The Incredible Shrinking Novel (aka, What NaNo Taught Me)

[cheekychook]

Anyone who has followed the past eight months worth of my posts knows that I'm not exactly short on words. This applies not only to my posts but to my fiction writing as well. I'm a wordy gal. A prolific writer. I can't even get to the point of this post without all this blathering. My complete novel, Meant To Be, which I'm in the process of querying, topped out at around 150k...I edited it more times than I can count and slowly watched it dwindle to 129...then 119...112...then 109...until I eventually got it down to 106k. I managed to do all of that without taking out any plot lines, losing any story, deleting any scenes. I was shocked and extremely pleased. Originally my goal was to get below 120, then it was to get below 110---I couldn't believe I'd gotten it down to 106k. I stopped editing. I'd gotten to the point where I knew I'd be taking out "good stuff" if I went any further.

All that editing is taxing. And querying is a soul-sucking process. That's what compelled me to spend November NaNoing. I never tried NaNo before but I knew I needed a month to focus on something other than query letters and my complete novel. Since I was still in so deep with my characters, and since I had a brand new idea for a completely stand alone book involving them, I decided to NaNo using my existing characters. (Meant To Be is a story of a man and woman who meet, become friends, fall in love and eventually get together at the end....the NaNo is the story of their life as a married couple.)

Meant To Be is written in the 3rd person with multiple pov---it originally had four viewpoint characters. The two main characters had the vast majority of pov scenes, but the other two major characters each had several pov scenes.

Since the NaNo had the same main characters I wrote it in 3rd person with alternating pov between the two of them. Although one of the other characters from Meant To Be also reappears in the NaNo I didn't give her a pov this time. I didn't think about it while I was writing, I just wrote---60k words of what will probably be a 90k word novel (I have it all plotted in my head, I just need to write the parts I didn't get to finish). I still haven't reread it. I'm letting it sit for a while so that when I do read it I can do so with totally fresh eyes. In the meantime the other day I had an epiphany of sorts (or maybe it was just too much sugar, not sure). In any case, I realized that, while interesting, the scenes in Meant To Be that are written from the pov of the non-main characters could all have been written from the pov of one or the other main character. So I went back and rewrote them all.

Meant To Be is now a 3rd person alternating pov book, with pov switches between the two main characters...no plot line deleted...and I think the scenes are actually even stronger. And (drum roll please) it's now complete at 102k words. (101k if your go by pages instead of msword wordcount.)

So, for anyone who's skeptical about the validity of NaNo, I got four major benefits from the experience....the knowledge that I can write 60k words in a month, the much needed distraction/time away from obsessive querying, 2/3 of my second novel underway, and a breakthrough regarding the novel I'd thought was as finished and edited as I could get it on my own. Not bad for a month's work. And to those of you who think your novel can't be edited down any further without losing important plot/scenes/words....it probably can. Really.

I'd go back and edit this post but I have to get those extra words in somewhere so I think I'll just leave them here. :)

[Fenris]

I know exactly what you mean. Admittedly, my edit wasn't quite as drastic as yours--my first draft topped out at 105.5k, and I whittled it down to about 98.5k. It really is astonishing that one can remove so many words from a manuscript and not ruin anything (especially in your case--nearly 45k removed! Wow! I'd cut my book in half if I did that!), but there it is.

I actually did not participate in NaNo this year. I know, shame on me. But I wasn't idle. I was tweaking my manuscript as well as giving feedback to my crit partners. July was my NoWriMo; I wrote my entire WIP during that month (well, plus the first four days of August, but still). I think I earned a break, at least until next year. :)

[Cookie]

I think my novel needs that. I've actually been considering going back and removing all the useless junk in my book. We'll see where that takes me! But now that you've said you can do it, I think I can too. *crosses fingers*

[Louise Curtis]

Bizarrely, my nano novels get longer with editing. I realise I haven't given any kind of sensory data, and every conversation and action is happening in a vacuum. Even after deleting a lot, adding in description makes things longer.

I did NaNo last year, and decided (since I'd been told I needed more action in other books) to write down every possible physical conflict I could think of, then string them together into a book. At one stage my narrator is chased through bushland by a swarm of evil bees. She also encounters dogs, snakes, evil children, good cops, bad cops, etc etc. At one stage she and the Prime Minister come to blows.

Not sure this was the best way to plan a novel ;)

[Quill]

Cheekychook, I think it is amazing that you took that book down from 120k to 102k without losing anything. Let this be an example for us all. And kudos for the meshing of character points of view that helped that happen. Sounds like the story is really tight now and ready for prime time. Good luck on placing it. The latest word count can only help you, I'm sure.

Glad NaNo had so many benefits. I think I'd consider doing it if I was prepared like that and needed the break from editing. We all know editing -- and querying! -- can be a headfull and a heartfull. I'm glad NaNo is out there. Who would attempt a marathon like this on one's own?

[Robin]

Kudos for hitting 100K!!! I barely squeaked by at 50,600. I've found myself deleting a lot of crap, but also adding lots. I think I'll end up with an additional 10-15K when I'm finished.