Now that the dust has settled from this year’s NaNo challenge, bloggers have begun to post their experiences. One of the things I liked about NaNo was the sense of community we writers shared. And then I could come here and whine about it to the world.

Some of the things I learned during this process was to tell my nitpicky muse to shut up and stop hyperventilating over word choice and get out of the way while I got the bones of the plot down. I think that was THE most valuable lesson I learned. That and if you sit long enough, your butt will go numb and you won’t feel the back pain.

I also learned that it really helps to have a detailed outline figured out before going into the story. Usually I have a good conflict but a vague sense of how I want the story to unfold. This time I hashed it out via the VOGLER method (details HERE) first. I wasn’t a slave to the outline, but when I felt like I was wobbling too far off the mark, I was able to pull back.

Finally I learned to ignore the little voice that says, “Hey, lemme jump over to CNN.com and see what’s going on in the world (or Television Without Pity, or People.com).” Time wasters, that. I had a daily goal, and though I hardly ever reached it, I got close enough to feel good about my progress.

I’m going to try and keep it up through the month of December. To those who made it to 50,000, we salute you.

Eric at Quantum has a good post about his experiences; as does Neinke. 

Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She has written two novels under the pseudonym Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter--both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President's teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins.
Kathleen Bolton
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