{"id":912,"date":"2014-12-02T20:18:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T01:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/?p=912"},"modified":"2014-12-02T20:19:22","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T01:19:22","slug":"nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-910 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner-1024x378.jpg\" alt=\"Winner-2014-Web-Banner\" width=\"900\" height=\"332\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m proud to say that I\u2019m part of the horde of writers who spent the last month pumping out word count in between working, trying to launch a book, and generally having some semblance of a life wrapped around 1,667 words a day.<\/p>\n<p>I'd like to joyously proclaim that I made it! I validated my novel Sunday morning the 30<sup>th<\/sup> at 50,299 words. Well, I say novel, but it\u2019s really more like half a novel. Either way, I logged 50,299 <em>good<\/em> words. \u201cGood\u201d meaning what I have on paper can be edited without too much pain or bloodshed.<\/p>\n<p>After winning NaNo two years in a row, I think I\u2019ve figured out a few things that might help others. Last year was crazy, I was on fire. Whole &#8216;nother ball of wax this year when I started from a full stop. I'd actually planned on working on a different project, then a story that didn\u2019t exist called my name and I went running.<\/p>\n<p>Both years I followed the same advice with the same pleasant result. So, take what you think might help you, and leave the rest\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Outline <\/strong>\u2013 I\u2019m a pantser, so when I say \u2018outline\u2019, I\u2019m talking 2-3 pages, not some maniacal twenty page tome. Ideally, have it ready before November 1<sup>st<\/sup>. Uh, yeah, that didn\u2019t happen this year until the end of the first week of NaNo.<\/li>\n<li><strong>At least know your two main characters <\/strong>&#8211; After spending a full day meditating on \u201cWho is &lt;sexy male main character&gt;?\u201d A day later, I had an answer and was ready to go.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pick a familiar setting<\/strong> \u2013 You won\u2019t have time to research, so pick a setting you know. Do all your base research in October, and then put notes and placeholders in areas where you need more.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Liberal use of the word ZIBBIT<\/strong> \u2013 Thanks to one of the NaNo participant\u2019s posts last year, I latched onto this brilliant use of a made up word for places I needed to come back to. Use FIND to pull up all instances when you are finally ready to edit.<\/li>\n<li><strong>I ignore the \u2018no edit\u2019 rule in favor of the &#8216;light edit' rule <\/strong>\u2013 This works for me, it may not work for you. I reread every scene 4-5 times before I move on to write the next one. If I\u2019m stuck, I can usually \u2018unstick\u2019 myself as I reread it and solve for gaps. Otherwise, I resign to finish those parts later. Remember that I said I\u2019ve written 50K good words, not perfect, only good.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Write the scenes burning a hole in your head<\/strong> \u2013 Momentum happens when you\u2019re excited about what you\u2019re writing. If a chapter or scene is leaving you dry, move on.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scene writing <\/strong>\u2013 I followed very simple scene writing rules. You know that phrase, \u2018skip the boring parts\u2019? I start every chapter \u2018in medius res\u2019 with some sort of action or dialogue, have a goal \/ tension \/ conflict, and end on a hook. I also keep each chapter under 1500 words.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Experience is your friend <\/strong>\u2013 Last year\u2019s NaNo novel was my third book, so I kind of knew the drill. It helps. Trust me.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t stop to second guess yourself, just write<\/strong> \u2013 If it\u2019s on the page, it can be edited.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take breaks \u2013 <\/strong>You can accomplish a lot in even 15 minutes. I tend to write in 45 minute chunks before work, and then in one- and two-hour increments with breaks in between on weekends. If you\u2019re stuck, get up and take a break. Walking the dogs helped me to jell my ideas and move on when I sat back down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So what did you do that worked? I\u2019d love to compare notes.<\/p>\n<p>As far as the agent&#8230; I mentioned that I was on fire last year. The novel I produced in 8 weeks as part of NaNo was entered into the 2014 RWA Golden Heart Contest by December 10<sup>th<\/sup> last year. I missed making finalist in my category by one point. So close, yet so far!<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward to August. I worked on a non-book project with a wonderful, visionary literary agent. Ironically, one year earlier before we met, she spoke at the Writer's Digest Conference as part of an agent panel on alternate publishing options. As a result of her presentation, I was inspired to pursue publishing my debut novel with She Writes Press.<\/p>\n<p>So, this August, after a successful collaboration on a business project, I felt comfortable enough to ask for her advice on what I should do about my NaNo novel: self-pub, or try to go big. I thought maybe she\u2019d read my 4 page synopsis and give me her opinion. Instead, she asked for the full manuscript and read it within one week. After a final professional proofread, she read it a second time and I signed with her in early November. The interesting part: she is the perfect agent for me, and I\u2019m so excited to work with her on this project. I am proud to say that I'm now repped by April Eberhardt of AE Literary for my 2013 NaNo novel. The fun begins in January \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>Moral of the story: NaNo dreams do come true!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m proud to say that I\u2019m part of the horde of writers who spent the last month pumping out word count in between working, trying to launch a book, and generally having some semblance of a life wrapped around 1,667 words a day. I&#8217;d like to joyously proclaim that I made it! I validated my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145,111,44],"tags":[50,150,149,148,146,353,147,15],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent - LG O&#039;Connor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent - LG O&#039;Connor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m proud to say that I\u2019m part of the horde of writers who spent the last month pumping out word count in between working, trying to launch a book, and generally having some semblance of a life wrapped around 1,667 words a day. I&#039;d like to joyously proclaim that I made it! I validated my [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LG O&#039;Connor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-03T01:18:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-03T01:19:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner-1024x378.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"LG O&#039;Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"LG O&#039;Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/\",\"name\":\"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent - LG O&#039;Connor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner-1024x378.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-03T01:18:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-03T01:19:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c3f8be36f078f227ce32e7777389f9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":555},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/\",\"name\":\"LG O&#039;Connor\",\"description\":\"Author of Romantic Women&#039;s Fiction\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c3f8be36f078f227ce32e7777389f9\",\"name\":\"LG O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba4451ad13f0d015060a79c8c4c7feba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba4451ad13f0d015060a79c8c4c7feba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"LG O'Connor\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.lgoconnorbooks.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/author\/lgoconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent - LG O&#039;Connor","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent - LG O&#039;Connor","og_description":"I\u2019m proud to say that I\u2019m part of the horde of writers who spent the last month pumping out word count in between working, trying to launch a book, and generally having some semblance of a life wrapped around 1,667 words a day. I'd like to joyously proclaim that I made it! I validated my [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/","og_site_name":"LG O&#039;Connor","article_published_time":"2014-12-03T01:18:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-12-03T01:19:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner-1024x378.jpg"}],"author":"LG O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"LG O'Connor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/","url":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/","name":"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent - LG O&#039;Connor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner-1024x378.jpg","datePublished":"2014-12-03T01:18:34+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-03T01:19:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c3f8be36f078f227ce32e7777389f9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Winner-2014-Web-Banner.jpg","width":1500,"height":555},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/nanowrimo-hangover-2-years-2-novels-10-lessons-1-agent\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NaNoWriMo Hangover: 2 Years, 2 Novels, 10 Lessons, 1 Agent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/","name":"LG O&#039;Connor","description":"Author of Romantic Women&#039;s Fiction","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c3f8be36f078f227ce32e7777389f9","name":"LG O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba4451ad13f0d015060a79c8c4c7feba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba4451ad13f0d015060a79c8c4c7feba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"LG O'Connor"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.lgoconnorbooks.com"],"url":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/author\/lgoconnor\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}