Lit Bit: What You Can Do with a NaNoWriMo Novel

 

 

Tens of thousands of writers attempted to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month in November.  Thousands crossed the finish line to complete a manuscript of 50,000 words or more. 

 

Now, what can you do with it?

 

In a nutshell?  Rewrite it.  Revise it.  Edit it.  Make sure it’s the best book it can be.  Then start looking for an agent and editor.

 

That’s what I did.  It took me a month to write that first draft of Tracks, then a few years to take the spillage and sculpt it into a novel I could pitch to agents.  The result?  Representation by one of New York City’s top ten agents!  (See Daily Top Ten at www.dailytop10.net/top-10-literary-agents-in-new-york-part-1.) 

 

And a book deal with Atticus Books! (http://atticusbooksonline.com)

 

But it all started with a month of intense writing, as you can read in Ally E. Peltier’s story about the beginnings of Tracks as a NaNoWriMo novel.

 

Here’s a snippet from her article:

 

Eric began writing Tracks five years ago, during NaNoWriMo. He wrote about 60,000 words that year, then went on to add and subtract stories, rewrite and revise, until he had a final draft ready to take to publishers. “The nice thing about NaNoWriMo,” Eric says, “is that you’re forced to write even when you’re not sure you have it all figured out. And for a first draft, that’s good. Tracks is a different, and better, book than that original draft. But the original draft helped make it possible.”

 

She also uses Tracks to teach some writing lessons, such as the importance of staring small, reading other writers, avoiding traps like procrastination and perfection-seeking.

 

Read Ally’s article about Tracks and NaNoWriMo, published in her monthly newsletter, at the following link.

 

http://www.allypeltier.com/blog/2011/11/success-story-eric-d-goodman/

 

 

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Eric D. Goodman, Books Correspondent

Eric's column, Lit Bit, is published every week to Gather Essentials: Books.  Featuring bits on writing, writers, books, and literature, Lit Bit will fulfill your literary longings.

Eric’s novel in stories, Tracks, is being published by Atticus Books June 30, 2011. www.TracksNovel.com  You can pre-order it now.

Eric is a full-time writer and editor.  His work has appeared in a number of periodicals, including The Washington Post, The Baltimore Review, Writers Weekly, The Arabesques Review, The Pedestal Magazine, The Potomac, JMWW, Freshly Squeezed, Scribble, Slow Trains, Whatever Literary Journal, Smile Hon You’re In Baltimore, Read Street, On Stage Magazine, Four-Cornered Universe, To Be Read Aloud, Neck of My Guitar, Travel Insights, Coloquio, and New Lines from the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers.

Learn about Eric's full-color, hardcover childrens' book Flightless Goose.

Keep up with Eric’s Lit Bits by joining his Gather network.  You can also find Eric on Facebook, Twitter, and at his literary blog, Writeful.

Listen to Eric read the following stories on The Signal, a program on the Baltimore-DC NPR station, WYPR:

The Stein

Prewitt’s Plans

The Silences

One Last Hit

Cicadas