So, it's the first week of Camp Nanowrimo, and I'm currently at 7,523 words. Here's what I've learned so far:
There are 31 days in July
This is a blinding flash of the obvious with an important perk; if you do Nanowrimo in July then you only have to write 1,613 words a day.*
Plan
Before I started writing I did a lot of preparation in terms of understanding my characters. I completed character outlines* for each of them, and I really felt like I understood what they were about. I also had a clear idea of what I wanted to happen over the course of novel.
However, when I actually started writing I realized that I wasn't nearly as prepared as I imagined I was. I had a very clear idea of what should happen during the course of the novel, but not necessarily the order in which those events should happen. I learned a really valuable lesson about planning a novel. Although planning is probably a case of different strokes for different folks, it's better to err on the side of more planning. You can always ignore the plan later.
Don't give up
There will be points in the writing process where you will have absolutely no inspiration. You'll stare at your computer screen/piece of paper for what seems like hours without writing anything remotely useful. Don't worry-it will pass. If it doesn't pass, then write whatever you can think of. Very few truly good novels have been written in month, so don't worry about perfection.
Tell me in the comments about your Camp Nanowrimo/Nanowrimo experience.
*Assuming that your goal is 50,000 words
*The character outline I used can be found here
There are 31 days in July
This is a blinding flash of the obvious with an important perk; if you do Nanowrimo in July then you only have to write 1,613 words a day.*
Plan
Before I started writing I did a lot of preparation in terms of understanding my characters. I completed character outlines* for each of them, and I really felt like I understood what they were about. I also had a clear idea of what I wanted to happen over the course of novel.
However, when I actually started writing I realized that I wasn't nearly as prepared as I imagined I was. I had a very clear idea of what should happen during the course of the novel, but not necessarily the order in which those events should happen. I learned a really valuable lesson about planning a novel. Although planning is probably a case of different strokes for different folks, it's better to err on the side of more planning. You can always ignore the plan later.
Don't give up
There will be points in the writing process where you will have absolutely no inspiration. You'll stare at your computer screen/piece of paper for what seems like hours without writing anything remotely useful. Don't worry-it will pass. If it doesn't pass, then write whatever you can think of. Very few truly good novels have been written in month, so don't worry about perfection.
Tell me in the comments about your Camp Nanowrimo/Nanowrimo experience.
*Assuming that your goal is 50,000 words
*The character outline I used can be found here