Transitioning from the high-speed, deadline-driven mayhem of NaNoWriMo back into the real world can be a little difficult. Undone homework is piled up all around you, your family and friends are confused at our presence, and you suddenly have to measure achievement in something other than your increasing word count.
It all adds up to a sudden loss of focus, and its easy to feel uncomfortably aimless and a little down in the dumps. Veteran participants call it the post-NaNo blues, and it tends to last anywhere from a couple days to eleven months, depending on what sort of November you had. As tempting as it is to try and keep the blues at bay by tackling another huge writing project right away, what your body and brain really need at this point is rest. Or some manic holiday eating. Whichever comes first.
To get the writerly ball rolling again after your energy recharges, we've also added the December and Beyond forums to the site, dedicated exclusively to life after NaNo.
Next stop on the Office of Letters and Light's rollercoaster of joyful mayhem: Script Frenzy, where we write a screenplay or stage play in the month of April (we moved it from June to April so more school classes could take part). All of us on staff jumped into the Frenzy last year and it was a complete blast. Bonus: You can use your NaNo username and password to log in to the Script Frenzy site. Things will be pretty mellow in Frenzyland until March 1, when we'll launch a month of prep before our scriptwriting adventures begin.
There are also heaps of events run by other people to provide some structure and community for your post-NaNo endeavors. We're not affiliated with any of these, but as far as we know, all of these events are free and open to everyone. If you know of any other sites or events we should be posting here, drop us a line! Below you will find these events, advice on the revision process from published authors, writing contests and magazines to submit your writing to, and info on youth writing centers in your area!
NaNoWriMo-style Events Coming Up on the Horizon
NaNoFiMo.org - National Novel Finishing Month (December). Goal: 30,000 words.
JaNoWriMo - January Novel Writing Month (January). Goal: 50,000 words, or whatever goal you set.
FAWM - February Album Writing Month (February). Goal: Write 14 original songs in a month.
NaNoEdMo - National Novel Editing Month (March). Goal: Commit to 5 hours of novel editing.
JulNoWriMo - July Novel Writing Month (July). Goal: 50,000 words for a new or unfinished manuscript.
24 Hour Comics Day - (Changes annually, lasts 24 hours). Goal: Draw a 24-page comic in one 24-hour period.
48 Hour Film Project - (Varies; operates via tours around the USA, lasts 48 hours). Goal: Create a short film in 48 hours.
Book in a Week - (Begins on the Monday of the first full week of each month, lasts one week). Goal: Write a novel.
Mad Challenge - (Varies). Goal: Complete a variety of point challenges issued by moderators, including writing 10,000 in 5 hours.
April Fool's - (April). Goal: Set a word-count goal for yourself and fulfill it by the end of the month.
3-Day Novel Contest - (August 30-September 1). Goal: Write a novel in three days.
NaPlWriMo - National Playwriting Month (November). Goal: Write a play in one month.
NaNoMangO - The artist's alternative to NaNoWriMo (November). Goal: Draw 30 pages of sequential art in one month.
NaNoPubYe - National Novel Publishing Year (Year-Round). Goal: Get that NaNoWriMo novel ready for publication!
Revision Advice
These were written for the main site, but I though they were so good, I would steal them from Chris and put them here. So ignore the parts about writing 50,000 words if your word-count goal was lower.
Gayle Brandeis. Gayle is the author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write, Dictionary Poems, and The Book of Dead Birds, which won Barbara Kingsolver’s Bellwether Prize for Fiction in Support of a Literature of Social Change. Her second novel, Self Storage was written during NaNoWriMo and was published by Ballantine in 2007. Gayle’s poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies and have received several awards, including the QPB/Story Magazine Short Story Award, a Barbara Mandigo Kelley Peace Poetry Award, and a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund.
The best thing you can do before revising a NaNo novel is give yourself a well deserved break. You worked fast and furious for 30 days; give yourself and your novel some time to cool off. It's only when you have some distance from your story that you'll be able to see it clearly enough to hunker down into the serious work of editing. It may be hard to see anything clearly for a while after being in such a word-drunk daze of a month. Take some time to let your eyes stop spinning in your head, to let the scenes stop unfurling in your mind, to let the dream of the novel settle back into its subconscious cave before you face the reality of the words on the page.
