As we finish up another round of National Novel Writing Month, I’m here to answer some of your most burning (and frequently asked) questions.
I didn’t hit 50,000 words, now what?
It’s okay, you didn’t hit NaNo’s goal, but guess what? You probably created a writing habit this month, you probably wrote more this month that you might have all year. The big question to ask yourself here is what did you learn about yourself as a writer? And then you should celebrate what you did accomplish – seriously, I don’t care if you wrote 100 words or 49,999 you should celebrate. I know I’m proud of you, and you should feel proud of yourself too.
I did hit 50,000 but I’m nowhere near the end of my story, now what?
If you are feeling burnt out from this past month of frenzied writing, it’s okay to take a short break – maybe a week – and then come back and keep writing. If you do need that time off, make sure you schedule your next writing session so you can keep up your momentum.
If you aren’t feeling burnt out, you are rocking and rolling, continue writing and finish your story. Most books aren’t complete at 50,000 words. I write Young Adult and that’s usually my first draft goal, but my books end up being closer to 70K by the time I’m done. It’s totally genre specific.
I hit 50,000 and my story seems complete, now what?
Celebrate! I know I’m big on celebrations, but for good reason – we need to take time to acknowledge how awesome we are, and writing 50,000 words in one month is huge so plan something that will make you feel amazing and put it on the calendar now!
Then, you can make revision plans. Personally, I like to give my first draft a rest before I revisit it so if you can, take at least 2-3 weeks off (a month is even better) and then come back and read through what you wrote.
Just a side note here, but I’ll be doing a whole REvision series starting in January so if you’d like to wait until then, please do.
As you read through your first draft, make sure you have somewhere to take notes about what changes you’d like to make, questions you might have for me, or new ideas you want to incorporate based on what happened during the writing process.
Those are the big three questions I get about the ending of NaNoWriMo, but I have a question for YOU – tell me in the comments below, how did you feel this month and what are your next steps? I would love to know so I can best support you with my blog posts and YouTube videos.
Seriously, go celebrate yourself – buy a book or a coffee or take yourself out to dinner – you did something great this month and I’m very, very proud of you!!
The form you have selected does not exist.