Sunday, October 31, 2021

Back to NaNoWriMo Challenge

 It's been two months since the release of my last novel, Reunion of Familiar Strangers, the fifth book in the John Ross Boomer Lit series.

Now it's time to move on after spending time promoting the book, and frankly, taking a breather from writing. For those who follow this blog, you may have noticed this is my first post since Sept. 1.  

But while the creative writing was put on hold,  I've done some research in the interim as part of the preparation for my next novel in the series.

So tomorrow (Nov. 1), I'll take on the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge of writing a novel in 30 days. I've participated in four challenges since  2012, and each produced a published work.

The goal is to average 1,667 words a day for the entire month to reach 50,000 words. I've never written a 50k novel, so I continue until the first draft is completed. Sometimes that runs through December and into the first weeks of the new year. I usually end up with more than 75k words, and I add and subtract from that while going through several rewrites/revisions before the work is completed to my initial satisfaction.

What I like about the plunge is that it keeps me focused on writing each and every day. I've always been an early riser so that's what I'll turn my attention to every morning after I feed my dogs and get some coffee in my system to clear the cobwebs in my head.

Are any of you taking on the challenge?

Until the next time . . .