When you're ready to start revising, be kind with yourself but brutal with your work. Don't beat yourself up about the state of the novel—it's supposed to be rough at this stage. Now is the time when you can make it shine. Slash every word, every sentence, every scene that doesn't nourish the story, that doesn't either move the story forward or illuminate the characters in some important way. You may want to break the novel down into an outline (even if you wrote an outline to start with, this outline will be different; this is an outline of what is, not what could be)&$151when you boil each scene down to a sentence or so, it can help you see where the holes are in the story, where the narrative gets bogged down with too much description and not enough action, where you may have left unanswered questions, abandoned characters. Make sure that you weave in lots of sensory detail throughout the story, that you're showing your character's world in a three dimensional way rather than just telling the reader about it. You might need another set of eyes to help you figure out what needs to be fleshed in, what needs to be cut out—even with distance, sometimes it can be hard to see our own work clearly. So ask someone you trust to read it and give their opinion. Take their ideas seriously but continue to listen to your own gut. Ultimately you have the final say in your story. It's your vision, your baby. Congratulations on its wild and woolly birth!
The worst thing you can do when you revise your NaNo novel is take yourself too seriously. It's fine to take the work seriously—in fact, it's wonderful and important to take the work seriously—but as soon as you start to take yourself too seriously, you'll lose all the joy in the process. And you'll do your novel a great disservice. You'll find yourself clinging to every precious word, even when some those words stick out like weeds and desperately need to be hacked away. Remember: more than likely, these raw, juicy 50,000 words are just a road map to the novel they are meant to become. Revision is about burning away all the dross and shaping and honing what's left behind into something gorgeous and gleaming. When you take yourself too seriously, you'll feel every cut in your own heart; you'll start to resist change, and revision will be a very painful, maybe even nearly-impossible, experience. So relax. Have fun with the process. Give yourself and your novel room to breathe and grow. And don't be in a rush to send it out to agents and publishers. The first draft was written in a rush, yes, but now is the time to slow down, to craft the narrative in a more conscious and thoughtful way. Get your baby all cleaned up, all bright and shiny, before you send it out into the world. You have done something great this NaNo month; now you can make it even greater. I wish you the best of luck!
And next, David Niall Wilson. David has been writing professionally since the mid 1980s. With twelve novels sold or published and over 150 short stories, including those collected in Defining Moments, his new book from World Fantasy Award Winning SAROB PRESS in the UK, and one produced feature-length screenplay, Godhead. David's most recent NaNoWriMo novel to be published was The Mote in Andrea's Eye. His next book is Ancient Eyes a dark fantasy novel of spiritual courage and dark, ancient evil, due from Bloodletting Press in late 2007.
Well, first off, I don't treat NaNoWriMo novels any differently than any other novel. When I'm working, I write two to three thousand words a day, sometimes more. Most of my novels have been completed in two months or less. My first published novel (not written for NaNoWriMo) was written in twenty-one days, and is still my most popular. That said, there are a lot of good and bad ideas involved with revising any project, and I'll do my best to cover the ones I think are most important, both positive, and negative. I'll tackle the bad idea first.
The worst thing you can do when your novel is complete it and slap it into an envelope, or an e-mail, and send it off to a publisher. I don't care how good you are, a novel is never completely clean and ready to go on the first run through. It's a good idea to step away from it, work on something else, play with your dog, and introduce yourself to the family you haven't seen much of since you typed that first page. Do not believe that because you put 50, 60, or even 100,000 words down on paper (or the screen) that it means you are ready for the best-seller list. It means that you've reached the end of stage one. You do not want to see the response you will get if you send that thing off sight unseen.
Among the best things you can do is to get yourself a small group of critical readers. Every year I start a Yahoo mailing list and let folks read along as I write my novel during NaNoWriMo. I collect their comments, their criticisms, and any praise they might have, but I don't pay any attention to it until I'm done with the first draft. Then, when the ink (or phosphor) has "dried"—I start at the beginning and slowly go through the entire manuscript. I look at the things others have pointed out, and I always find things that bother me, or that I forgot. It usually takes two good solid runs at a manuscript for me to be reasonably satisfied and ready to present it as a finished novel. Then, I send it to my agent, he tells me why I'm wrong, and I start again. Writing the novel is the easy part.
Some Thoughts on Publishing Before You Submit
And speaking of book forms, a growing number of NaNoWriMo authors have sold their November novels to publishers. We love this, and have a collection of NaNoWriMo books that have been purchased by publishing houses in a place of honor in the NaNo office.
Publication is a great goal, no doubt about it. But we'd be remiss if we didn't also point out that there are quite a few people and companies who make their living taking advantage of inexperienced novelists. If you're setting out to find an agent or publisher for your NaNo-novel, please familiarize yourself with some of the traps and pitfalls that you might encounter along the way. Amber the Librarian has laid out a handy reference guide on the Ambers Virtual Library page: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/1072366. Make sure you also check out all the other really cool stuff on that page, especially the part about young authors just like you getting published!
