Following advice

One of the major pieces of writing advice I always gave as a tutor was to start with a brainstorm, start with an outline and just write down the ideas. It's about time that I took my own advice.

In prepping for Nanowrimo, I've done more pre-writing than I ever did in my college days. My experience with writing has always been organic. I have an idea, I write it down. I was able to reliable crank out a 5 page essay in a few hours. Later in my graduate work, I was able to crank out 25 pages in a couple of sittings, writing strong arguments and citing data.

The one feat I've yet to be able to accomplish as a writer is to write a novel. A long story with in depth character development and a plot arc. It's a far cry from a short story where it's almost like a snapshot in time.

A couple of days ago, I confided in one of my friends that my reason for wanting to participate in Nanowrimo was to push myself. I will concentrate on quantity and not quality. I will push to meet my daily, weekly, and ultimate goal. This friend gave me a piece of advice - have copious notes and a clear outline.

He gave me a sample treatment he did for a TV episode and I admit, I was surprised at how detailed the treatment was. And it was just the 2nd draft of the outline. (Yes, the outline had multiple versions/drafts). He also gave me a detailed character sheet to help develop my characters. The character development sheets are very similar to the treatments I'd done in my undergrad work. It's also similar to a character sheet for D&D and prompts for a backstory. You have to know where your character comes from before you can know where he or she is going, what they'd do, how they'd react.

With 6 days left for prep, I have 3 pages of a plot outline done and 2 characters being developed. Some characters were created during the outlining process and I will have to develop those characters further in the next few days. I've already decided to kill off a couple as a catalyst for my protagonist's growth. It actually feels really good to feel creative again without looking at how i'm crafting my words. I'm not looking at tone, word choice, or voice yet. That will come later.

The fear and trepidation I'd initially felt when I decided to start this project has turned into excitement and anticipation. I expect to write the most horrible first novel a part time writer can write in a month. And that expectation is exhilarating.