Last night Nanowrimo.org did their site relaunch! I am very excited and looking forward to November! I am planning on blogging every single day during November. Each of my blog posts will include an update on my word count and how my story is going, a different interview question each day that my main character, Millie, will be answering and a task or question that I will be answering, I will also include advice and info to keep you going through out the month.
So follow my blog if you are interested in that. I would also gladly answer any questions you have about participating in Nanowrimo if you are new and I can also be here to give encouragement!
Now onto my topic for today! So you have decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month and now you need to ask yourself that very important question...Should I be a pantser or a planner?
If you are new to Nanowrimo you may be asking yourself...What the heck does "pantser" mean??
Well I'll tell you. A pantser is a name that came about in the Nanowrimo forums. It is short for a person who "writes by the seat of their pants", someone who goes into Nanowrimo with a vague idea of what they want to write about or maybe no idea at all.
Planner is just that...someone who has their novel all planned out. Now some planners may have a short and simple outline or a very detailed outline.
So how do you decide which one is right for you? Because there is nothing wrong with doing either one.
Every time that I have done Nanowrimo (except for camp august this year when I did a vague outline) I have been a pantser. The first year I did Nanowrimo, back in 2007, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write. Was it a fantasy, mystery, adventure? No idea! Who was my main character? A girl, boy, alien? I didn't know. I just sat down and wrote and my story evolved as I went. Was it fun to write like this? Absolutely! Was it extremely hard at times? You bet. Why? Because I had no idea what I was writing! :) Would that story be a nightmare to edit? It sure would be and that is why I won't edit it unless I do a complete reworking, rewrite.
So from my experiences I would say that if your goal is to have fun, to get yourself just to write and see where your imagination takes you, and you have no plans of trying to publish your story then pantsing would be for you. Now don't get me wrong. It is not impossible for a pantser to get that story published but it will most likely take planning after the fact along with a complete rewrite.
In August's Camp Nanowrimo I did a little bit of planning before hand and for November's Nanowrimo I have been doing A LOT of planning. I have a very detailed outline from beginning to end including a prologue and an epilogue. I also have details about my settings and my characters and since my novel is set in the 1940s I have been doing a bunch of research on that era. Why have I been doing so much planning? Because I am serious about getting this novel published and I want to make the editing job a bit easier come December. Please see my previous post "Outlining Your Novel" for more on the importance of planning and outlining. Also in that post I have a few outline templates.
The point is, if you are serious about an idea you've had floating around in your head and you want to get that novel published one day, then being a planner would be your best choice. At least having an idea of what your novel will be from beginning to end will help you out tremendously, not only while you're writing during the month but also when you go to edit that novel. Editing in itself is a lot of work but can be made so much easier when you have planned out your novel ahead of writing it. Also having an outline will be your road map during the month. Of course you shouldn't try to stick exactly to your outline but it will be helpful on those days when you get stuck and just in general.
Whether you are a pantser or a planner, there will be times during Nanowrimo when you feel like giving up or that your story just isn't good enough but don't give up!! Remember remember that this is just a rough draft and it isn't going to be perfect no matter how much planning you do or don't do ahead of time. In the Nanowrimo welcome pep talk they said,
"There will be times you’ll want to quit during November. This is okay. Everyone who wins NaNoWriMo wanted to quit at some point in November. Stick it out. See it through. Week Two can be hard. Week Three is much better. Week Four will make you want to yodel.And we’re talking the good kind of yodeling here."
It is true. Every time I have won Nanowrimo there have been so many times during the month that I wanted to quit and some times that I almost did but I didn't and I reached 50,000 and I was so happy that I hadn't given up and you will be too. Stick it out and have fun with your story!
Remember Nanowrimo doesn't start until November 1rst so do all the planning (or not planning) that you want but don't write even one word of your story until the clock strikes midnight on the first!
<3 Andrea
