We’re officially a whole week into NaNoWriMo, and things are going well! I’ve not been as productive as I would have liked, but I am giving myself grace to take things slow, and value all small pieces of progress.
Revision is not a linear process, and I think that can make it difficult in a NaNo setting. For example, I wrote an alternate first scene, thinking that I wanted to change the timing on some relationships. The more I wrote, the more I realized that I liked the way I had it before! And so instead of thinking I “wasted” two days writing a scene I won’t use, I have to think of it as time spent figuring out the right direction to take. It’s like the Thomas Edison quote:
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
Thomas A. Edison
Sometimes you have to take the wrong path to know it’s wrong, and to find the right one.
Want to know what my week of writing consisted of?
Day Two: Started drafting a new first scene.
Day Three: Continued drafting the new first scene.
Day Four: Revised pages 1 + 2 of current manuscript. Primarily line edits and adding exposition.
Day Five: Did nothing! Took a break. (It’s okay to skip a day!)
Day Six: Revised pages 3-6 of current manuscript.
Day Seven: Added more exposition and backstory to page 2 to make a character and relationship more authentic.
As you can see, my work this past week was a bit round-about. I’m still working through the first six pages, making notes of places to come back to. Sometimes I have the energy to dig into exposition, and sometimes I just want to refine the language a bit (redundant and annoying dialogue tags are a specific focus of mine!) I like skipping around within a couple scenes, working on what is calling me at the moment. I have a feeling that there will be scenes later in the manuscript that don’t require as much work, so I’m comfortable with taking a little extra time with these ones.
If you’re participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this July, I hope you had a great first week! It’s important to remember that NaNo is very much a marathon, so don’t wear yourself out in these beginning days.
Until next week!
