I used to read about authors who wrote novels in (what I thought) was a short amount of time–you’ll notice I don’t call my manuscript a novel yet–and I used to think they must be some sort of wunderkinds:

Stephenie Meyer wrote a first draft of Twilight in three months.
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in six weeks.
Samuel Johnson wrote Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia in a week or so.
Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman) wrote The Running Man in a week.
Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in nine days.

In fact, they may still be wunderkinds.

Even so, I’ve written a first draft of what I anticipate will be many drafts and it feels good to be through it. It will now simmer in some appropriately titled, but buried, folder while I turn to rewriting another work in progress. Writing is so awesome!

Although I intend to finish the novel in exactly the same fashion as I’ve started it, blasting through the (minutely plotted) first draft, I’ve decided to blog first today, instead of getting the words down for the novel.  That decision marks a change in mindset for me. Somehow I have NaNoWriMo permission to get back to previously scheduled programming.

Until I get to the massive rewrites, I won’t know the results of this grand experiment.  One thing I can say right now, though, is that I’ve never written such a bloated first draft.  At 50,000 words I am basically at the midpoint of the novel when I had planned to be at the midpoint around 40,000 words or so.

Another thing I can say is that I am feeling less connected with the characters, which is also not my usual.  I sense them whooshing by and can’t quite grab hold of them as I hurtle through the first draft at breakneck speed.  Although I adore plotting, I find that I write for the characters–for their demons and dreams, for their quirks and quests, for what they will eventually become.  But not on this novel’s first draft.

I had wondered what the view would be like once I broke through the 50K word ceiling and it turns out to be not much different from the view at 25K. There’s still a lot of novel left to go and I can’t wait to find out how the finished product will look.

I’m uncomfortable with the process thus far, which is the best thing that could have happened. For me, that’s what learning feels like.

Care to try your hand?  Five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables.

Because of NaNoWriMo, I have purposely abandoned the left side of my brain, but I haven’t turned it off. The left side longs to analyze, correct grammar, hunt down the perfect word, destroy my repetitive favorites, find a fresh way to say a familiar thing, make sure my lead character is sympathetic and the logic of my made-up world is clicking.

Instead, for the month of November, the right side is churning it out without looking back. At some points in the writing process, I don’t even remember what the next scene will be. In fact, I almost never do. When I look back to my plot (my 2,700 word plot developed last month), I’m sometimes surprised at what is up next. I’m also surprised at how many words are getting written every day, and a bit worried.

My word count goal has been scarily easy to achieve and the specter of the shitty first draft is looming large. I’ve experienced the wonderfulness of the rewrite–many times–but I have to wonder about the rewrite for NaNoWriMo. Currently, I’m envisioning a combination of cringing, clothes rending, and hysterical laughter.

It is all, however, part of the experiment. Besides, that won’t be for another 60,000 words. For now, I must dare to suck.

The NaNoWriMo Venn Diagram

All seriousness aside, though, I’ve found a few other side benefits to NaNoWriMo that I hadn’t anticipated.

- It’s cheap.  With no time for shopping or eating, I spend a lot less money.

- It’s good for the environment. With no shopping or restaurants, I do much less driving.

- There’s more room in the pantry.  The Taster’s Choice instant coffee containers took up more room than I realized.  There may be a tradeoff, though, if I have to take account of unused shampoo and laundry detergent.

- It’s good for dieting.  It’s not as good as it could be though, since I like creamer.

- It helps with decision making.  Although I had always suspected that I might like to be a recluse, I’m pretty sure now that it’s the way to go.

All this and it’s only week one!

But today’s post is for other NaNoWriMo writers.  Scrivener is offering a discount to participants.  It’s already cheap, so how can you resist this?

Am I using it to get ready for NaNoWriMo?  You bet I am.

Scrivener Novel Outline

Just the outline and notes has amounted to about 5,000 words.  None of them apply to the NaNoWriMo word count, but that’s what it takes to get me ready.