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NaNoWriMo got off to a bizarrely early start with an author panel on October 2. I already know that different authors use different strategies (except they all say that you must make time for writing if you want to write), so it's good that they had a panel of five authors. Plus a few more in the audience, not to mention the half of the audience that had already participated before.
Some of the authors even did talk about the subject of getting started on a new book.
Outlining
To outline, or not to outline; that is the question. The general consensus is that new writers generally do not outline but just jump right in. The technical term for this style is "pantser" (aka "pantster") or one who goes by the seat of one's pants.
Pros
But outlines can be handy. They can speed up the writing. And one person said she tends to re-write the first third of her book whenever she doesn't start with an outline.
Outlines can also greatly reduce the editing process afterwards. In fact, several people agreed, you can pre-write more or re-write more. And most people think pre-writing is more fun. (I might not think that. I think it's also nice to see the writing get better as you fix it up.)
And outlines can help you work with co-authors.
Cons
However, sometimes outlines can take away the magic--if you've already written the outline, then sometimes adding in the details feels like drudgery instead of fun. One author recommends minimal outlining--just list some things that need to happen and some motivations the characters have.
And sometimes outlines can lead you astray--you can't be afraid to trash it if you later decide that's not where your story should go.
My take
I always assumed you'd need an outline or something if you were publishing episodes as you finished them. If you wait to figure out who the murderer is until you're halfway through the book, then it's too late to add the clues you'd want your readers to have.
For school assignments, whenever an outline was required, I always wrote the whole paper first and then created the outline from that. I never knew ahead of time what I would be writing because it all depended on what I found out from the books available to me. I did use note cards, and I suppose I could have written an outline from the note cards rather than writing a paper from the note cards and then an outline from the paper, but at the time, outlining just seemed like a waste of time.
I guess that for the "book" I did last time, I had a bare-bones plot, a couple of characters, and a scene or two that I really wanted. All that happened, but didn't use very many pages. To me it's just as hard to think of an outline as to be a pantser--you have to think up the ideas somehow. Once that's done, it's all fun.
Also I learned that if I couldn't write because I was, say, stuck at a bus stop with no bench, that pre-thinking was a big help. I was always afraid I'd forget my best ideas, though, and would end up repeating them over and over in my head so that I wouldn't.
For this year's non-fiction book, I have made an outline. It's not a full outline, but every time I get another idea I think I might like, I find a place for it in my outline.
Pre-reading
Reading other people's writing can be good prep work for your writing.
Pros
One person likes to read poetry before each writing session. It's like running scales when you're playing an instrument. It gets her warmed up and in the right head space.
One person has several go-to books he re-reads a lot, and he has different ones he uses for different needs. For example, if the language needs to be sparse, he'll read Hemingway, preferably a hunting story. If it needs to be epic, he reads Tolstoy. If it needs to be visual, he likes Jack Finney's About Time: 12 Short Stories.
But another author prefers music for that. She'll listen to opera or something to put herself in the right emotional frame of mind.
When attempting a new genre, you can try reverse engineering. For example, one person writing her first romance wondered how many times it was appropriate to mention someone's scent. So she counted it in a book where the scent was an important plot point, and it had been mentioned 23 times. So when it's not an important plot point, you need to mention it much fewer times!
Cons
Some people feel they need to cleanse themselves of reading. When they read, that other book is hogging a lot of space in their head. That space should be full of their own book instead!
Some people get burned out reading other books in their own genre. (Tragic!)
My take
I know that when I write something while another book has really captured me, I find myself copying their style. Which is super fun (assuming I liked their style).
**
That's pretty much it for the topic at hand. They did talk about several other topics as well, though.
Writing linearly
Someone asked whether they write linearly or jump back and forth. The consensus seems to be that people write linearly unless they really get stuck. Then they might jump ahead to a scene they know has to happen, just so they can keep writing.
One person said that writing from beginning to end helps reduce inconsistencies. One said if emotional development was important, it's really hard to write out of order.
