Today, please welcome with me our Guest Author — TG Franklin
Pon Farr. Star Trek describes this Vulcan phenomenon as “an extreme and erratic physical and psychological imbalance.”
Writers, as a species, have a similar cycle.
We call it National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, and it’s only ten days away.
The challenge of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
Many authors have completed the challenge and have had success with their NaNo novels.
Confession time: I’m not one of them.
As a panster, I usually fizzle out around day 10.
Trying to find a pre-planning, plotting strategy that works for me has been a struggle (and believe me, I’ve tried a lot of them).
This year, I’ll be working on the second book of the Genviants series, Earthfall.
Because it’s the second book in the series, I know where the story starts and where it ends. I know my characters inside and out.
For my NaNo prep, I have a mind map on my white board with lots of notes and situations. (I find I prefer the term “situations” to “plot points.” My mind wraps around it much easier.)
That’s it. No outlines. No plot summaries. No details.
I need your help! Any and all suggestions for writing a first draft quickly, getting rid of your internal editor, or keeping your sanity during NaNo are welcome.
TG Franklin is the urban fantasy/sci-fi pseudonym of award-winning romance author Jessie Verino. Heavenfall, the first book in the Genviants series is due for release in late 2013. You can find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/TG–Franklin/132969890226451
Thanks for dropping by TG Franklin. We can’t wait to have this one on our to read shelf.
Leanne Tyler 
Last year, I did reach the goal of 50,000 words, and when I read back over what I wrote, I was pleasantly surprised. I’m also a pantser, but sometimes, I will do an outline/timeline, whatever you want to call it. What worked for me was making the commitment to spend at least 2 hours writing, even on work days. On my 2 days off, I usually wrote for 6-8 hours or more. Best advice, sit your butt down in front of your PC until you’ve been there for at least 2 hours. If you stare at the screen long enough, the words WILL come! LOL
Wish it worked for me! It’s not so much the time I spend in the chair, but the time I spend on each word. My internal editor is my worst enemy when I’m writing. It’s a compulsion I can’t seem to ignore. If I change my mind, need to correct a mistake, or think a sentence is slightly off, I must fix it then and there. I’m really hoping this year’s NaNo will cure me.
Good luck with it. TG The last time I tried it…I ended up rewriting about 45k of the finished product, repeatedly. To this day, It’s a hot mess. I hope it works for my friends that are trying it but I won’t force myself through that pace again if I can help it. 🙂
Thanks, Juli! And good luck to everyone participating.
After several years of fizzing out, I’ve often thought that I just wasn’t cut out for NaNo, but I keep going back. 😉