Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Revisiting Your NaNo Story

A few days after I announced that I wasn’t going to read my 2012 NaNo, I spent an hour or two rereading the last few scenes. I wrote them so quickly, it was kind of a blur. I wanted to read through them again. I did. They were good. I wanted to keep going. But I stopped myself. I focused my attention back on my first princess story, The Test of True Love. As I pen this entry, I have passed the halfway mark in the book. I am making a round of edits and sending it off to beta readers in hopes that they will all love it and find very little wrong. They won’t, of course, but there’s no reason not to hope for mostly awesome feedback.

But, back to you. It is now a new year. Did you make a resolution about writing? Editing? Whatever your resolution, today is the day to make good on your promises to yourself. Most of us are back to work today, with the long holiday season behind us. It is time to start our routine again that will have us writing or polishing on a continual basis.

I’m feeling the pull now to go back and rediscover the world I created back in November. I want to reread the awesome parts again. That might be because I’m in the dungeon section of the novel I’m editing, and I hate revisiting those tough scenes. Or, it might be because enough time has passed that I can look on my NaNo 2012 with fresh eyes and see more than typos. Now, I should be able to see plot problems, conversations that don’t click, rambling descriptions that have little place in the current slot, and words I accidentally left out while madly typing away.

Whether or not you’ve already returned to your NaNo novel, whenever you begin the journey, good luck. Find the good and the bad in your story. Laugh at your mistakes. You’ve written a story. Enjoy it as a reader. You will be amazed at what you find.

How to fix what you find is a topic for another day. But for now, no matter how many things you find wrong with your NaNo novel, have fun reading it over again. You wrote that story. Enjoy it as a reader. Revel in the awesome feeling that can only come from being a writer reading over your newest creation.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Jennifer,
    I've read all your 2013 posts. Once you're done with your beta readers, you may want to look at my blog. Then, contact me for some editing work.
    This may be the year you move closer to your dream of publication.
    ej

    ReplyDelete