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.
Here you can check out Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3.
How This Week Turned Out
From one point of view this week was fairly successful. I hit the 2K mark every day (sort of… more on that below) and I’m enjoying the story and characters. From another, more realistic, point of view I’m going to have an OVERWHELMING amount of work to do when I get to Draft 2. As I write, I keep notes/outlines on all the changes that will need to be made. The first half of the novel in these new outlines feels like a totally different (and much better) story with alternate plot points and character dynamics.
Part of me wants to scrap the rest of the month and start draft 2 today. However, I only have one week left and I’m determined to see this project through to the end. Who knows, maybe in a month I’ll post a series entitled TIPS FOR EDITING A NOVEL IN ONE MONTH (or 2 months).
Breaking Down The Week
SUNDAY MAY 16 – 2,031 WORDS: Today was a fairly straightforward day of writing. However, I finished watching this insanely amazing video by Michael Arndt (screenwriter for Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3) called Endings: The Good, The Bad and The Brilliant. While it’s specifically directed toward screenwriters, 95% of the advice can be carried over to those writing novels.
MONDAY MAY 17 – 2,038 WORDS: Reached my goal fairly easily this morning. Had a bit of writing time left over so I looked over my notes/outlines for future Draft 2. Thought over my story’s External, Internal and Philosophical Conflicts (mentioned in the video above). Also decided to totally remove 5 of the chapters around 1/4 of the way in. This’ll keep the action running smoother.
TUESDAY MAY 18 – 2,063 WORDS: I really like the theme of FOLLOWING ORDERS vs ASKING QUESTIONS (thought of this while watching Pan’s Labyrinth). I’m thinking there might be a way I can work this into the story.
WEDNESDAY MAY 19 – 2,057 WORDS: Today was the hardest yet to reach 2K words. It could be the two and a half billion cicadas on our front lawn or just a lull in momentum (brain says it’ll pick back up, heart questions this). In other news it looks like a few co-workers and I will be running creative writing workshops this summer so I’m really looking forward to that
THURSDAY MAY 20 – 2,168 WORDS: Worked on part of my 2K words at the DMV. I think the chapter is darker because of this.
FRIDAY MAY 21: So I don’t know how but one way or another I lost EVERYTHING I wrote today. And it was well over 2K words. This really stings. I want to go back and rewrite everything now, but I’m pretty worn down. Also I have a 3 hour work meeting this afternoon so this just isn’t getting done today
SATURDAY MAY 22 – 2,147 WORDS: Technically that word count is inaccurate. In reality I wrote well over 4K words. I rewrote everything lost yesterday and then added on 2,147 words today. Basically, that was my morning. Silver lining: because part of what I wrote today was technically a rewrite, the product was much stronger. This proves that this project does have legs, it just might take a couple drafts.
Not a bad way to end the week.
Tips For Writing Your Novel In One Month
- Stay organized, stay organized, stay organized. Keep your notes and outlines in separate documents and keep them in some sort of order. I’ll be honest, this is very difficult for me. My notes for draft two have become a jumbled mess. When I have timeI spend a few minutes trying to consolidate/organize them.
- Likewise: save, save, save your work. I’m normally much better about this. I do keep backups. But one way or another I lost an entire day’s worth of writing this week. At least it was 8 pages, not 80.
- Revise (when possible) This is very difficult if you’re writing a novel in one month, but if you find yourself stuck, take a couple hours to go back and revise a chapter. Don’t beat yourself up, just ask how it can be better. You’ll improve the chapters and that will make you feel better about the project. It might even give you a new direction to pursue.
- Check this out. I already mentioned this video but it’s ridiculously helpful. A lot of people might not like it because it encourages story beats. However, my advice is watch it. If you hate it, no big deal, just take from it what you need and move on.
- The next draft will be better. Sometimes this is hard for me to believe, but if you just finish this draft, take some time away and then revise, revise, revise. Your project will improve. There are days when this seems unlikely, but it’s true. Set this advice as your desktop background if you need to.
That’s it for this week. Time to see what May 23 through the 29 brings!
