Sunday, November 18, 2012

Blog Chain: Writing Goals & NaNoWriMo

This post is a *bit* late, and I apologize to my fellow blog chain buddies!! I am sick (YET AGAIN). Seriously. It's like this stupid virus thinks I'm its type or something.

Anyway. Here's what the awesome Sandra asks in this round:

During National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), writers attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Do you set daily writing goals for yourself, either a certain word count or time spent on writing? Does this include other writing-related activities, like research, plotting, or revising? Do you focus on reaching the end of the journey (such as finishing your current project), or do you enjoy the writing process along the way?


I've yet to participate in NaNoWrimo, for starters, but I'm really looking forward to taking a stab at it in the future. But even though I'm not a NaNoer, I do have writing goals for this month of November. You see, I'm currently in revision mode (although this stupid virus has put me WAY behind). Draft 2 of my WIP is coming along sloooooooowly, and I'm afraid I won't meet my self-imposed deadline of having it finished by January 1st. My plan was to set it aside for two weeks after the 1st, then start Draft 3. 

HA.

Not gonna happen.

As for daily word counts, I don't set them. Instead, I set chapter counts. Like, one day I intend on revising one chapter. The next day, I'll aim for two. And so on. When I'm drafting, it's the same thing. I usually aim for cranking out an entire chapter, maybe two if I'm feeling awesome. I tend to write 1,000-word chapters, though, but there are exceptions. 

Research and plotting differ from project to project. For instance, I wrote a whole outline for this WIP, as well as researched some major stuff, but I'm still changing the outline as I revise, and I still have a lot of research to do. I've worked on other manuscripts blindly, too--I jump in and leave all that researching and outlining for Draft 2 and onward. I'm a tricksy one when it comes to this. 

I prefer revisions to drafting any day of the week. So when I'm drafting, I focus on just wrapping up the thing. Having said that, I do love the rush of having a story in my head and heart, then sitting down to give it life on the page. I think it's the excitement before I sit down to draft that I enjoy more than the actual drafting. Revisions are better for me 'cause I get to mess with something that's already there. It's a map of sorts. An ugly, WTF-was-I-thinking map, but still. :) 


Thank you to Sandra for a great topic! Make sure you check out Cole's post, then go read what Margie had to say. 


Have a great weekend!
 

1 comment:

  1. I so agree with the high you get BEFORE writing than the drafting. Once you start drafting, the wholes in plot, etc. become evident. I also like the idea of a chapter a day. I tend to do wordcount, but I like the chapter idea better. Will try that. :-)

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