needs to be a novel-length project, not this scrambling around to find enough short projects to add up to a whole.
And please allow me to sing for a moment in praise of BETAS! Glorious betas! Writing in so many new fandoms meant many more than usual scrambles to find betas for each of them. I am always floored by the people who will step up and offer that, from friends to distant acquaintances to literal total strangers willing to take me on as a complete unknown. It's killing me that I can't name and thank all the betas who've been so kind to me this month (because that would compromise anonymity in the relevant fests), but, THANK YOU. You're the best.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-01 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-04 07:15 pm (UTC)Just had a glance, and it looks like you're doing excellently on your word goals, too – congratulations! (And man, you do a word goal every month? Respect!)
no subject
Date: 2018-12-02 01:21 am (UTC)And betas are SO MUCH. I get all heart-swelly wibbly over betas. They take your labor of love and they make it better. And not just better, but take it a step farther -- or several steps farther! -- than you could have ever managed to take it on your own. And all for nothing more than a thank you and whatever satisfaction they may derive from the task. It makes me want to cry, I have so many feelings about it.
And even knowing why I do it -- and how much pride and satisfaction I take in the job (WHICH IS CONSIDERABLE) and how rewarding I find it on its own terms -- doesn't make me any less wibbly with gratitude about my own betas. I just. BETAS.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-04 07:45 pm (UTC)Betas! The writer-beta relationship can be so beautiful! I used to have one writing friend where we betaed all of each other's stuff, and it was such a symbiotic thing, how we knew each other so well and could give really true, deep, meaningful feedback. I still mourn that friendship (nothing bad happened, that person's just not in fandom anymore); but no longer having that safety net has forced me to branch out and, you know, actually talk to new people. It's been very good for me! So I've been thinking a lot, too, about the vulnerability of it, of throwing myself out into the world and asking strangers for their kindness...and how that leap into the unknown has always led to good things. What a gift that is!
no subject
Date: 2018-12-04 08:04 pm (UTC)Oh, yes, when that symbiosis between writer and beta happens, it's a gorgeous thing. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, it's beautiful. And feels really deep and meaningful; I absolutely understand why you still mourn that friendship.
And yes, asking a stranger to beta! Asking a stranger for help doesn't come naturally to me, but learning to do it has been good for me, and good things have come of it, too. :-)
no subject
Date: 2018-12-02 08:43 am (UTC)I agree that having a longer project is really helpful when trying to make a big word count goal within a limited timeframe :) I've tried doing the having several small(er) projects things but I always ended up (about a week in) just picking one and sticking with it.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-04 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-05 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-07 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-02 04:22 pm (UTC)And yes, hooray for betas! ^__^ One of the many things I love and admire about fandom is just how many people there are out there, ready and willing to help out with someone else's work.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-04 07:57 pm (UTC)