Places to Submit
After you revise your novels, it’s time to take the next step and submit. It is scary—we know—but you will feel so good after you send out your stories. And you will be surprised at the great responses you get from magazines and contests. When you do, make sure to let us know by emailing us your success stories to ywp@nanowrimo.org! And don’t get discouraged if you don’t win every contest right off the bat. You may receive your fair share of rejection. Look at each rejection letter you get as another step closer to getting published. It means that you are actually doing something to get there! Below you will find a list of contests and magazines you should all submit to.
Next Step Shout Out Writing Contest for Teens
Deadline: Ongoing
Categories: Poetry, Fiction
Fee: Free
Prize: One $100 winner will be chosen per issue and will be published in The Next Step Magazine
Details: Register with the website and post your story, check this forum post about contest guidelines
Intergeneration Foundation's Storytelling Contest
Deadline: August 15
Categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction
Fee: Free
Prize: 1st prize - $500, 2nd prize - $300, 3rd prize - $100; each includes publication on Intergeneration Day's website
Details: "We invite people of all ages to tell us a story: a narrative of their family’s history or traditions or a story from their imagination. Whether fiction or non-fiction, the story should illustrate intergeneration needs, connections and understanding, and feature characters from at least two generations."
Kids Can Do It Writing Contest
Deadline: The end of every month; new contest begins at the start of every month
Categories: Depends on the topic at the time
Fee: Free
Prize: "Winner will receive $50.00, an autographed book from Sandra McLeod Humphrey, and an award certificate to hang in your room. The next four finalists will receive autographed books from Sandra McLeod Humphrey and award certificates."
Details: "In 300 words or less, tell us your true story about the most difficult decision you've had to make between right and wrong. New winners will be picked every three months."
Contact: info@onthespotsolutions.com
Kids Are Authors Contest
Deadline: March 15 2008
Categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction
Fee: Free
Prize: Winning books will be published by Scholastic and distributed throughout the country.
Details: "Kids Are Authors is an annual competition open to Grades K–8 and is designed to encourage students to use their reading, writing, and artistic skills to create their own books. Under the guidance of a project coordinator, children work in teams of three or more students to write and illustrate their own book."
Contact: 1-800-874-4809 ext. 8175 or email.
Journals and Magazines
TWAP Journal—This journal is a collection of the work the teens in the Teen Writers and Artists Project, an Illinois-based non-profit organization for writers and artists aged 14 to 18.
Teen Ink—Teen Ink is a national magazine, book series, and website devoted entirely to teenage writing and art. Its content is derived exclusively from submissions by teens nationwide.
Stone Soup—Stone Soup is made up entirely of the creative work of children ages 8 to 13, including stories, poems, book reviews, and artwork. It is published six times a year.
Cobblestone & Cricket—Cobblestone & Cricket has a magazine and book for blossoming young authors of any age.
Get Involved
We have found a ton of writing centers and programs for kids all around the U.S. and Beyond. If you see one in your area on this list, pay them a visit. These centers are great places to learn more about the craft of writing, meet other writers, and to actually write! We will keep adding to this list as we hear of new places through out the year.
Alabama: Coming soon!
Alaska: Coming soon!
Arizona
Phoenix: Arizona State Young Writers Program—The ASU Young Writers Program's mission is to maximize educational opportunities for Arizona students through the development and implementation of programs that support the K-12 community. YWP's focus is to provide arts-based opportunities for Arizona students in grades 4-12 to experience writing as a powerful means of self-discovery and expression.
Arkansas: Coming soon!
California
Los Angeles: 826LA—This is an innovative tutoring, writing, and publishing nonprofit based in seven cities around the USA. Their focus is cultivating the writing skills of students ages 6-18 and keeping them motivated via tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-school programs.
San Francisco: 826 Valencia—This is an innovative tutoring, writing, and publishing nonprofit based in seven cities around the USA. Their focus is cultivating the writing skills of students ages 6-18 and keeping them motivated via tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-school programs.
San Diego: Eco Expression Eco Writing for Youth—Eco Expressions is a nature-writing program for youth. Healthy lifestyles are encouraged through. Students learn to respect all life and develop critical thinking and self-reflection.
Colorado: Coming soon!
Connecticut: Coming soon!
Delaware: Coming soon!
Florida: Coming soon!
Georgia: Coming soon!
Hawaii: Coming soon!
Idaho: Coming soon!
