NaNoWriMo: What to do now

If you read my last blog post, you may recall my tips for getting in on the fun—and stress!—of NaNoWriMo if you’re working on revision instead of a first draft. You may have decided to go that route instead of starting a new project or putting your revision on the back burner. But regardless of whether you’ve done a traditional NaNoWriMo or my modified version, you may be wondering what to do next—especially if you’re a beginner at writing, NaNo, or both.

There are plenty of forks in the road on your journey to a finished manuscript, and the optimal route can be confusing at times. Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine what your next step should be:

Have you finished what you started? Maybe you wrote 50,000 words for your first draft in the month of November. If so, congratulations! That’s some serious productivity. But maybe your first draft isn’t done yet; maybe you need another ten thousand words to finish. If so, keep going! If you can keep your NaNo writing schedule and it isn’t burning you out, use your momentum to finish this draft. But if you have to get back to all the other stuff in your life (some of which you probably had to put off last month), don’t worry about not writing as much as you did in November.

Similarly, if you’ve finished a subsequent draft, congrats! It’s a big accomplishment. But if you’re still working your way through THIS revision (don’t worry about later revisions yet), use the tips above to finish it: keep up that momentum if possible, but don’t beat yourself up if you can’t do as much as you made time for in November.

How much time do you need to let the project “rest”? Some people refer to this stage as letting the draft rest or letting it thaw. If you don’t like to think of your book as a slab of meat, you may prefer the other analogy: throwing it in a drawer and forgetting about it. I call this an analogy because (a) chances are, you’ve typed your manuscript and can’t physically throw it anywhere, and (b) you’re not really forgetting it. You’re letting your mind subconsciously work out the problem areas so you can return to it ready to revise. For my work, the resting phase has ranged from several days to a little over a month, but however much time you need, take it—and then get back to work!

Have you done a traditional NaNoWriMo? If so, after you’ve finished the entire first draft and then given yourself a break, it’s time to revise the manuscript. That may sound obvious, but plenty of beginning writers rush their work to agents and editors in the mistaken belief that their book is “finished.” Take your time. Learn whatever you need to learn about revision—including from this blog—to make your book the absolute best it can be before you send it to anyone who’s in a position to accept or reject your work.

Have you used a NaNo-type structure to work on your revision last month? The resting phase may be even more crucial for you since sometimes we don’t know when our work needs another draft. Reread your manuscript after you’ve taken a break; you’ll be more able to read it with fresh eyes and see what needs to change. That’s where you’ll focus your efforts in your next revision. On the other hand, maybe you realize that your manuscript is every bit as good as you’d dared to hope, and you don’t need to tinker with it anymore. Either way, taking that crucial period of rest will help you see your next step.