Well, Novel November is over, and I successfully logged 50,073 words, so I met the 50,000-word goal in 30 days. This was an eye-opening experience, taking me well outside of my comfort zone.
This year, I decided to challenge myself and participate in Novel November. Novel November has replaced NaNoWriMo. ProWritingAid became the new host of this annual challenge. I participated in NaNoWriMo in the past, but I focused on moving non-fiction projects forward. This year, I decided to try my hand at fiction. I learned so much from taking on this challenge.
Planning the Approach
I went into this writing challenge with a plan. Since I had never written fiction before, I spent considerable time researching to set myself up for success. Before the start of the challenge, I had been collecting plot and character ideas. I mapped those ideas in a program called Plottr. I used Save the Cat as a framework for the story. This allowed me to create beats and get a general sense of where the story was headed.
My initial Plottr outline.
Building Beats and Using Save the Cat
Once I had a general structure created in Plotter, I then kicked that out to an outline. I then used ChatGPT to generate a set of beats to help me write each scene. I instructed ChatGPT to use what I gave it to align the beats with the Save the Cat framework.
I printed these beat sheets and put them in a notebook that traveled with me everywhere I went during November.
Writing in the Car
My writing studio ended up being my car. Actually, the decision to write in my car developed relatively quickly. As I drove home after work, I would write. I would review the beat I was going to write about before leaving the parking lot. I then turned on my telephone’s audio recorder and talked out that beat. I would usually be done with a scene around the 20-minute mark. I tried to apply everything that I learned about story writing and story creation.
Even when I was home on the weekend, I would go to the car and talk out a beat or two. This led to curious looks from my wife. Once coming home from dinner, I stayed in the car to work on a beat, and my wife went inside. After some time, she came out and asked if I was mad at her because I stayed in the car. I explained I was writing, and she was relieved. This became a running joke for the rest of the month as I headed out to the car to “write.”
I was fascinated with where my brain would take me in the story. I found that dictating was the best way for me to write. I have used dictation as a tool for a few years.
Transcribing and Cleaning the Drafts
Once I captured an audio file, I named and saved it. I was using a sequential naming structure, but I would often forget where I left off. I plan to use YYYYMMDD as part of the name going forward. I use this strategy for my morning pages.
Next, I would upload the audio file into Otter AI to get a transcription. I would then feed the transcription into ChatGPT using a specially created GPT. I previously created a GPT that would not change what I had written, but would make adjustments to punctuation and grammar. It would clean up my language without changing the meaning. This was really important to me.
Tracking Progress and Word Count
The next step was to copy the cleaned-up version into a running Google document and determine the word count. I logged the daily word count into Novel November. The Novel November site tracked progress and presented badges when you hit various progress milestones. They also provided badges for participation in different training events. It was fun to see my progress measured out in badges.
My Novel November Badges
Organizing Scenes in Scrivener
In addition to Google Docs, I would also add the cleaned-up copy as a scene in Scrivener. My Scrivener setup already had the Save the Cat story structure. I would find the appropriate scene in the structure and put in the new content. I also used ChatGPT for some scene title recommendations. I would use one of the recommendations for the scene title.
The other thing that I would do is ask ChatGPT for some synopsis options based on the scene. I would paste the synopsis in the description field for the scene.
The title and synopsis are valuable when looking at the manuscript in outline mode.
Watching the Story Evolve
One of the things I found most fascinating is that my story changed over time. I had to frequently update the beats as my story developed. The story drifted as I was telling it. My characters seemed to have a mind of their own.
When this happened, I would copy out the list of scene titles and synopses. I would give them to ChatGPT, along with Save the Cat alignment, and ask ChatGPT to realign them. I would go back to Scrivener and move the scenes around, put them in the appropriate places according to the Save the Cat framework.
Planning the Next Scenes
Once the scenes were realigned with the Save the Cat framework, I asked ChatGPT for recommendations for the following five to eight scenes. It provided a really good outline and descriptions of various scenes. At times, I was not pleased with the direction ChatGPT provided me and provided further guidance. I would use the results as a jumping-off point. I would go through this planning process every 5 scenes because the story kept changing.
Novel November Workflow
Nearing the Final Act
At the end of November, I reached the midpoint of the last act. So I’m tremendously thrilled with where I am in this first draft. I learned so much in the process.
This strategy was quite successful for me. This collaboration with AI addressed my weaknesses while still allowing me to be the storyteller. So even though I had ChatGPT generate ideas for scenes, I was still responsible for creating them.
