No Plot? No Problem! — Should You Start a Novel From Scratch This November?

NaNoWriMo season is officially here! How can you prepare for a successful November? By planning your novel, storing up inspiration, or finding a writing partner-in-crime. This week, Chris Baty shares an excerpt from the new-and-improved 2014 edition of No Plot? No Problem! (Check it out in our store, too!)

One of National Novel Writing Month’s rules is that you must start your novel from scratch on Day One of the event. You can bring as many outlines and notes and character maps as you like, but writing any of the book’s actual prose in advance is forbidden. This rule is enforced by legions of invisible guilt-monkeys, which are unleashed every year against those who break the rules.

While this costs NaNoWriMo a pretty penny in guilt-monkeys, it also keeps things fresh and prevents people from sabotaging their productivity by being overly invested in the outcome of their book.

That said, a growing number of NaNoWriMo veterans have been using the month to add 50,000 more words to an existing manuscript. We call them Rebels, and their ranks include many of our published participants…

If you are going to use your thirty-day deadline to flesh out an existing manuscript, know that a state of exuberant imperfection is harder to attain when you’re building a new wing onto an old house. The writing will be slower, and the joyful epiphanies fewer. If this is your first month of literary abandon, I strongly recommend you dive in with a new idea.

If you’re set on adding 50,000 words to an older story next month, though, here are some great tips from experienced Rebels on doing it with aplomb.

“Spend October (or whatever month comes before your chosen one) getting reacquainted with your novel. Try to think of it as a favorite TV series with a new season about to start. Build up some anticipation! When you begin writing, start a new text document, and use the old one only for reference. It will make getting an accurate word count easier, and will keep you from editing when you should be writing.”

— Paz Alonso, eight-time NaNoWriMo winner from Frankfurt am Main, Germany

“Keep a timeline of events, both about what you’ve written, and what you’re going to write.”

— Mandi Lynch, seven-time NaNoWriMo winner from Nashville, Tennessee

“Don’t worry about making sure the new writing matches the tone of the previous chapters. It all has to be edited eventually, and right now the important thing is just getting through the scenes.”

— Nicole Tuberty, six-time NaNoWriMo winner from St. Louis, Missouri.

Chris Baty accidentally founded National Novel Writing Month in 1999, and now serves as a Board Member Emeritus for NaNoWriMo. He spends his days teaching classes at Stanford University’s Writer’s Studio, giving talks, helping companies with content strategy, and endlessly revising his own novels. His quest for the perfect cup of coffee is ongoing, and will likely kill him someday.

Top photos by Flickr user Mike Oliveri, and Chronicle Books.