NaNoWriMo: How I'm Going to Use This Awesome Opportunity to Revise

https://twitter.com/sydney_strand

November cometh. With it cometh NaNoWriMo. The best month of the writer's year!

And no, in my opinion, you do NOT need to be fast-drafting a First Draft. You can do what I'm doing: revising.

Am I cheating? Uh, how is working on a book, in whatever draft, cheating? And I'm not giving up the awesome camaraderie of NaNoWriMo just because I'm ahead of the curve.

Because I like to banter with fellow tortured souls. I do it on Twitter (sydney_strand), Facebook (sydneystrandauthor), and Instragram (sydneystrand). Come find me! Friend me! Offer me psychological help when I need it!

Now back to your regularly scheduled program...

So exactly how do you use NaNoWriMo if you're revising? Here's what I'm doing (and I highly recommend that you come up with a process, too, that's realistic for the way you work--time-wise and energy-wise):

Days 1-5 (5 Days)
I am re-installing the drives for my printer. It's messed up because I have a Mac and the Amazon reviewers have finally given a workaround. Wish me luck! (Plan B: Staples.)

I am printing out the manuscript, separating it by chapter, and stapling each chapter as a separate entity.

I am interviewing my story one more time. You can find that interview here.

I am creating a checklist of the answers/my random notes to have by my side as I attack this Final Draft.

NOTE: The story is already set to go in Scrivener, all 63 Chapters.

Days 6-15 (10 Days) 
I am revising 5 chapters per day through Chapter 47.

Days 16-20 (5 Days) 
Chapters 48-63 are Draft 2 stuff. That's 16 chapters of slow muck. I can do 3 chapters per day.

Days 21-25 (5 Days)
I need to revise Chapters 48-63, aka, Act III once more. The muck will be gone, but the idiocy of illogical thoughts and stilted transition will still be there. I can do 3 chapters per day again.

Days 24-25 (2 Days)
I will compile the story (remember, it's in Scrivener) into MOBI format and read it on my Kindle app on iPad. This is the "real book" stage.

I will only highlight the issues--character inconsistency, plot hole, forgotten threads, spelling if it's glaring (but I won't be actively looking yet).

Days 26-29 (4 Days)
I will revise the story based on those highlights. I will revise approximately 15 chapters per day.

Day 30
Turn the Scrivener file into a Word file. The act of formatting helps me find a LOT.

Read one more time for issues. Read it in one sitting, on my Adobe Reader app.

Highlight.

Fix.

December
It's ready to leave the nest. And the next story awaits.

If you want to read more, here are my 2014 NaNoWriMo posts, in chronological order:
(Note: It looks like I lost at NaNo, but read all the way to the last post to see how I oh-so-won.)

Twas the Eve Before the Eve Before Nano 

Preparing for NaNoWriMo in Two Days ( A Lesson for All Future Story Prep) 

Winning at NaNoWriMo: Word Vomiting Draft 1 Until Done vs. Writing Drafts 1 & 2 Simultaneously

NaNoWriMo Self-Flagellation: Reassessing Your Unsung Accomplishments

Chasing Rabbits in November

Revising a Book and Writing a Book at the Same Time

Christmas Lights, Book Deadlines, and Letting Go of Perfecton*








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