Camp NaNoWriMo: Happy Camper
This month, I’m using Camp NaNoWriMo to edit Blood Tide, the novel I wrote back in November. They used to call folks like me “editing rebels” since we weren’t actually writing during camp, but editing’s now been brought into the fold as a regular option.
And yes, my first draft is very, very bad. The writing is clumsy. Characters behave in inexplicable and inconsistent ways. My settings lack detail and depth. That’s OK. This is the part where I get to beat the crap out of the draft and tear it apart and then flesh it out and weave in what I’ve worked out about the characters and the story since last year.
This hasn’t been easy. I’ve been uncovering all the little tricks I used to keep the story moving forward during NaNoWriMo. Those served their purpose, but now most of them need to come out as I figure out better, more sensible ways to move the story along.
I’ve been sharing details from the story all month on Twitter as part of the #WIPjoy hashtag (more info here). I’m @insomnicole over on Twitter if you’re curious to see little bits and pieces about the novel every day.
And a bit of news about the very first NaNoWriMo novel I wrote back in 2011: In March, after six years, I finally started querying agents with that novel, now named The Fire Before. I entered my 35-word pitch and the book’s first 250 words in Pitch Madness in late February, and I was shocked and thrilled when my novel was selected to go to the agent round and then earned a partial request from an agent. No other news on it yet (other than one quick rejection from another agent), but at least it’s out there, and Pitch Madness was an exciting and fun experience.
I’m just hoping it won’t take me six more years to get Blood Tide ready to start querying.
