NaNoWriMo Guest Post: Emma (and what's coming up!)

Hey everyone! I am in a fantastic mood because it's snowing!! I'm hoping and praying for a snow day tomorrow (well I guess that's today since this post has been written the night before), but I doubt that will happen :( 

News flash: It's almost Thanksgiving :) I am thankful because I think I might just complete my NaNo goal after all! Or if I don't, I'll be this close *holds up arms to show you how close.* Now that musical is done, I'll have a little more time to write and I'm really optimistic about it. 

I haven't really had time to post much this month, but I do have some fun things in store! 

I'm hoping to get a few more entries in my writing contest in which you can find the requirements for HERE so I can carry on with the whole judging process soon. 

Also, I just finished The Fault in our Stars by John Green, and I'm planning on reviewing that soon. 

In addition to that, I wanted to write a post about my whole Fiddler on the Roof experience :) Our performances were last week Wednesday-Saturday. 

After that slight delay, I am finally here to introduce our guest poster today! Her name is Emma from Bookworm/Future Author and she was the very first blog I ever followed! I don't know how I even stumbled across her little space on the internet, but I did, and I've been reading it ever since. She posts things like excerpts from her writing and reviews, plus every Friday she hosts "Random Friday's" at her blog! You can find her blog HERE!

~July

Hi, everyone, I'm Emma from Bookworm/Future Author.  This is my third year of doing NaNoWriMo.  One thing I've learned, especially this year, is that's it's okay to lower your word count and not write 50k in a month.  The other 11 months matter more because you have to keep writing.  You can't just write during November, especially if you want to become a published author.

Last year, I wrote about 35-40k specifically in my NaNo novel and then 10-15k in a side project.  By February 20 at 10:30 PM, I finished that novel.  Because I edit as I write, I had read over that manuscript so many times, I was almost sick of it.  So I shoved it aside until about April or May and then began revisions.  I had a really good friend read it and give me feedback, and then finally, in September, I let my mom read the project.  She had a LOT of suggestions to improve it, and I'm so thankful for her.  But I also need to find real critique partners because, although my mom is great, she can't be my sole critic.

By the end of October, I felt like my novel was finished.  I mean, obviously, I could probably reread it a thousand times and rewrite every scene, but then that would be a never-ending cycle.  So once the holiday season is past, I'll start querying agents.  I've been working on my query letter lately and getting it just right.  A fellow young author (who's actually going to be published next year!) gave me advice on how to write a query, and what she did when she was querying, and even shared the letter that got her an agent.  She's been a big help and a huge inspiration.

What's important, though, while you're revising, querying, and then submitting to publishers, is that you keep writing.  You need to have other projects to keep those brain juices flowing and in case your current WIP doesn't work out.  I have about three books in progress right now.  It really helps if I get stuck on one; I can just switch to another.  Since they're all so different (contemporary, futuristic mixed with historical fiction, and a retelling), I can separate them easily.  I know that my novel ready for querying may not be good enough for agents or it's just not what they're looking for, so I want to be ready in a few months to start querying again with a different book, if things with this one don't work out.

Good luck with all your writing endeavors, and if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them in the comments below. :)