Some people write all the dialog first and then go back and write the other parts.
My take
Heh, my writing is full of inconsistencies even writing linearly. I don't know how that happens, but it does. Then I have to go root them out because I despise inconsistencies! I definitely did that thing where I wrote linearly until I got stuck and then I jumped ahead to the good parts that I had already thought up. But I ran out of those pretty quickly!
Research
You can really get lost in research and never do any writing--it can become an excuse. So how do you know how much research to do? One person summarized the answer this way: If you're winging it and you know you're cheating, do research. If you're doing research and you know you're cheating, get back to writing.
Research usually won't get you out of a fix. And there's usually no need to stop your writing when you aren't sure of something. Like if you're wondering about clothing in during your era, because you need to know if he can un-do buttons or has to do something else, just leave a marker. One person likes brackets: "He tweaked her [buttons?]." Another always uses "XXX" to help find these spots later.
The consensus was that no matter how perfect your research is, experts will say that you're wrong. So, don't try to convince experts, just worry about convincing the lay reader. This advice sounds terrible to me, but one person was writing about an autistic person, based on her autistic son, and someone who knew another autistic person (who of course was different) said she'd gotten some details wrong.
Getting unstuck
I've heard before that if you get writer's block, just write anything. "And now [character] is having breakfast. It's scrambled eggs, toast..." Or as the moderator said, "I don't know what this character should do next. She's tough, but ..."
But there were some other ideas. One person said to get some people you can brainstorm with. Many people like having a novel-writing group where people read each other's chapters and give advice. I'm feeling a little like Daryl Zero in "The Zero Effect." "Talking? To people?" I never expected that book writing (without co-authors) would be such a social undertaking. It seems wrong!
Read how-to books.
Google "the snowflake method." So I did. It's a way to outline your story. First you start with a one-sentence description. Then make a one-paragraph description. Then make a one-sentence description for each character. Add more and more details until you have a lot. The term was apparently coined by Randy Ingermanson who explains it in The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel.
Motivation
Do a creative writing exercise. Ask yourself, what is the goal, motivation, and conflict--for you as the writer? Why does this matter? If you don't write, what won't you get?
For the conflict, troubleshoot. Figure out in advance what's likely to come up and get in the way. For example, during NaNoWriMo, Thanksgiving! Or you don't feel like it.
Many people recommended finding good spaces to write in, with few distractions. Write-in's at coffee shops are a common NaNoWriMo event. (People just come and sit (mostly) quietly typing away.) One guy moves into a hotel when he needs to do a lot of writing fast. One with no distractions, "not one of the nice ones with gyms."
Or withhold things that you like until you've done enough.
One person heard that Susan Brockman said that when you have a good writing session, pick something physical to do (like rubbing your knuckles) to train your body that doing that thing means you're ready to work.
The NaNoWriMo strategy
"Magic happens when you concentrate your writing." One guy wrote a novella in a weekend. Several of the authors felt that this was a good idea even for them, though one is not participating because with kids, etc., she can write only three times a week, and another is just "going to party, not trying to win."
Who knew that real authors would like this? Weird.
How long it takes to write a book
The survey of these authors on their first book yielded these results:
* two years, 17 drafts
* one year, 3-4 major drafts (first published book); five years (first book)
* eighteen years, 20 drafts (first book), 60 days (second book)
* five months (writing 20 pages each, 3 days per week)
* four months (first book, nonfiction), five months (first fiction)
Co-writing
Many of these people were co-authors and apparently a very common way to do that is to pass the story back and forth. You can be kind of mean to each other, too, such as by leaving your co-author with a situation you know they will have trouble with (but think they could use the practice with).
Two people said an outline was important for co-writing; one said only when working with new co-writers.
On re-write requests from publishers
One gal says that whenever she gets a re-write request, she gets bratty for a while. Then she deconstructs their request and re-writes the request herself. She finds that publishers are good at noticing real problems, but their solutions are often terrible.
