As you can see on my word count meter on the sidebar, I'm currently sitting at just under 21,000 words. I'm a wee bit behind. And yes, I am the queen of understatements. ;) But I'm not worried. Much. I know I can crank out a lot of words pretty fast, but apparently November 30th still seems far enough away for me to not be concerned. Not that I want to be concerned, anyway, because NaNo is supposed to be all about freeing your creative side and banishing your inner editor to the broom closet, where she belongs. This is supposed to be FUN. So stressing about it is totally counterproductive.
Heck, I'm just happy to be maintaining enthusiasm for my third from the ground up rewrite of Virgin Territory in the last year. Won't even mention the revision drafts in there, either. But this experience has taught me an important lesson. A couple of them, actually. If you're targeting a line, make sure you have a solid grasp of what that line's requirements are before you sit down to write. Chances are good the editors of that particular line won't change their guidelines to fit you, so that means if you haven't done your homework, something will have to change - and that something is your story. ;) Another important lesson is to be careful what characters you let out of your imagination, because some of them won't let you move on to the next story when you get tired of trying to tell THEIR story the way it should be told.
Later this week I intend to post about my recent conversation with Brenda Chin, Senior Editor of Harlequin's Blaze line. She's a terrific editor and we had a great conversation, which I want to talk about a little here. Becoming a Blaze author is my quest in life at the moment, so I definitely took Brenda's suggestions seriously.
And to everyone NaNo-ing like me - or just trying to meet personal deadlines - keep plugging along. Every word you write gets you closer to the two best words ever: THE END. :)
5 comments:
You said it! NaNo gets harder, not easier, as the month goes on, but the end is so worth it.
I'm off to write my 2K for today.
I gave up NaNo for edits. LOL.
I hear nothing but good things about Brenda. I'd be interested to see what she had to say.
Hang in there!! :)
OH btw Tantalizing Treats still hasn't come from my publisher yet ... once it does I'll email you and let you know it's flinging your way. :)
Keep plugging with the nano--you'll make it. I admire you girls who can crank out words so fast.
And it is so true about knowing your target-- I studied each Nocturne in depth and the guidelines religiously before even attempting to write one.
Good luck with Blaze. And I do look forward to the editor's post.
Congrats on your word total so far, Cari!
And I look forward to your post on what the editor is looking for in Blaze!!
Hi Cari! Keep plugging. ;)
Brenda is great, no question, and I have always found that editorial suggestions for revisions are right on the mark. Even when I didn't like them, usually once I get started, I find they really do work. Also, though, you can take them in your own direction -- I think most editorial suggestions are given to a writer to see what you will do with them, and you can make changes of your own as well -- they really, ultimately, want to see you take the ball and run with it. I know that's particularly true of Brenda.
You'll kick butt, I have no doubt...
Sam
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