I Published My NaNo Novel: Anthony Francis Jr. on Writing Your Next Novel

Anthony Francis is a long-time NaNoWriMo participant, who’s recently published the first book in his series about Dakota Frost, a tattoo artist with magical powers. We talked with him about revision, publication, and 24-Hour Comics Day:

The first two books in your SkinDancer trilogy started as NaNo drafts. Can you talk about them?

Yes! The cores of both Frost Moon and Blood Rock were written during NaNoWriMo. I’d been planning ideas around my protagonist, a magical tattoo artist named Dakota Frost, and had written a couple of hundred words when November rolled around and I decided to tackle NaNo.

I became so happy with Frost Moon that I started working on a second book, which became Blood Rock. I had 12,000 words before November, and tacked on another 50,000 during the course of the month. That’s when I decided that I didn’t care about following the rules specifically. Every November, I’d pick a novel—unwritten or not—and add 50,000 words to it, and that would be my challenge. And I’ve done it ever since!

After November’s over, revision time inevitably rolls around. Do you have any advice for those of us who will soon be struggling in the revision doldrums?

Never give up!

NaNoWriMo requires 50,000 words, but typically my novels pack in between 90,000 to 150,000 words—so I need to keep writing for a year or more after NaNo to finish a novel. I always want to start an essentially new novel for NaNo, so I end up having several novels in progress at any one time. This is great, as you can work on whichever one inspires you most at any given moment.

You are also involved in a great event called 24-Hour Comics Day. Can you explain what that is?

24-Hour Comics Day is a yearly challenge to create a completely new comic in 24 hours. I’ve completed 24-Hour Comics Day three times—each time, taking on a part of a novella I wrote called “Stranded.” This year, I completed the third part, so I have a complete graphic novel of one of my stories!

How is 24-Hour Comics Day similar to NaNoWriMo?

Both 24HCD and NaNoWriMo convince you not to wait for the muse. In my opinion, I’m a much better writer than I am an artist, and my self-consciousness can get in my way. 24HCD cures you of that, the same way that NaNo cures you of the idea that you need to be inspired to write.

This year, 24HCD was especially good for that for me because some of what I thought was my very best art didn’t hold up once I went back to look at it later, whereas some of my sloppiest drawings—drawings in which I can see and point out the flaws—nonetheless served the narrative perfectly. NaNo’s the same way: some of my very best material comes out of the raw terror of needing to produce 1,666 words… on a day when I had nothing.

The purity of the challenge doesn’t matter as much to me as the challenge of stepping up to the plate and giving yourself permission to create.

Any tips on publishing your novel?  

Start writing your next novel.

Seriously. I wrote a novel twenty years ago and spent years trying to get it published. (It still isn’t). But, one day, I read an interview with a published fantasy author, who was working on his fifth novel when his first one finally got published. So I kept writing. Years later, Dakota Frost #1 sold while I was working on #2.

There are lots of theories about why this works. It could be that publishers love authors who’re working on their next manuscript. It could be that you learn so much from writing more novels that you improve your first manuscript until it sells. Maybe the change in your attitude helps sell your manuscript, whether you change the manuscript or not. Maybe the continued act of writing puts it out to the universe to open the door to your publication, or maybe it’s just dumb luck multiplied by the passage of time. Or perhaps it’s like writing a prayer to God, who finally answers.

I personally think it’s all of the above… plus one more thing: putting yourself into places filled with the people who read, write and publish the kind of work that you like. If you hide in a cupboard, you’re unlikely to get published—at least, not while you’re alive. But if you regularly attend a writer’s group, you’ll hear about an anthology. If you go to a literary conference, a great writer might take you on as an intern at their magazine. If you go to a publishing conference, you might meet an agent.

As for me? I went to writer’s tracks at science fiction conventions, and then one day the organizer of the track leaned over my shoulder and asked, “I see you in here every year. What are you writing?” That was Nancy Knight, of Bell Bridge Books, a southern women’s fiction publisher which had just opened a dark fantasy line… and I was writing the second Dakota Frost book, an urban fantasy set in Atlanta. Nancy got me in touch with Debra Dixon of Bell Bridge, and the rest is history.

Well, lots and lots of edits—Debra’s a great editor!—and then history.

Dr. Anthony G. Francis, Jr. is a science fiction writer and computer scientist. The Dakota Frost series combines Anthony’s love of hard science, fantastic magic, alternative culture, and strong women.  Anthony blogs about his life, his writing and his research at The Library of Dresan. He also writes an occasionally updated webcomic, f@nu fiku. He currently lives in San Jose with his wife and cats.