Illinois:
Chicago: 826CHI—This is an innovative tutoring, writing, and publishing nonprofit based in seven cities around the USA. Their focus is cultivating the writing skills of students ages 6-18 and keeping them motivated via tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-school programs.
Teen Writers and Artists Project—The TWAP is an Illinois-based non-profit that supplies a resource for writers and artists age 14-18 to obtain training and support in their craft.
Young Chicago Authors—Young Chicago Authors encourages self-expression and literacy through creative writing, performance and publication. YCA provides student-centered, artist-led workshops free to youth ages 13-19 in schools and communities.
Indiana: Coming soon!
Iowa: Coming soon!
Kansas: Coming soon
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Kentucky: Coming soon!
Louisiana: Coming soon!
Maine: Coming soon!
Maryland: Coming soon!
Massachusetts :
Boston: 826 Boston—This is an innovative tutoring, writing, and publishing nonprofit based in seven cities around the USA. Their focus is cultivating the writing skills of students ages 6-18 and keeping them motivated via tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-school programs.
Pittsfield: Word Street—Word Street is a drop-in tutoring center and literary arts center located in Pittsfield, MA. They aim to provide a supplemental educational environment that encourages creativity and enhances the reading and writing skills of kids in the Pittsfield and Berkshire areas.
Michigan
Ann Arbor: 826 Michigan—This is an innovative tutoring, writing, and publishing nonprofit based in seven cities around the USA. Their focus is cultivating the writing skills of students ages 6-18 and keeping them motivated via tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-school programs.
Minnesota
Minneapolis: The Loft Literary Center Youth Programs—The Loft Literary Center offers a wide range of programs for young readers and writers. From exciting summer workshops for children, to cutting-edge spoken word events for older teens, to special programs for young people in need, the Loft has something for everyone.
Mississippi: Coming soon!
Missouri: Coming soon!
Montana: Coming soon!
Nebraska: Coming soon!
Nevada: Coming soon!
New Hampshire: Coming soon!
New Jersey: Coming soon!
New Mexico: Coming soon!
New York
New York City: 826NY—This is an innovative tutoring, writing, and publishing nonprofit based in seven cities around the USA. Their focus is cultivating the writing skills of students ages 6-18 and keeping them motivated via tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-school programs.
The Urban Word—Urban Word NYC™ (UW) exists to ensure that New York City youth have a safe, supportive, dynamic and challenging community in which to discover their powerful voices - through written and spoken word - and use them to express their views, strengthen self-esteem and engage them in opportunities that address the sociopolitical issues that affect them.
North Carolina: Coming soon!
North Dakota: Coming soon!
Ohio
Columbus: The Thurber House—Thurber House is dedicated to promoting the literary arts by presenting quality literary programming; increasing the awareness of literature as a significant art form; promoting excellence in writing; providing support for literary artists; and commemorating Thurber's literary and artistic achievements.
Cincinnati: Teen Writers' Salon at InkTank—The Teen Writers' Salon series is for all those aspiring teen writers to be able to share their work, give and receive feedback, helping each other to polish their writing skills.
Oklahoma: Coming soon!
Oregon: Coming soon!
Pennsylvania: Coming soon!
Rhode Island: Coming soon!
South Carolina: Coming soon!
South Dakota: Coming soon!
Tennessee: Coming soon!
Texas: Coming soon!
Utah: Coming soon!
Vermont: Coming soon!
Virginia: Coming soon!
Washington
Seattle: 826 Seattle—This is an innovative tutoring, writing, and publishing nonprofit based in seven cities around the USA. Their focus is cultivating the writing skills of students ages 6-18 and keeping them motivated via tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-school programs.
Richard Hugo House—Huge House believes you're never too young to begin practicing the habits of a lifetime. Through their writing classes for youth they encourage and inspire independent, young writers ages eight to fourteen in a safe and positive atmosphere.
West Virginia: Coming soon!
Wisconsin
Milwaukee: Woodland Pattern Book Center—Woodland Pattern Book Center is dedicated to the discovery, cultivation and presentation of contemporary literature and the arts.
Wyoming: Coming soon!
Canada
Young Writers' Club—The Young Writers' Club provides its members with writing challenges, a variety of resources, and online feedback for grades 5 and up. Members in the North Vancouver area can also participate in monthly workshops.
Thanks, authors! And happy NaNo off-season, everyone! If you have any suggestions on ways we could improve the event for 2008 (or really loved something we did this year and want to let us know about it), drop us a note in the Site and Message Board Feedback area of the forums.
Thanks so much to everyone who participated in 2007, and a special hug to our donors and