Toasting the nano novel

Well, I didn’t make 50,000 words, but I did complete a novel. (My work always gets longer on revision so I expect the revised manuscript to finally reach 50,000 or so words.)

It took me almost 2 years to write my novel Snared, and 30 days to write the nano novel Blindfold. The honest truth is that Blindfold has more heart and energy in it than the one I worked on for 2 years. There’s something to be said for entering a story and writing non-stop until the main character has expressed every last detail of his or her story.

The wonder of nanowrimo, for me, is that it allows me to enter the main character’s world and hear her tell her story without distraction. My family may not like it so much, because they are the distractions I don’t allow…nevertheless, it’s the blocking out of everything that isn’t of the story that makes the story so visceral and successful.

I’ve sent the first chapters of Blindfold and Snared to my agent to see which one she thinks deserves more of my attention right now. I fully expect her to say, “Blindfold” because it is my nano novel and it is simply better.