NaNo note to self - Part One

I first took the NaNoWriMo challenge in 2010.  A couple years later I took time to write a letter to myself as a way to remember some of the things I had learned in those first two years.  I pull it out from time to time as a bit of instruction and inspiration.  I have since posted that letter here - in four installments.  (Disclaimer:  This piece is full of all kinds of silliness and fun.) 

NaNo Tips:

What Worked 

What Didn’t Work

An open letter to my current self

from my former self as a NaNo novice

by Kaye Sims

October 27, 2012

Part One:

I have participated in NaNoWriMo twice now – two years in a row.  I consider it a success for several reasons – mostly because of the sense of accomplishment, but also for some of the things that I learned in the process.

I have discovered that it is helpful to go back and see some of my notes leading up to the previous experiences, to remind myself of what works and what doesn’t and to get caught up again in the fun of the project.

This is a compilation of ideas and thoughts and gimmicks and warnings – some of which were well-thought out, some were just stumbled upon, and some are mere observations.  You will probably heed some of the advice and let yourself ignore most of it.  That’s okay because this is your novel and you make the rules.

Before going any further, maybe we should address this novel thing.  The first year I did NaNo, my Miss Goody Do-Everything-Right-and-according-to-the-Rules struggled with whether I could legitimately call this thing a novel.  I had never written fiction before and hadn’t the foggiest clue how to go about it.  Nerd that I am, I searched around for definitions until I found that there is such a thing as an autobiographical novel.  Aha!  That’s what I could do!  So that’s what I did that first year. I wrote an autobiographical novel.  Sort of.  

When the second year came along, I decided I could fudge a little and just write whatever I dang well felt like writing.  After all, this was my novel; I am the author and I can make the rules.  Only problem was that I had no clue as to the direction I wanted to write – so I started out simply exploring that dilemma – of the girl who wanted to write a novel, but didn’t know how.  Yah, yah, silly idea, I know.  But you have to admit it is a rather novel idea. And so I began typing nonsense about the girl who wanted to write a novel, but didn't know how...  Turns out I got a little better acquainted with that girl in the process.

It seems that there are three phases to participating in NaNo:

• The commitment
• The plan
• The process

(To be continued...)