NaNoWriMo Day 24
I like to be prepared for things. I do research ahead of time if I’m trying something new. I don’t want to show up to whatever it is and feel like a complete dumbass. I may look like one, but I don’t want to feel like one.
So when I was getting ready for my first “real” NaNoWriMo, I tried lots of things. I took a writing course called “Write Your First Novel” through Coursera. I tried reading craft books. I tried reading things on the internet. All of that, I feel, was a total waste of time.
Not knowing then what I do know now, that was like trying to learn to ride a bike by reading books, taking online courses, and watching videos of other people riding bikes. That’s not the way you learn to ride one. You put some training wheels on, get used to how to steer and balance, then take the training wheels off and fall down a bunch of times and get scrapes on your elbows and bruises on your knees and you keep on riding and before you know it, you’re riding a bike.
Learning to write a novel is the same way. You put some training wheels on, which in this case is picking an author you want to sound like and then giving yourself permission to write something really wobbly and scab-inducing. Then as you write, you don’t have to take the training wheels off: they fall off without you even noticing as you gradually and inevitably shed the other voice and develop your own.
Even so, it’s always nice to have some guidance. If you insist on reading ahead of time, you only need to read one book: Chris Baty’s No Plot? No Problem!
Ironically, the first time I read this, I reviewed it on Goodreads and gave it only 3 stars. That’s because I was looking for something substantive and substantial, something lofty and wise like the other craft books I had read. It turns out that the book was wiser than I was at the time, because if you just want to write your first novel in November, it’s actually a 5-star book. You just need to approach it from the right perspective to appreciate it.
The first time I read it, before I’d completed a NaNoWriMo, I was offput by its breeziness. Having re-read it after having completed several since, I get that what I thought was breeziness and lack of depth was actually Baty telling you everything you need to know and (critically) not a single thing more. That’s why it’s only 200 pages: it doesn’t gaze into the navel of every sentence because you don’t have the time to do that.
It may seem odd that I’ve waited until the third week of October to recommend a book to read ahead of time. That’s because the book is designed for you to read only the first half, then to read the rest of it week by week as a companion and cheerleader for you throughout November. That way you’re getting the advice while you’re in the trenches. I scheduled post this for a week from the end of the month on purpose.
There are hundreds of tips scattered throughout it, but the absolute most important takeaway, the only thing you really need to know to get started, is this:
A first draft is an anything-goes space for you to roll up your sleeves and make a terrific mess. It is a place where the writer’s battle plan is redrawn daily; a place where recklessness and risk-taking is rewarded, where half-assed planning and tangential writing can yield unexpectedly amazing results. It is, in short, a place for people like you and me. And when it comes to the topsy-turvy world of the rough draft, the law of the land is best summed up in two words: exuberant imperfection….
The first law of exuberant imperfection is essentially this: The quickest, easiest way to produce something beautiful and lasting is to risk making something horribly crappy.
Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem!
I’m not saying that craft books and courses and videos and all that aren’t useful ever. They’re just more than you need to get ready to write your first novel. Once you have, you’ll understand so much more from the books you read—not just ones with advice, but books you read for pleasure. You can take them apart because you’ve put one together by then.
By all means, read and enjoy weightier books after November is over. Like many things in life, you need the experience to understand the advice, so don’t pile yourself up with preparation.
Feel free to pick up a copy of No Plot? No Problem! wherever you like. If you have an independent bookstore near you, I highly recommend you support them, even if they may not be the cheapest. Bookshop.org gives you the opportunity to do that but still has the convenience of online shopping.
However, if you purchase it through the Amazon link, I earn a small commission. I do not use this blog as a source of income; as I say in my Privacy & Affiliates policy page, any commissions I receive are donated to charity. (Not enough to offset the goodness of supporting your local bookstore, so try there or Bookshop.org first!)
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