Other authors said that the good publishers just point out the problems and don't try to tell you how to fix them.
Some of the authors even did talk about the subject of getting started on a new book.
Outlining
To outline, or not to outline; that is the question. The general consensus is that new writers generally do not outline but just jump right in. The technical term for this style is "pantser" (aka "pantster") or one who goes by the seat of one's pants.
Pros
But outlines can be handy. They can speed up the writing. And one person said she tends to re-write the first third of her book whenever she doesn't start with an outline.
Outlines can also greatly reduce the editing process afterwards. In fact, several people agreed, you can pre-write more or re-write more. And most people think pre-writing is more fun. (I might not think that. I think it's also nice to see the writing get better as you fix it up.)
And outlines can help you work with co-authors.
Cons
However, sometimes outlines can take away the magic--if you've already written the outline, then sometimes adding in the details feels like drudgery instead of fun. One author recommends minimal outlining--just list some things that need to happen and some motivations the characters have.
And sometimes outlines can lead you astray--you can't be afraid to trash it if you later decide that's not where your story should go.
My take
I always assumed you'd need an outline or something if you were publishing episodes as you finished them. If you wait to figure out who the murderer is until you're halfway through the book, then it's too late to add the clues you'd want your readers to have.
For school assignments, whenever an outline was required, I always wrote the whole paper first and then created the outline from that. I never knew ahead of time what I would be writing because it all depended on what I found out from the books available to me. I did use note cards, and I suppose I could have written an outline from the note cards rather than writing a paper from the note cards and then an outline from the paper, but at the time, outlining just seemed like a waste of time.
I guess that for the "book" I did last time, I had a bare-bones plot, a couple of characters, and a scene or two that I really wanted. All that happened, but didn't use very many pages. To me it's just as hard to think of an outline as to be a pantser--you have to think up the ideas somehow. Once that's done, it's all fun.
Also I learned that if I couldn't write because I was, say, stuck at a bus stop with no bench, that pre-thinking was a big help. I was always afraid I'd forget my best ideas, though, and would end up repeating them over and over in my head so that I wouldn't.
For this year's non-fiction book, I have made an outline. It's not a full outline, but every time I get another idea I think I might like, I find a place for it in my outline.
Pre-reading
Reading other people's writing can be good prep work for your writing.
Pros
One person likes to read poetry before each writing session. It's like running scales when you're playing an instrument. It gets her warmed up and in the right head space.
One person has several go-to books he re-reads a lot, and he has different ones he uses for different needs. For example, if the language needs to be sparse, he'll read Hemingway, preferably a hunting story. If it needs to be epic, he reads Tolstoy. If it needs to be visual, he likes Jack Finney's About Time: 12 Short Stories.
But another author prefers music for that. She'll listen to opera or something to put herself in the right emotional frame of mind.
When attempting a new genre, you can try reverse engineering. For example, one person writing her first romance wondered how many times it was appropriate to mention someone's scent. So she counted it in a book where the scent was an important plot point, and it had been mentioned 23 times. So when it's not an important plot point, you need to mention it much fewer times!
Cons
Some people feel they need to cleanse themselves of reading. When they read, that other book is hogging a lot of space in their head. That space should be full of their own book instead!
Some people get burned out reading other books in their own genre. (Tragic!)
My take
I know that when I write something while another book has really captured me, I find myself copying their style. Which is super fun (assuming I liked their style).
**
That's pretty much it for the topic at hand. They did talk about several other topics as well, though.
Writing linearly
Someone asked whether they write linearly or jump back and forth. The consensus seems to be that people write linearly unless they really get stuck. Then they might jump ahead to a scene they know has to happen, just so they can keep writing.
One person said that writing from beginning to end helps reduce inconsistencies. One said if emotional development was important, it's really hard to write out of order.
Some people write all the dialog first and then go back and write the other parts.
