Greetings, my QRW friends. There’s a curious phenomena overtaking the writing community this month. Over the course of 30 days many masochists, including myself, will attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel. “Insanity,” you say! “Preposterous! Impossible! Uncomfortable!” Indeed. But yet we persist.

Why discuss this topic that everyone is already buzzing about? Two reasons. One: I wish to provide myself a handy excuse for when I inevitably miss a QRW post or two this month. And Two: While new to NaNoWriMo, I have written a novel. Through that experience I learned some painful lessons, lessons that can make writing a novel during NaNoWriMo much easier. Lessons that I now bequeath to you, dear readers.

First, my novel-writing backstory. My first novel took over four years of mind-numbing drudgery alternating with ecstatic discovery. I made hundreds of stupid mistakes, many of which I am still attempting to rectify. But it is done. No matter what happens with that first novel, if the publishing gods smile upon me and I receive a contract, or I simply stow this one away in a drawer, I learned some incalculably important lessons through my own stupidity and tenacity.

So now - NaNoWriMo. I am using this opportunity to start a new novel, one that I have plotted and planned for months. I am using NaNoWriMo as a way to push past my slackass inertia, and to get scenes and thoughts on screen, to revise and gussy up later. NaNoWriMo, in theory, makes me positively gleeful at the idea of getting a massive head start on my new novel within a month’s time. Until, that is, I sit down and actually attempt to write. And then my glee is replaced with anger and spite. Good fucking gravy, why are we writers??? This shit is hard.

I imagine that many of you fellow participants, especially you first-time novel writers, are feeling similarly right about now. You are facing down 26 more days of pain and pleasure, agony and ecstasy, of emotions running high and energy running low.

Fear not, my friends! Let my novice novel mistakes provide sustenance and comedy. Let my lessons learned help you through this highly compressed experiment in novel writing. The mistakes I made writing my first novel are already making this go round much simpler and enjoyable for me. Let them do the same for you.

Herewith, my biggest lessons learned, with links to full, entertaining, enlightening posts.

1. Baby, Don’t Fear the Crappy First Draft:

Write knowing that your first draft will be putrid rubbish, but also knowing that having that voluminous text on the page and out of your head will be the foundation for the next steps: Rewrite, revise, repeat. And repeat. And repeat. It goes against all of our good writer techniques, right? The thought that we would deliberately write something that might suck balls goes against the writer’s simmering stew of hubris and deep-seated insecurity and career aspirations. But man, it worked…

2. Outlines? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’…Ok, Actually We Do:

This post is about the power of an outline for the book writing process. It’s nothing new. It’s nothing revolutionary. But for many writers, it’s an alien and terrifying process. Aren’t we supposed to just let the words flow? Let the muse move through us, let the creativity work its will, let characters do their own bidding and plots develop on their own? … That theory is, in a word, shite (“shit” pronounced with the full brogue – a delicious twist on an otherwise boring cuss word).

3. Beat Your Evil, Insecure Twin Into Submission:

I do have one mantra that I use. It’s something that comforts me, that may not provide a clear path of insecurity-free writing, but gives me perspective. I remind myself of all the work and time it took my favorite authors to get to where they are. I remind myself that most authors who have found any kind of success or realization of their dream had a shitload of rejection along the way…

4. Embrace the Solitude and Beat Back That Cowardly Lion:

With fiction writing? I got nuthin. The idea is all mine. The execution is all mine. The revision is all mine. Sure, I might involve some readers (if and when I can find some good ones). But ultimately it is all from my head and heart. And when a novel finally emerges from the toil of years of intermittent dedication, the reality of the publishing world makes all that effort seem pretty silly. And in this realization is a very lonely, isolating, desperately alone moment…

With that, it is now your turn, my dearies. Who here is participating in NaNoWriMo? Any interesting stories? Lessons learned from past experiences to pass on? Diatribes or caffeinated excitement? Share in the comments!

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