Ok, we're about halfway through NaNoWriMo and I'm starting to think about how to clean up this steaming pile of... beautiful writing that I have accumulated as I meet my word goal each day.  I'm on target to complete the challenge of 50,000 words by November 30th, which amounts to about half a novel.  So while I'll still have the other half to write by the time December rolls around, I'm already thinking about editing.  As I'm sure a couple other NaNoers are.

When writing my first manuscript, I came across a great article by Holly Lisle, titled: "One-Pass Manuscript Revision: From First Draft to Last in One Cycle."  Instead of doing spotty revisions chapter by chapter, you savage the whole book in one go and create a masterpiece - or that's the theory.  I've taken bits and pieces of Ms. Lisle's advice for other projects, but since my NaNo novel is exceptionally... exceptional, I think I'll follow her process from start to finish and see where it takes me.

So good luck to all NaNoers.  We're halfway there!

Here it is.  The first day of NaNoWriMo 2013.

And I started NaNo by waffling.  There was a write-in about 15 minutes from my house, and I had butterflies in my stomach as I went back and forth about deciding to go.  I was probably the last person to arrive.  About twenty wannabe writers like me were sitting typing away at their laptops, looking industrious.  I had written a grand total of 0 words so far, so I introduced myself and found one of the last seats available.

I know the process is different for everyone.  For me, the world fades away.  There are the words and me.  I hear no music, no chatter in the background, probably don't move a muscle for the entire time I'm writing except for my fingers as I type.  At the end of a session, my back hurts and my eyes are sore from sitting staring at the screen so long.  But, at the end of the time, there are 3200 words sitting in front of me and my job is done for the day.

Tomorrow, my goal is 5000.  Let's see what happens.