Tuesday, November 23, 2010

On Manuscripts, Past and Present


Whelp, I did it. 50,000 words in thirty days. Or less than thirty days, if you prefer. Parts of it are quite good, but I think I’ll pare it down and make it into a short story (a long short story, anyway). I was thinking “Hmm, this would be better in short form” around 15,000 words, when I already reached the second part. I had to add at least 10,000 words of filler (mostly dialogue) just to make the fifty K mark.

Still, in all, it was a fun experience. I’m not sure if I’ll do it next year. If I have a good idea, the time and am in the mood to write and not edit, then most definitely. But I didn’t like the deadline so much. I felt parts of On the Other Side were rushed just to meet my internal marker. There were parts I skipped through just to get through instead of taking the time to meditate on them like usual.

I honestly think that when I am in writing mode, I can churn out forty K words a month. It’s about how long it took me to write my last one (almost 80,000 words in two months, not bad). Obviously, speed rarely equals quality. Nothing I turn out is ready to be looked at, rushed through or not.

So, how are your projects (NaNoWriMo or not) going?

3 comments:

  1. Yeah! You did it! You should be proud of yourself for this accomplishment. That is alot to write in one month. I would love to read it!
    Happy Thanksgiving.

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  2. Congratulations! You should be proud indeed.

    I fell out of love with my chosen project rather early on. It is currently stalled at about 19K. I'll force myself forward on it until the end of November, then finish up other things.

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  3. Just had to drop by and say CONGRATS! I think its amazing you produced that amount of writing & also with your focus. This was not easy task!

    Give yourself a pat on the back, or a glass of champagne. You deserve it!

    Julie Johnson
    busywriting.net

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