A Diamond in the Rough

One of the most commonly asked questions on the NaNoWriMo forums is "How do I do this?" It seems like such a small question, with such a HUGE answer. It is, and it isn't.

Over the last decade that I've participated in NaNoWriMo (technically it's nine years, but this will be my tenth event) I've learned a lot about writing, myself, and the process of doing this insane word-count sprint. The age-old saying of the first draft being a "diamond in the rough" is old, and maybe a bit cliche… but it's an accurate analogy.

Think of your NaNoWriMo novel as a diamond. In its finished form, it will be faceted, beautiful, a sparkling gem worthy of the whole world to see.

But if you've ever seen a diamond in the rough, you know that's not how it starts.

To get there, it takes a lot of hard work, and removal of a lot of offal before it even resembles something someone wants, much less something someone would pay money for.

First you have to dig. Dig deep, down into the mine of your mind. There might be dozens, hundreds, or thousands of ideas, but you have to find the one with the most promise.

For some people, it's a flash of inspiration, the first gem they strike. For others, it's going to be harder. They'll have to examine and discard dozens of ideas before they find the right one.

Once you have your idea, you've got to get it out. Steam shovels, picks, and hammers are great when mining real diamonds, but your tools will vary widely in mining your ideas. Some people use outlines, others use character profiles, test out their tools on vignettes, or even write prequel stories. The tools are countless. Some people use nothing at all; they just start on November 1 with a hope of something awesome, and will mine while they write.

Once you have your story written, that's when the real work starts. After you've mined your idea, gotten it out of the ground and onto paper, you've got the diamond in the rough, the truly magical thing that we all hope to have one day: a finished manuscript.

That manuscript is far from complete, though. Like our unassuming lump, it's not something anyone wants to pay money for, nor is it something you want to run through the streets screaming "It's mine!"

Okay, you might do that. I sure do.

Once you've got something to work with, you've got to chip away the layers of dirt, stone, and non-diamond things clinging to the idea. This is where the finer tools come in. Editing, polishing, tweaking, all of that. Everyone's process is different, of course, and this space isn't big enough (and I'm not experienced enough) to advise you on that.

But when you've done all that, you'll carefully strike that glorious stone, until it sparkles and gleams. But anyone can tell you: that won't happen first, easily, or quickly. It takes time, and patience.

So let yourself get there. Think of NaNoWriMo as your personal diamond mine… write, look forward, and don't try to facet your diamonds before you've even finished mining them. What's the point? You're just going to keep getting dirt and mud and other gunk on it in the process! Keep digging, keep chipping away at the stone around your diamond, and know that when you're done with it? You'll have something truly precious to share with the world.

– Heather 

Photo by Flickr user renedrivers