October Novel Prep Challenge

Thanks Storm Machine ....

Well, last year I worked on two novels during NaNoWriMo. One was one of three I prepped during October and the other was one I did not prepare. I finished the one I didn't prepare at under 100k, and the other novel that I had prepped for has a bit over 25k from November. It's about 1/3rd the way done but the reason that one went slower is that I don't write fast with young adult novels for some reason. Even when not considering nanowrimo, I did 14k of a mutant teen novel in a month, but when I worked on an adult mutant one I got 65k in March. But more on to the question about writing more than one book at a time...

It depends on how you write. Can you distinguish the two novels from each other not to mix them up? Some need to focus on one because they'd start interweaving the others together but for some reason I don't have that problem except on the rare occasion I type the wrong MC name. ooops But also, do you write from start to finish? Or do you write one section and skip to different sections? Will having two books make that even more difficult? When doing the two books last year I usually only worked on one book during a writing session (writing session defined as time frame i was sitting and writing before bed or work or dinner etc) and I would only switch if I finished a scene or chapter. But I also always write in order from start to finish, so didn't get lost where I was, and a slight read of a couple paragraphs of what was last written helped to get into the novel of the moment. I chose which one to work on based on what I felt like writing in the moment (not always the best move as my focus is more on fantasy than the 100k romance/erotica I wrote last year, lol). And the schedule helps. Knowing when you are the most productive in writing and trying to use that time wisely. Last year I would write in the evening till almost midnight, update my word count, then spend at least an hour or two writing more so that I had a jump start on the next day. I also tried to write over 5k on my days off work and one day managed 10k. It's a lot of writing and rather tiring, but it can be so worth it too.

It is possible to write two but it also is a lot of work and can slow you done on the progress on a single book. If you really want to do it, then I say go for it. If not, there are always other months you can challenge yourself to write to a certain word count goal. I even believe someone *cough*me*cough* has a nano related group that does monthly goals all year long.

Good luck to you with your books.