Welcome to A Novel Approach. If this is your first issue, I encourage you to check out my back issues for more tips on how to write a novel. It's my fondest hope that I can help other writers do the best they can do.

If you have any specific aspects about novel writing you'd like me to address in future issues, please feel free to contact me and let me know what those are. Thank you for your interest, and here's to better writing!

=================================================================== Because it's National Novel Writing Month, I have to keep this short and get back to my noveling. Back to editing in December!

It's National Novel Writing Month Again!

I am. And I'm completely surprised by what grabbed me and said "Write Me Now".

Fantasy is my genre of choice most of the time. Last year, I wrote a tween fantasy, even if it was set in modern times. Most of my other writing has been fantasy as well, so when this one said "My Turn", I was surprised to say the least.

The real world. The modern world. Some careers I need to research (I dislike research). What was I thinking?

I figured, because I didn't even try to plot this out at all until the day before NaNo started, that I'd be wallowing and dragging along. Not flying like my fingers know what I mean to write before I think it.

Yet, for some reason, it's happening again. I don't know if it's the NaNo Frenzy that just grabs me and won't let go, or if I have just written long enough that all I need to say to my brain is "write this" and it does.

I was at 17,000+ words by the end of day 6, and since I took day 7 (Sunday) off from everything else, I was at 32,000 words by the end of that day. 15,000+ words in one day. That's just so weird, even for me.

What is this teaching me that I didn't already learn last year (when I figured out how fast I can really write)?

1. My mind is not foggy when a novel idea comes into it. It's fired up and anxious to spit out the story.
2. My fingers can barely keep up with my mind when it's "on a roll" - thus I make a LOT of typos.
3. I "cheat" and do small revisions and re-read what I've already written, nearly every day. That's supposedly a NaNo no-no, but it doesn't effect my word count.
4. I am thankful I've written so much for so long that now it's a lot like auto-pilot; like riding a bicycle. I don't forget, and I rarely get bogged down.

Are there any bad side effects?

Yes.

1. My daughter (who also does NaNo) is intimidated by how fast I write and how I rarely get blocked.
2. I find myself wanting to ignore everything else I need to be doing to stay afloat until the novel is done.
3. I want to brag about how fast I am - but I try to keep my mouth shut.

So, I still recommend this as a writing catharsis. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to be pretty. It just has to be a lot of writing in a short amount of time. The sense of accomplishment is worth all the pain and struggle.

And quite often, the gem is hidden there inside the gush of words that pour out onto the computer screen.

Keep writing!

In case you think no will can possibly like or will buy a novel you slam out in thirty days, read this, and know quite a number of NaNo Novels have been published:

The fear of rejection is worse than rejection itself. ~ Nora Profit