I am so far behind that Nanowrimo is no longer about hitting 50k words in 30 days. It’s just about continuing to write the story. I want to be far enough that I can start up my serial without feeling like I need to finish a chapter every single week to keep up.
Okay, wait, let’s explain the “serial.”
I am planning on putting this story out into the world much like my first “The Arrangement” – as a serial. Basically, this means that every week or a few days or whatever I decide, a new episode will unlock for people to read. There is also an additional chapter each week that that people can pay coins to unlock.
I don’t NEED to have the whole thing ready to go, and part of the intrigue of a serial is getting to see how the story unfolds through each episode, even as the author. For many, a serial is more like a TV show. You have a certain number of episodes per season but the show doesn’t necessarily end, it just changes.
Each plot point of the last chapter and the decisions your characters make spur on the story in a more organic way than say plotting out the entirety of it. You plot out each season individually, but it’s more about watching the characters develop.
Why not just wait and self-publish it as a full novel?
There are some projects that I feel serve me better as a writer to just get out of my system in a way I can still have fun with it and doesn’t need to be beautifully wrapped with a bow. For other projects, I feel I need to take my time and really make sure each individual piece works where it needs to.
It’s not that the serial couldn’t be wrapped up and sold as a whole, but more that it’s a writing process preference for me.
I wouldn’t exactly call it taking certain projects more or less seriously, but it’s definitely a style preference. Maybe one day I’ll sit down and make sure the serials are just right and self-publish. Right now, I’m excited about the prospect of letting readers see how the process happens by following along with a story in a more fluid way. It’s a more relaxed form of storytelling in my opinion with fewer expectations about what will be in it.
So basically…
I’m not upset that I’m probably not going to “win” at Nanowrimo this year. But I’m okay with that. I’ve put so many more words down into this project than I might have. It’s encouraged me to think about revisiting a couple other ones too.
Current Word Count for Nano: 13,186
Current Project word count: ~45k
Goal: Enough to start posting 😛 so probably 50-60k. (I’m close)
Keep Writing!
Rachel
Subtle Stories 
I ended up writing every day for NaNoWriMo last year but came up way short of the 50,000 – but it’s a great little novella. I love it. It was fun. But no Pulitzer on the horizon. 🙂
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I think that the real shining part of Nano is that you can use it however works for you.
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That’s so cool that you found the main purpose of NaNo, and that’s to keep the writing habit alive. There’s no need to ‘win’ it if you’re going to continue writing well after that, amirite? In that sense, you’ve already won! All the best with your journey!
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