With November almost at an end, I am finally able to return to my regular (semi-regular? occasional?) blogging schedule. If it seemed like a long hiatus for you all, I’m sorry. For me this month seemed to blow by, as it always has since I’ve started embarking on one of the craziest creative writing marathons out there.
For the first time in a long time–think my first Nano–I somehow managed to finish a few days early. And for the first time EVER, I actually finished my manuscript during November, instead of a few months or a few days after.
So, since I’ve done enough dancing around the subject, let me dive right in and recap this NaNoWriMo.
I mentioned way back in October that my task this month was to rewrite and expand upon last year’s honors thesis Between Two Lives.* Outlining that story was a big enough pain in the neck, and because of the time it took me to develop the plot, figure out where to stretch and build upon what I already had, I figured the first draft would be significantly longer than it was.
I suppose you can guess where this is going.
Even with all the subplots I added on to expand the story, and the minor character development I tried to do, the novel ended up being just over 50k. Now, it’s not as though I feel like I should have written more because that’s what I usually do.** I feel like I should have written more because there are three subplots that completely fall by the wayside by the end of the story, as well as about six characters who do the same.
What I’m saying is that even though I finished early, and even though the draft is more solid than my first drafts usually are, there’s still a lot of work to be done. I’m already considering cutting one character, because it’s either that or find some compelling way for him to spend his time that still relates to the protagonist. Not to mention that I definitely need to resolve things a little more between a few of the minor characters, as well as actually implement the ending I had planned for one of the more serious subplots.
Considering this draft still needs to sit for a bit, then go to my betas, as well as endure several rounds of punishment–I mean, edits–at my hands, it will be a long time before it sees the light of day. That being said, I sincerely hope you all get the chance to read it someday. Because I’ve already been working on this manuscript for over a year now, I’ve developed quite the soft spot for it. Category difficulties aside, I hope it does manage to find a home at some point. ***
For those of you who did Nano this year, did you win? Even if you didn’t win, do you still plan to work on your story? And for those of you who didn’t participate, I’m still curious to see how you spent your November. 🙂
*By the way, I’m in the market for a new title. Between Two Lives was basically the working title I put up with so my thesis wouldn’t be listed as “Untitled” by Ellen Rozek in the university library. If any of you who’ve read this or heard me talk about it, or even read the summary on the page titled ‘My Novels’ have a better idea, please do let me know.
**My rough drafts are usually well over 100k. I’m incredibly long-winded when I’m in the ‘slopping words down on paper’ stage.
***Much as I hate to admit it, BTL falls more into the sort of existent New Adult category than it does into YA or adult. I’m hoping that by the time I have a story worthy of querying, some of the issues involving NA books, who should rep them, and where/how they should be sold and shelved will have been resolved.