NaNoWriMo: 30 Days + 50,000 words = Winner!

Last weekend, I was a little more than 10,000 words away from reaching the 50,000 word goal for NaNoWriMo. I buckled down and typed over 10,000 words in two days. It was the most I've ever written in such a short amount of time, and I'm surprised I feel so good about it still.

So, on November 28th, I finished the first draft of MISSING. It came in at 51,669 words.

I've learned a lot about myself as a writer by doing NaNoWriMo. For one, I am a plotter. I need my blurbs, outline, synopsis, character sketches, world building, and research ready for me to use before I write a single word in the actual novel. It was so easy to go down the line and write a scene. If I needed to look up what was in Sarah and Ted's apartment, I opened up my world building file and found what I needed. It cut down on thinking time and allowed me to write. For two, to some extent, I need to forget about writing rules when I write. For the most part, I write rather cleanly when it comes to grammar/spelling. The mistakes that are there are often typos, brain freezes, and other slips that come from a word-tired brain. I allow my characters to "look" or "be" or use that cliche. I know I'll fix all those in the next draft, but for now, I had to get the story out. If I don't allow myself that when I write a first draft of a novel, then I'll be stuck on chapter three forever. For three, when a new idea pops up while writing or the feeling of these characters, the plot, etc. changes, then I must go with it. True, the general plot didn't change, but more was added as I went or noted down to add in the second draft. Even the title of the novel changed mid-way through from SARAH'S NIGHTMARE to MISSING. For four, I must not despair that the novel wasn't as long as I hoped. I can add more and bulk it up in revisions.

MISSING has a lot of work that needs to be done before it is anywhere near polished. Soon, I plan to read through it and make notes on what I want to add and where. The rather crappy first draft is with my three critique partners (I love you, guys!), and I'm hoping for a general overview on the novel when they get a chance to read it.

For now, the novel will be put away, and besides the quick read-through, I likely won't get back to working on it until towards the end of next year or early 2012, since I need to revise/edit/polish my two previously completed first drafts of VIRTUOSO and THE PHOENIX PROPHETESS.

Overall, I say NaNoWriMo 2010 was a success. I have a brand new first draft of a novel that I'll get to play with and tweak and perfect in days to come.

Best of all, I have an idea for NaNoWriMo 2011. *grins*

Saturday Surprise

Surprise, it's Saturday, and I'm at work again.

Writing my NaNoWriMo novel has become a surprise despite all my well-laid plans. As you know, the novel was titled Sarah's Nightmare. I liked this title, and when I first envisioned the novel, it was the perfect title.

Now that I'm writing the novel, however, I realized the book wasn't about Sarah, her nightmares, and overcoming them. It's about the three main characters: Sarah, Marc, and Ted. It's their journey to find what each one of them is missing as well as finding the missing children. Sarah is missing a piece of who she is. Ted is missing understanding in human relationships, despite being a psychiatrist. Marc is missing his abducted brother. Children are missing. Thus, the new title is MISSING. It's simple. It fits the theme, and it encompasses the entire story instead of just Sarah's part in it.

Since I realized the story was about all three main characters, I modified my old blurb and created a new one. Here it is:

A government secret program nestled under the Blue Ridge Mountains. Five children ripped from their homes at twenty-year intervals. With one exception in 1985.

 Thirty-year-old Sarah Richards is an adjunct professor for Star City College, pages away from finishing her doctoral thesis, and has a live-in boyfriend, psychiatrist Theodore "Ted" Merriweather. Despite being happy and settled in her life, something is missing in her life.

Thirty-nine-year-old Ted Merriweather has never been happier with his girlfriend Sarah and working at his own psychiatric practice, but despite his knowledge of human behavior, he is missing the signs of danger ahead.

Twenty-eight-year-old Marc Bishop is a semester away from graduating SCC with a Masters in Criminology. He misses his older brother, who was kidnapped and never seen again when Marc was three-years-old.

When Sarah begins teaching Marc's History of Criminology course, a current case of missing children sucks them into the investigation. These abductions have roots in the past, and Sarah, Marc, and even Ted must find these children before they're all missing forever.

Now, I'm not very good at cover art, but I sometimes like to try my hand at it using Microsoft Word. Here is the cover art for MISSING while I'm doing NaNoWriMo.

This is actually the first time I've written a novel and had the title change. I like to think I'm pretty good about naming titles and short stories, but I have to admit MISSING fits so much better. I like it.