What is the best way to overcome NaNoWriMo hangover fatigue?
Five simple steps:
1. Take December 1 off.
2. On December 2, re-read the last 10 pages of your nanowrimo. Not the whole thing, mind you, just the last 10 pages.
3. Set it aside and write something else. A flash, a poem, a blog post, anything.
4. Read the first 10 pages of your nanowrimo. Again, not the whole thing, just the first 10 pages.
5. Think about how different the book at the end is from the book at the beginning. Consider how to connect the two in revision.
Is this the best way to get the energy back, or what?
===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.
Like it? Tweet it! Tweet
Aren't you good? I 'won' NaNo in 2009, but I didn't open that file up again until Spring 2010.
ReplyDeleteI did a post about NaNoWriMo over on Fuel Your Writing; http://www.fuelyourwriting.com/end-of-nanowrimo/
ReplyDeleteBut I must admit, I'd never thought of stacking the first and last ten pages against each other. If I decide to do anything with my novel, I might try that!
Such great advice... it's almost the end of 2nd December but something to definitely do in the next few days. My greatest fear is it truly did suck from start to end!
ReplyDeleteI got Scrivener in the last week of NaNo and I want to get it all in there to work on. I still love my story and the characters... and what they become. What I learnt was a historical novel requires SOME research prior to embarking on writing it. *hand to forehead*
My hangover cure is a little of the hair of the dog (not sure if that's a universal phrase) and to have something to write directly afterwards. I had started a short story in the last week... and have spent the final days of November and the first day of December working on it. And I'm ready to keep going.
But I think that's the difference between editing for most of the year and being freed from that for a short while.
I'm not planning on touching anything until January 2.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, your idea, while sound, won't help me -- except the idea about writing anything else. I wrote the end of the book (which I had in mind the entire time) just after I wrote the first chapter, so they're pretty much connected.
@ Rebecca: I did the same with my 2009 NaNo. It ended up being a boring slog.
ReplyDelete@ Icy: Will check it out, thanks!
@ Jodi: I have a story due for #12Days, so my hair of the dog is coming. How do you like Scrivener? I use a PC, and the beta version of Scrivener for PC wasn't up to scratch for me. I'll stick with yWriter5.
@ Janet: Did the end that you wrote still fit with all the bits inbetween?
I will most certainly not do that, because the last ten pages are me being too tired to type [think] and sketched out barely what happens. I can't properly call it a story in those last 4-5 pages. Call it creative give-up.
ReplyDeleteI always believe--unless you are on a deadline from an agent or publisher--you should let it sit a month or so without so much as looking at it. Work on other projects and keep it out of your mind. It'll make the revision process easier to deal with--cuts and changes will be easier because they're not so fresh in your mind.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, Tony, I'm still in awe of your final day Herculean effort. 7K words in a single day, especially after writing so much in the month, is a great accomplishment. Congrats!
@ Harry: I know that feeling perfectly, because it was what happened in 2006. I just wanted it to be over with and was clocking up words that I knew were fit only for the delete file. Rest first, then take a look, perhaps?
ReplyDelete@ Eric: For me, that month makes the love cool so much that I wonder why I ever wrote the thing in the first place. Or at least, it always has. Perhaps this time, a few weeks away from a full re-read will help me to get anxious to get back into it.
As for my final day effort, thank you! It was indeed Herculean, which is, I believe, French for "crazy". Every time I think of it, I get a little frisson of astonishment myself. Not to belabor the point, but you never really know what you're capable of until you try.
I actually have three-four novels for revision, so I will jump on those and lots of short fiction I want to do, so there will be quite an extensive period of rest before I come back to that.
ReplyDeleteAs I said on my blog I vow to spend the upcoming 11 months dedicated to fixing those unedited novels & short fiction.
What an interesting way to approach a rewrite. I like it. :)
ReplyDelete~jon