So, I know I was absent yesterday, and I must apologize. It was my son’s sixteenth birthday, and I had to prioritize spending time with him while he is still talking to me and not a moody teenager versus writing my blog post. I hope you’ll understand. On the way home last night he played the song You’re Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins. I was thankful it was dark in the car as I started to tear up thinking about all the milestones of his childhood that I already miss and how I know it’s only a matter of time before he won’t want to spend birthdays hanging out with me and his brothers and sisters anymore.
But I digress; today is about NaNoWriMo, day 2, and my inability to write and not edit. I started the day with a lofty goal to write 7500 words on my novel. I know that is a lot more than the required 1667. Still, it has to do with my upcoming schedule and wanting to get ahead when things are busy tomorrow. This weekend, I won’t feel guilty about not getting anything done. So far, I am in the negative as I cut most of what I wrote yesterday out and then decided that this is supposed to be a third-person narrative versus a first-person narrative.
Should You Edit During NaNoWriMo?
Most experts agree that NaNoWriMo is supposed to be a fun writing challenge of getting 50,000 words in thirty days and that the editing comes later. So why am I editing while I write? Well, part of it has to do with realizing despite all of my outlining and planning, I am at a loss for how I want my story to begin. I wanted it to go one way, but then I realized I wanted it to go a different way, and with that knowledge, I suddenly felt very much like I was staring at the dreaded blank page with no idea what to write. So, I decided to scrap what I already had and start over. Now, I need more than 7500 words to reach my goal.
But the question remains: should you edit during NaNoWriMo?
It depends on your ultimate goal. Author and writing coach Jerry Jenkins describes his writing process as writing, then resting, and starting the next day with a read-through and an edit of the previous day’s work before he begins writing again. This is a method that I would like to try because I need help getting past the first draft and would love to see my NaNoWriMo book for 2023 become a published book in 2024. So, should you edit during NaNoWriMo? I think so if your ultimate goal is to publish the work you are writing and if you find Jenkins’s advice helpful.
What Are Your Goals
My goal is to write the first in what may be a series of books, but I don’t want to just write 50,000 words and be done with it. I want to start hopefully an 80,000-100,000 novel that will be published sometime next year. I feel strongly that Charlotte’s story is what other people will want to read. So my goal is not just to complete 50,000 words but also to eventually publish What We Leave Behind, so I guess I better get back to it, as I am in the negative about 800 words.
