I’m writing a full novel during the month of May. To reach this goal, I’ll complete 2,000 words (or more) every day. Check out Week 1’s post here and Week 2’s post here.
How This Week Turned Out
We’re halfway through the month, and the story I’m writing is totally different from the one I’d been working on May 1 (or even a week ago). Honestly, I was expecting something like this would happen. At the beginning of all this I didn’t have much more than a main character an an inciting incident. I was just chugging along for a couple weeks with a vague idea of where I was going and not much else. Then on Monday I realized this story was very similar to a previous (unpublished) story I’d written a few months ago. I could take elements from that project and use them here, creating a much stronger project. Suddenly everything just clicked.
Also on Friday I pitched The Night Highway (my already completed novel) to three agents at the Washington Writers Conference. So this was a pretty hectic week.
Breaking Down The Week
SUNDAY MAY 9 – 2,293 WORDS: Mother’s Day. I spent the morning and afternoon with my mom and didn’t start my 2K words until early evening.
MONDAY MAY 10 – 2,050 WORDS: Biked a few miles after work. Just as I was finishing up I was hit with the realization that I could use elements from a previous project to vastly improve this one. I’ve already written 1/3 of the current novel. Instead of going back and rewriting it now, I’m pushing ahead, continuing it as if these new elements were there the whole time. I’ll clean up the inconsistencies in future edits.
TUESDAY MAY 11 – 2,126 WORDS: Before I started my 2K words today, I spent forty-five minutes outlining the first 1/3 of the new version. I can use this as reference in later edits. I followed my two rules of outlining 1) Limit my time. 2) Only outline what naturally comes to me. (I know, just what the creative writing world needs, more rules.)
WEDNESDAY MAY 12 – 2,209 WORDS: I’m pitching The Night Highway at the Washington Writer’s Conference on Friday. My pitch is already written and more or less good to go, but I practiced it today to make sure it flows. Meanwhile, Chewie (my cat) kept hoping in my lap and brushing his tail into my nose.
THURSDAY MAY 13 – 2,019 WORDS: Barely reached my goal today. Spent more time practicing my pitch and thinking over where I’ll be pitching (via Zoom) in my house. Starting to get a little nervous. This was one of those days where if I hadn’t set a 2K writing goal, I probably wouldn’t have gotten much (or any) writing done.
FRIDAY MAY 14 – 2,021 WORDS: Reached the goal early in the morning. More importantly, the pitches were a huge success. Agent 1: Doesn’t represent my genre but suggested I reach out to others in her agency. She said I have a strong pitch. Agent 2: Asked for the first 3 chapters + synopsis. Agent 3: Asked for the first 50 pages! Feeling really good about this.
SATURDAY MAY 15 – 2,036 WORDS: At the official halfway point. The story as a whole is taking shape.
Tips For Writing Your Novel In One Month
- This is a TOUGH one but don’t just stubbornly stick with your original idea. Characters/plot/settings will change. If it feels like a natural direction go with it. Any ideas you need to scrap in this project can be used for future projects.
- Limit your time outlining. I give myself a set amount of time to outline and then cut myself off. Even if you’re in outline mode, try to get some writing done that day.
- Keep a separate document open to jot down notes and changes as you are writing. Make sure you go back to these.
- Finish that draft! (Obviously this is key for writing a novel in a month) It was ridiculously tempting to start all over again on Tuesday, but I pushed on ahead. It’s more valuable to have a crappy rough drafts you can work with than a couple well-polished chapters you’re going to have to revise anyway.
- I could write a whole series of posts on pitching to agents but in short: Take a deep breath, remember the agent is human, be prepared to have a conversation about your book, keep the pitch under 2 minutes, make sure the pitch tells a story, and if the agent passes it’s not the end of the world.
That’s it for now. We’ll see what next week brings!
