Tuesday, August 18, 2009

More Than One Novel in a Month?

One year was a double NaNoWriMo novel for me. I took on two novels in one month: I created another NaNo account, kept my two accounts active, and wrote the novels in tandem. Both novels went past 50,000 words.

My reasons were far from vain. I had two plots that I wanted to pursue: one was an Apocalyptic novel that had ghosts taking over the world; another was about my characters’ flight to her home country after a messy breakup with her fiancĂ©. They couldn’t be tied in, and I was hungry to write both. So I wrote both; both are still unfinished; but both passed the required word count.

I’m not showing off. I’m sure there are other people who have done more than one novel for NaNoWriMo season, and for reasons that span the range of vanity and sheer excitement. All I’m saying is that it’s possible. If there are plots that you want to put down into writing and you can’t wait until the next November to do it, then by all means, try your hand at putting two novels to paper.

It’s double the fun (or double the torture, depending on who you ask); when November ends and you win for both your works, it’s also double the fulfillment.

There are a few things that you need to do, however. You need to truly plan both novels out if you are hoping to get them published in the future. The storm and speed of NaNoWriMo are already enough for you to forget who your characters are and what your setting is; don’t compound it by diving into your novels unguided and writing.

You may want to do some planning by sketching your settings, writing about your characters, and keeping a journal. Planning pays off, even in the short term. You won’t mix your characters up between your works and you will end up with strongly established plots for your novels as well.

Try your hand at it one November. Have two (or more) NaNoWriMo accounts, open two (or more) files on your computer, and try writing two (or more) novels for the month. Who knows? You could end up with two (or more) complete, ready for publishing novels when December 1 comes along.

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