In November 2010, I participated in NaNoWriMo, a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
For the month, folks followed along with my progress as I wrote about it on my blog and in my “Tipp Talk” column in theTippecanoe Gazette.
“Rewind” is the story of Dr. Donald Ellis, a world-renowned theoretical physicist, races against time to complete his Machine, one that should theoretically help him prevent 9-11…and perhaps save his family. He’s going to make 9-11 “unhappen.” But in changing the past, will he actually make things worse?
The writing competition wrapped up on November 30, and I’m happy to say that I stayed on target for the whole 30 days and managed to complete a VERY rough first draft of a book. This national writing exercise encourages quantity, not quality, but it also helps procrastinating writers focus on getting their words down on the page. I found it very helpful to have a daily word target—it really kept me focused on getting a chunk done every day, instead of staring at the blank screen and stressing about writing a giant novel in one sitting. Next November, we’ll have to get a group of Tipp Citians to try this out with me!
The final word count turned out to 51,475, about 175 pages, and I’m happy with the story—it came out better than I expected. I’m certain that putting together the first drafts of my other two books took much longer. I had one character surprise me by turning out to be someone I hadn’t planned, something that’s never happened to me before. Usually, I know exactly where things are going, but that’s the danger and the thrill of writing and writing and writing—things might get away from you. I also ended up with several orange and red days where I didn’t get to write the daily minimum, but I was able to catch up on other days. Now I think I’ll take a little time off and then come back to the book and begin the long editing process. I’m working to have this book out by Spring 2011. Wish me luck!
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