polka dot suitcase » Entries tagged with "first draft"
10K away from a first draft
So I’m doing NaNo, writing a first draft in the month of November. I’ve been very dedicated, and now I just crossed the 40K mark (the goal is 50K). Ah, if only I had a dollar for every word I’ve written. As far as first drafts go, it’s not totally hideous, but it’s pretty scary. And not scary-because-I’m-writing-a-horror-manuscript. If only. I’m looking forward to edits and revisions. I love revising. I hate the first draft process. Mostly the overcoming inertia thing, but then the keep it rolling thing and just gag your inner editor. That’s hard. Really hard. Turns out I’m very, very good at being critical of my writing. For an article, say, 1200 words long, it’s easy to hold back the criticism for the first draft, and then unleash it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
NaNoUhOh
Even if you’re not a writer, doubtless you’ve heard of NaNoWriMo, right-o? National Novel Writing Month. Every November, people around the world sharpen their pencils and dive in to seek fame and fortune as a novelist. They’ve got 30 days to crank out 50,000 words — the first rough draft of a novel. Edits and revisions? Some other month. Every year, I sign up for NaNo. Every year, I crank out 50,000 words. And every year, I save the file and then never look at it again. Have I failed? I don’t think so. I cranked out truly awful first drafts, just like I was supposed to. I just never did anything more with them. But the way I see it — because writers are exceptional at justification — now that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around