Turkey Stuffed & NaNoWriMo idea

Did you have a great Thanksgiving? We sure did. Three-quarters of our brood made it to dinner and the missing offspring beamed in for a long Skype visit before we ate. About half of the family made it to the annual Turkey Trot 5K we ran in.

Of course we wore our cool custom shirts.

Check out the back.

For the record, we all finished the race.

How is NaNoWriMo working out for everyone? Today is the last day for it – did you meet your goals? What was harder than you thought? What was easier?

If all went well, you should have a bulky draft on your hands. Now it’s time for the fun part: revision!!!

Want me to post revision tips in December? What do you need help with?

13 Replies to “Turkey Stuffed & NaNoWriMo idea”

  1. I didn’t finish NaNoWriMo 🙁 Life and stress got in the way and I shut down around 30,000 words. On the upside, I feel relieved that there’s not a deadline anymore and might finish during December. Clearly, a writing career with deadlines is not going to be in my future.

    Revision advice request! I have a hard time with pacing…my stories go full speed then slow-motion then full speed and then slow motion. I also have a hard time making dialogue sound natural, particularly when it is high speed banter. Suggestions?

    Thanks, Laurie!

  2. Yes for revision tips! I need help with knowing where to start. I can often identify things that need to be fixed, but I don’t know what to actually DO except to totally rewrite them.

  3. Absolutely yes for revision tips. Please yes!

    I know there’s nuggets of good stuff in the drek, but how do I extract the good stuff out and keep it while leaving the drek behind?

    One specific need I have – how do I find my character’s voice? How do I amke a 14 year old sound different from her parents?

  4. This was my first year participating in NaNoWriMo. I surpassed the 50K word requirement last Wednesday, so I’m feeling pretty good. I decided to put it aside for a few days after that. I need a break from the story. =)

    I’d love to read revision tips, but I don’t have a question of my own yet.

  5. I won on Saturday. I found, this year and last, that the last couple thousand words are the toughest – I’m so close to your goal that I can taste it, and it makes it hard to keep sloughing away.

    Revision tips: Yes and PLEASE.

  6. I didn’t NaNo, but I would love some revision tips. My usual MO is to set the story aside for a bit after writing, then come back and reread with fresh eyes. I would love to hear what yours is.

  7. revision

    do you start with a clean page for your 2nd draft or do you insert changes in the 1st draft? what has changed/improved in your revision process since you wrote SPEAK? What are the top 3 things(+ or -) that you look for in your 2nd draft? You know, do you worry about pacing in your 2nd draft? Or, are your concerns just with charters and story/plot in a 2nd draft? Walter Mosely considers reading the 1st draft and making notes to actually be the 2nd draft. Your thoughts are appreciated because I value your talent.
    Thanks for your time,
    s

  8. Yes on the Revision Tips!

    Please share your revision process with us! I finished my NaNo novel on Friday. Plus I have 20 or more students screaming across the goal line as I write. Yeah kids!

    Laurie, did you write a NaNo novel?

  9. I personally did NaNoWriMo this year and dragged my 7th grade class along for the ride. I will not win- I’m hoping to reach 30,000 tonight. However, 3 of my students have already won, with more very close behind. Tomorrow we will have our “Thank Goodness It’s Over!” party, talk about our novels, and share a little. Next week we will start revision.
    PLEASE share revision tips! Revision is a difficult thing to get students to do.

  10. Congrats on the run – definitely a healthy Thanksgiving tradition. What’s the back of the shirt say? I can click on the group one and read “Larrabee Family Run” on the front of each shirt (with the funny image of the turkey), but couldn’t see a larger image of the back of the shirt.

    And yeah, revision tips would be great.

  11. Yes, please! I personally would love revision tips!
    I guess my main question would be is this: I can do line editing easily, but I kind of get lost in that and miss the bigger picture. What tips would you have for writers who have that same problem when they try and edit?

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