Reflections on completing NaNoWriMo

The venerable NaNoWriMo is a self-directed challenge. To whit - can you write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November? It doesn't have to be a good novel. You just need to complete it. 50k words over 30 days is 1,667 words per day. If you can type at about 20 Words Per Minute, then you can bash out a novel in 90 minutes per day.

I completed the challenge in 15 days and published a new chapter every day in November. I want to talk about how I did it and what I learned from it.

What I learned

I know that I can bash out a novel in half a month given sufficient motivation. I have dozens of stories that I want to tell. I finally understand why authors complain about their characters not doing what they need them to do. Trying to engineer a nifty plot point is tougher than I thought. It's fascinating to write characters you don't like - and it can be hard to give them a suitable comeuppance. Stories I thought would be short went on far too long. Being clever rarely works. The thundercrack of realising exactly how something is going to work is brilliant.

But, most importantly, I can commit to a creative challenge, execute it, and complete it.

I've loved the feedback people have given - good and bad. I don't think I want to try and publish it as a "real" book. But we'll see.

Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance

Throughout September and October, I spent some time planning out the bones of my book. I wrote titles for chapters gave each a very vague synopsis. If I had a thought about a plot-point, I scribbled it down. This is similar to my algorithm to write an assignment. A paragraph of 100 words means that you only have to write 17 paragraphs per day. If your chapter has a beginning, middle, and end then you only need to write 6 paragraphs for each.

I also went to a NaNoWriMo "Write In" during October. It was kind of nice to sit with others and chat about our story ideas. It's also harder to doss about on the Internet when you're surrounded by people typing.

Spell Cheque Is The Enemy

I mostly wrote in plain-text. When I did use something like Google Docs, I got distracted by its spell-check and (often erroneous) grammar suggestions. I found it incredibly important to get into the flow. Running on huge paragraphs without stopping to think if I'd spelled "obstreperous" correctly. All of that can be saved for editing. The most important thing is to get the story out.

The secret to doing the work is doing the work

I realise how privileged I am to have a couple of hours each day to write. And I don't mean to suggest that you should feel bad if you don't. But the nice thing about writing is that there are no short-cuts. I cannot teach you "one weird trick that authors hate". You literally have to sit at the keyboard and fling your fingers at it until the words are on the page.

I suppose the only "trick" is not caring too much about the end result while you're writing. Once the words are out, it's OK to go back and fix all your mistakes.

Would I do it again?

I think so! It's fun writing short stories. They're an interesting way to examine what I think about the world. Perhaps next year I will try to turn one of them into a full length novel.

I should probably read more about writing and attend some of the workshops run by published authors. It might also be useful to get beta-readers to commit to giving me feedback on each chapter.

Would I like to be the next Andy Weir and transform my blog into a best-seller and then a movie? Yes, obviously. But I'd rather be realistic about what I can achieve and how I can maximise the fun I have.

Anyway, you can read Tales of the Algorithm online - and I'd love to know what you think of it.