My take
Heh, my writing is full of inconsistencies even writing linearly. I don't know how that happens, but it does. Then I have to go root them out because I despise inconsistencies! I definitely did that thing where I wrote linearly until I got stuck and then I jumped ahead to the good parts that I had already thought up. But I ran out of those pretty quickly!
Research
You can really get lost in research and never do any writing--it can become an excuse. So how do you know how much research to do? One person summarized the answer this way: If you're winging it and you know you're cheating, do research. If you're doing research and you know you're cheating, get back to writing.
Research usually won't get you out of a fix. And there's usually no need to stop your writing when you aren't sure of something. Like if you're wondering about clothing in during your era, because you need to know if he can un-do buttons or has to do something else, just leave a marker. One person likes brackets: "He tweaked her [buttons?]." Another always uses "XXX" to help find these spots later.
The consensus was that no matter how perfect your research is, experts will say that you're wrong. So, don't try to convince experts, just worry about convincing the lay reader. This advice sounds terrible to me, but one person was writing about an autistic person, based on her autistic son, and someone who knew another autistic person (who of course was different) said she'd gotten some details wrong.
Getting unstuck
I've heard before that if you get writer's block, just write anything. "And now [character] is having breakfast. It's scrambled eggs, toast..." Or as the moderator said, "I don't know what this character should do next. She's tough, but ..."
But there were some other ideas. One person said to get some people you can brainstorm with. Many people like having a novel-writing group where people read each other's chapters and give advice. I'm feeling a little like Daryl Zero in "The Zero Effect." "Talking? To people?" I never expected that book writing (without co-authors) would be such a social undertaking. It seems wrong!
Read how-to books.
Google "the snowflake method." So I did. It's a way to outline your story. First you start with a one-sentence description. Then make a one-paragraph description. Then make a one-sentence description for each character. Add more and more details until you have a lot. The term was apparently coined by Randy Ingermanson who explains it in The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel.
Motivation
Do a creative writing exercise. Ask yourself, what is the goal, motivation, and conflict--for you as the writer? Why does this matter? If you don't write, what won't you get?
For the conflict, troubleshoot. Figure out in advance what's likely to come up and get in the way. For example, during NaNoWriMo, Thanksgiving! Or you don't feel like it.
Many people recommended finding good spaces to write in, with few distractions. Write-in's at coffee shops are a common NaNoWriMo event. (People just come and sit (mostly) quietly typing away.) One guy moves into a hotel when he needs to do a lot of writing fast. One with no distractions, "not one of the nice ones with gyms."
Or withhold things that you like until you've done enough.
One person heard that Susan Brockman said that when you have a good writing session, pick something physical to do (like rubbing your knuckles) to train your body that doing that thing means you're ready to work.
The NaNoWriMo strategy
"Magic happens when you concentrate your writing." One guy wrote a novella in a weekend. Several of the authors felt that this was a good idea even for them, though one is not participating because with kids, etc., she can write only three times a week, and another is just "going to party, not trying to win."
Who knew that real authors would like this? Weird.
How long it takes to write a book
The survey of these authors on their first book yielded these results:
* two years, 17 drafts
* one year, 3-4 major drafts (first published book); five years (first book)
* eighteen years, 20 drafts (first book), 60 days (second book)
* five months (writing 20 pages each, 3 days per week)
* four months (first book, nonfiction), five months (first fiction)
Co-writing
Many of these people were co-authors and apparently a very common way to do that is to pass the story back and forth. You can be kind of mean to each other, too, such as by leaving your co-author with a situation you know they will have trouble with (but think they could use the practice with).
Two people said an outline was important for co-writing; one said only when working with new co-writers.
On re-write requests from publishers
One gal says that whenever she gets a re-write request, she gets bratty for a while. Then she deconstructs their request and re-writes the request herself. She finds that publishers are good at noticing real problems, but their solutions are often terrible.
Other authors said that the good publishers just point out the problems and don't try to tell you how to fix them.