Day 10 NaNo 2024

 

Note on Day 10 

So this is probably it for me on drafting for NaNo. I have reached 15,248 words which is 60 pages of good text. However, it is time to pause and revise. This morning I printed it off and made notes on things I need to change and things I need to revise badly. Not editing. Please people, I am not talking editing. I feel very good about this. 60 good pages in 10 days is awesome for me. It means I can do 120 good pages a month and that's been my initial goal for writing from now on. One can write a book a year at that pace. And I needed to find a pace where I did not have neck aches, headaches, or strained eyes. Usually I overdo work and find myself physically ill or working at a pace I cannot maintain. And the entire point is to create a doable habit. I am continuing and will be posting my little NaNo things, but they will be called Drafting Notebook 2024-25. One of the issues I had this year with using the NaNo Tracker is it no longer has the graph that I used last year, where I can just pull it up and see days and word counts for each day. That was important for me and why I wanted to track on NaNo. Now I have to keep my own. And if I do that, why use NaNo. As far as I can tell that's gone. If anybody can find it, let me know. Laughing. Also if someone reads this and knows of another word tracker that does daily tracks and keeps that track available, let me know. 

The beginning of the book, this new section I had to write, before I got to Part 11 is about 120 pages so I am half done as far as drafting. However, that is not exactly what I want for myself at this point. I want a revised, very good draft of Part I with the new structure, and all the little extras. I have some diary entries, some small sections that are vignettes, and these have not been incorporated. I want to do that. I want it to look as close to the vision of a printed book. That's how I work. I divide the book into parts and draft and revise those parts as I go. This is my compromise with my old system of revising every single day as I go. Old habits are hard to break. Part of me will always be revising something as I go but I do relax a bit and just draft. But not crappy drafts. I simply don't have the personality to do that and I fail time and time again. When you do the same thing over and over and it's mistake. Stop. Laughing. I finally stopped. Psychologically that kind of draft ends up being such a mess for me that I just put it aside. I did keep last year's draft because it was not that bad. But damn, I created a new subplot, changed the MMC, changed other characters, moved the setting to historical from contemporary and even how the novel is structured. So there. Now you see why I have to revise as I go. Otherwise I am writing a new book. Laughing. I am not the only writer to do this. Susan Dennard, Laini Taylor, Alexandra Bracken, and well William Faulkner work this way, all from notes or a plot, constantly revising in the process. There is no right or wrong. There is only a method that will get an author to the finish line. I am desperate for that finishing line.

I am going to pause too right now and read three books. My Sweet Folly by Laura Kinsale, The Wild Huntress by Emily Lloyd-Jones, and finish up The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow. I am making notes with these books. Learning.

The biggest change in fiction since I had career in it is style and emotional impact. Otherwise known as voice. Laughing. This is the big thing and what will get you read or bought — or rejected. I have spent a lot of time practicing writing to improve my skills and give my voice it's power.

Words to date: 15,248

Music: Summertime Madness and Wildfire by SYML and a 2 minute instrumental by London Grammar. I had popcorn chicken and a baked sweet potato. Treat: a small Coke. Lots of water. Feelings: Good but I am very tired. This last week was a bit overwhelming.