Finish Book 1 First

A pact has been made. Book One MUST be completed and edited before work can recommence on book two.

As you probably know, I’ve been very distracted and lazy lately. I am close, very close to finalizing the manuscript I have been editing and revising since July. It is the first book in a series. I sent it out to beta readers and then sat back to read some books, play video games, and otherwise NOT write. I really wanted to keep the story fresh in mind so I haven’t let myself start any new writing projects.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is quickly approaching. A writer friend of mine brought it up, saying that she planned to participate. I’m not sure if I convinced her to let us be support buddies for it or if she asked me, but we were definitely both on the same page about wanting to write ALL November and encourage each other throughout it.

I’ve been going back and forth all afternoon trying to decide if I want to write something new or carry on with book two of my series. My friend is oddly in the exact same boat I am, almost done editing a book one and wanting to NaNoWriMo her book two. Wise friend that she is, she said that the point of NaNoWriMo is really to get you going in the right direction, to get you writing. I came up with the idea of writing a fairy tale (that probably won’t reach 50k words) and then finishing up the month with work on my book two (because I already have 140k words written toward that story but I don’t know how much of it I can use).

BUT–November 1 is nearly here! I really want and need to finish my current manuscript BEFORE I completely shelve it to work on another project. The same goes for my friend. She is super close to finishing with her book one too. So, I came up with an idea.

Since NaNoWriMo is meant to serve us (writers) and be helpful rather than inconvenient, we will both simply start the challenge late…probably. We have a few days left before November 1st, but if we don’t BOTH finish our book ones we will postpone starting our new projects for a few days until we do.

Yay for having writing buddies! Hopefully, our newfound enthusiasm for writing will kick us both into high gear and we will each finish our respective book ones before November 1st, but if not, it’s nice to know that we can start late together and still participate!

So, for all you writers out there, whether you are participating in National Novel Writing Month or not, (1) find an encourager, maybe a critique partner, writing buddy, or loving family member, and (2) remember that things like NaNoWriMo are meant to help you and motivate you, not tear you down or make you feel like crap (also, it’s a good idea to finish your books in order: one then two, then three… 😉). Good luck if you are participating in NaNoWriMo. Hope you have lots of fun!