YAY!!! You survived! Or maybe I shouldn’t make any assumptions, there.
But
for the sake of argument, let’s say you survived, not only what was
arguably the worst November in modern history, but Nanowrimo, too, and
now have a rough draft (maybe very, very, very rough draft) of about
50,000 words.
What next?
Well,
first of all, did you write to “The End”? Because if not, then you may
have survived, but you’re not done. You must get through to The End, no
matter how rough it is (rough meaning the process AND the pages…). If
you did not get to The End, I would strongly urge that you NOT take a
break, no matter how tired you are (well, maybe a day). You can slow
down your schedule, set a lower per-day word or page count, but do not stop. Write every day, or every other day if that’s your schedule, but get the sucker done.
You
may end up throwing away most of what you write, but it is a really,
really, really bad idea not to get all the way through a story. That is
how most books, scripts and probably most all other things in life worth
doing are abandoned.
Conversely, if you DID get all the way to “The End”, then definitely, take a break. As
long a break as possible. You should keep to a writing schedule, start
brainstorming the next project, maybe do some random collaging to see
what images come up that might lead to something fantastic - but if you
have a completed draft, then what you need right now is SPACE from it.
You are going to need fresh eyes to do the read-through that is going to
take you to the next level, and the only way for you to get those fresh
eyes is to leave the story alone for a while.
In the next month I'll be posting about rewriting. But not now.
In the next month I'll be posting about rewriting. But not now.
First, no matter where you are in the process, celebrate! You showed up and have the pages to show for it.
Then -
Then -
1. Keep going if you’re not done
OR
2. Take a good long break if you have a whole first draft, and if you MUST think about writing, maybe start thinking about another project.
And in the meantime, I’d love to hear how you all who were Nanoing did.
- Alex
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This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
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Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
---------------------
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
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