December 1, 2009

END!: What to Do After NaNoWriMo

Congratulations! You lived through November!

So where are you now? Do you still have 10,000-50,000 words left to write in your first draft? If you've finished your first draft, are you moving on to revising? Or are you ready to collapse in a heap and breathe for the next few days?

Once you finish your first draft, you should choose the latter. Seriously. The best thing you can do as a writer is put your completed first draft aside and not look at it--that's right, don't think, look, touch, or peek--for two weeks (give or take). Enjoy some time off and forget about your book. Like a good roast, it needs to settle before you start slicing into it.

So, for the next two weeks, I'll be hunting for articles that help you 1) revise and 2) write beautifully. Because we all know first drafts are ugly.

So let's start of with an article from this writer's life on getting the hook. A simple concept, but one you should keep in mind while you go through your manuscript in a couple weeks.

By the way, if you haven't signed up to receive updates about Holly Lisle's How to Revise Your Novel class, now would be a good time for that. It's going to start soon.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great! Congrads on finishing. Whats your story book about?

Unknown said...

I finished Song of the Muse. You can read a brief description under My Projects:
http://emilycaseysmusings.blogspot.com/p/my-projects.html

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