Hey! Where the Heck was RB During the Month of November? · 2:28pm Dec 1st, 2023
Funny story, that! I was writing a 30,101 word original novella that I decided I wanted to do in one month because I only know how to be cruel to myself (FoME, if you're reading this, that's why I didn't enter Imposing Sovereigns even though I said I would, I'm so sorry, next time hopefully?)
If you want to learn more about what that was like, check after the break!
So if you aren't aware of it, there's this annual writing event called National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo, the whole thing's a bit of a mouthful), the goal of which is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. November having thirty days, that means you need to write an average of 1,667 words a day to complete the challenge. That's a little much for me1, so I've never done it, but I've always wanted to.
Actually, funny story, I had it in my head that it was more like 2,200 words a day. 1,667 is actually way more managable, but I still usually write about 500 words a day when I'm working on a story, so it's a bit of a leap.
Well, around the end of October, I had begun thinking about an old story of mine:
I never finished it; almost no one was reading it (although to those that were, thank you for your support) and other things got in the way. Eventually I abandoned it, but I've always loved the idea behind that story.
I've also long wanted to get back into writing original fiction. I write it occasionally, but it's my dream to be a published author, so I've been looking for excuses to do it. And as NaNoWriMo was coming up, and This Town's central idea would work even better as original fiction...
You can see where I'm going with this.
But still, NaNo is a daunting task, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for it. So I decided to challenge myself. If I could write my next fic in one sitting, in time for Haloween, then I would do it. If I couldn't, then I'd give it up.
Well...
4,204 words, written in just a single sitting across a few hours. That was that part of the deal complete. It was time to write.
Still, 50,000 words was a lot to do in one month, and I didn't think This Town would last that long, so I set myself a bit of a more manageable goal: 30,000 words in 30 days. 1,000 words a day. I could do that. I could. I really could. Oh god I'll never be able to do it AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—
So yeah, that's the task I set for myself for November.
Writing original fiction is a lot of fun. It allows for even more creativity and expression than fanfiction, if you're willing to put in a little more effort. It's not all that much harder, either, unless you're a worldbuilding madman. Mine was set in a rural town in the southern USA, so that wasn't an issue. I do reccommend any fanfic writers reading this with any interest in original fiction at all to just give it a go!
By the way, I was listening to these two songs the entrie time I was writing:
The first third of the book went pretty smoothly; I was enjoying myself quite a bit, getting to stretch my authorial legs a bit in areas fanfic didn't allow for. Around the second third, though, I began to get fatigued. Writing became exhausting. I was writing early in the mornings, and I'd spend the rest of the day feeling like my brain had turned to mush. This coincided with me housesitting for my parents for a while, which may have correlated somehow? It's very strange.
After I got past that third of the book, though, things were smooth sailing again. The closer I got to the end, the faster I was writing my 1k. I think my best time was around 45 minutes? But I was consistantly doing it in under an hour. It was wild, because usually it took me that long to do 500 words.
Anyway, I finished the novella yesterday. I'm going to let it sit a little while2, then edit it a bit and send it to prereaders.
For any writers out there, this is really good advice: let your first draft sit for as long as you can before you edit it. Stephen King leaves his for a few months; I don't have the patience for that, but at least leave it a few days. It'll give you a fresh perspective on your writing which is invaluable.
And then, once I'm done with it... I'm going to try and get it published. The odds are intensely stacked against me (no one gets published on their first novel (Brandon Sanderson wrote twelve before he made it) and getting a novella published may be even harder than a novel because less places are accepting submissions that short), but I'm going to try anyway. Might as well, right? I've already written the thing. And maybe, if I'm really lucky...
Anyway. That's why I didn't publish anything in November. And why I probably won't publish anything in December (I am very tired). So, uh... yeah!
Bye!
- RB
Ooh congrats on the NaNo success! And definitely wishing you luck finding a publisher.
Congrats on your success! Fingers crossed you get it on the shelves!