This is the first in three posts I intend to write to get myself -- and you, hopefully! -- pumped for NaNoWriMo.
You may (or may not) be aware that November is National Novel Writing Month -- NaNowriMo, or just NaNo when you're getting super lazy or trying to speak as quickly as possible so you have more time for writing. The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November. You don't have to finish the novel, but you need to hit that 50,000 mark. You hit 50,000, you win -- it's that simple! If you skim the Internet you'll find a lot of mixed opinion about NaNo, and you'll also come across the phase "plotter or pantser." To sum it up: do you need plot your novel, or can you fly by the seat of your pants?
I suspect most people are a combination of the two. I know I need a semi-solid plot mixed with the frenzy and self-hatred that NaNo inspires.1 That combined with an awesome local writing group and a prompt from a dare box halfway through the novel lead me to finish DREAMING OF EDEN last year. I'm not going to talk about plotting so much, though; if you write you've probably already got a system. But I am going to say this:
Pick a method for keeping track of your novel. NaNo moves fast. The whole point is to write unabashedly, to prove that you can. And you're going to fuck up your plot at some point. You're going to be rereading it and realize you threw in a plot hole so large that the TARDIS could not get your characters out of it. And then you're going to fix it. Rock on, you!
In the beginning of my story last year I kept referring to Eric as Ben. I did this so many times that I eventually created a separate character named Benjamin, just because I had typed the name so many times that I couldn't quite bear to part with him. I used three different names to refer to BioTech Labs throughout the story, to the point that even now I'm not entirely certain that BioTech is the name I settled on.3 At one point I introduced an entire sect of society, only to forget about them and reuse their title for a different social class. That Andy got through the first draft this novel at all is a miracle.
When I sat down to edit DREAMING OF EDEN in March, I discovered that in the first chapter I had introduced a bunch of elements that never came up again. Depending on your feelings regarding Chekov and guns you might not think it a big deal, but these were some huge oversights. When I folded them back into the plot, the story got better. That's probably an important part of the editing process, but there where just so many. I have an entire note dedicated to "Unanswered DoE Questions."
Still, about halfway through the month I started keeping track of my notes using TomBoy, which is Ubuntu's built-in note system2. It links things Wiki-style, so I have this whole digital notebook and a masterpost; the whole thing is a bit out of control, to be honest, and probably an example of what over-plotting looks like. (Also, um, spoilers in the image? If you can read it, anyway.)
I listen to the Writing Excuses podcast on a pretty regular basis, and sometime during the summer I listened to their episode about having a story bible. One of the gentlemen (and I forget which one) recommends WikidPad, which sounds fairly similar to TomBoy in application -- at least last time I bothered to look. (On Wednesday, you're going to hear all about my problem with writing tools and software. Oh god, are you ever.)
It doesn't have to be software. It can be a notebook, or a wall full of post-it notes, or a Tumblr blog full of snippets -- whatever helps you remember who the hell your main character's brother is and the name of his employer when it's 10PM and you're on your third cup of coffee.
1. Seriously: the amount of sleep I don't get during NaNo is actually a little sick. While 1,667 words per day seems easy principle, somehow it always gets away from me.
2. And apparently it's Windows and OS X friendly! I'm not going to lie; I'm as surprised when Linux tools go cross-platform as I am when Windows tools do. I absolutely shit bricks is OS X decides to play nice with anyone else.
3. The company flopped between "BioTech" and "BioLabs," and once in a while I'd use "BioMods."
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