I tried to finish the nanowrimo - for those of you who don't know, it's an event in which you try to write a novel (50.000 words) during November.
I failed - finished with a measly 35.413 words - but I learned a few lessons.
1st - Preparation is key. This should be obvious, but realizing it is still amazing and you only realize it once you start writing something. I learned the kind of preparation I need and how it best works for me. Thanagherion in this blog was a fully formed character long before I ever started writing about her. I had a good notion what she was, where she came from and how she would behave. Writing something that big from scratch, I realized a "good notion" is not enough - at least for me. So, know your characters. Flesh them out, give them a voice, a face and a mind. Their behaviour will flow for that.
2nd - Realize that writing 50.000 in a month is not going to net you a perfect novel, ready for publishing (if it does kudos to you and you really should stop reading me and start publishing - no sarcasm here!). What it does give you is a very nice first draft. It will still be an accomplishment, but it will need polishing and honing. Once I realized I wasn't going to get the perfect novel in one go, it became liberating: I could just write down, get the words flowing even when I was sure it didn't sound good or perfect. But I was getting some writing done and that is the main thing.
3rd - Write! This should be obvious, but it sometimes isn't. If you are commited to writing a novel you really should get going. Researching is not writing (see first rule). It saves time, makes things better, but it doesn't get you closer to you goal. If you do your research it will save you time, true, but if you get stuck on the research you won't write. Reading your e-mail, watching TV, playing games... all those things aren't writing. They are nice distractions, they will retemper you strenght, but in the end, if you commited to get it done, you need to get you hands down and do it.
These are some of the lessons. They could be broken down into many pratical tips - I learned a few of those, but I won't bore you with those.
Me, I intend to go back and finish what I started, even if it takes another month or so to get that first draft finished.
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