First of all, as I’ve said before, National Novel Writing Month isn’t all about “winning.” Most of you know that 50,000 words isn’t long enough to be a full novel, anyway. The point is to get yourself writing, to write in community with others, and to see what you can create. It’s good to set goals, but we can’t always force our creativity to obey those goals. When I fell behind in NaNo a few weeks back, Allen Arnold, the former Publisher at Thomas Nelson, gave me this advice on Twitter:

We can’t write about people if we don’t spend time living life ourselves and being with people! And during Thanksgiving, family matters more. So when my story continued to fizzle, I took a hard look at the situation and decided to let this year’s NaNo go. I quit. And I hung out with my people.

What? Jill quit something? I can’t believe it!

I know. Me either, actually. I’m kind of tenacious that way. But I’m getting a little smarter in my old age, and I’ve written enough books to know that mine was broken. I knew that the words I was forcing myself to write were going to get cut. So I went with Allen’s advice and decided to stop forcing the story. Which brings me to the point of today’s post. When NaNo is over, whether or not you have succeeded in reaching your word count, what do you do next?

This might shock you, but my advice is the same(!), whether you finished your book or not. Here are five tips to take your story to the next level.

I. Take a break! When you’ve submerged yourself into your characters’ lives, their world, and their adventure for an extended period of time, it can be  difficult to get a clear and subjective look at the story. So put it down. Hands off! (Just like in those cooking shows.) No more work until you’ve had a chance to rest. How much time you rest depends on you. A week might be all some people need, a month for others, yet a year might not be long enough for writers who have found something else to write while the broken or unfinished story brews.

II. Investigate. When you’re ready, come back and take a look at your creation. Either read the story through and take notes, or storyboard it out. I have friends who need to read it straight and take notes on paper. Some can’t handle that and start editing as they go or making notes with the computer. I’m the kind of writer who must storyboard the book so I can see the problems. So I’ll scroll through (what I have of) the manuscript and write an index card for each scene. Then I can lay them out on the floor and see where there are holes in the story. 

III. Note what needs fixing. As you read or storyboard, take notes of what is broken in your story. Examine your overall plot. Is it working? Take a close look at your characters. Do you know them well enough? What about your storyworld? Is it too confusing or too plain?

You’ll also need to take a look at every scene in your story and ask yourself whether or not it has a purpose. Does it move the story forward in some way? Does it characterize? Does it fill in backstory? Does it reveal storyworld information or magical elements? While every scene should have a primary purpose, ideally every scene should also do at least two or three things at once. For example, in my book By Darkness Hid, there is a scene early on where Achan is carrying buckets of water with a yoke over his shoulders and he runs into Sir Gavin. The purpose of this scene is that Achan and Sir Gavin officially meet for the first time. But the scene also characterizes both people, it moves the plot forward because Sir Gavin offers to train Achan as a squire, and it provides intrigue to the reader as it moves the plot in a new direction. 

IV. Make a plan. Now that you’ve investigated your story and know what isn’t working, make a plan to fix each of those things. Prioritize your list in a way that is logical for you. I like to start with the more abstract things, like brainstorming more on my characters or my storyworld. Once I know my characters and world deeply, I can then tackle broken scenes or write new ones. At this point, I’m still trying to complete a first draft that is thorough, so I don’t spend much time on micro editing just yet.

V. Try again. Once you have a plan of what to do, make a plan of when to do what, then get started. Remember to “save as” before you start so you have that former draft in case you need it. When I have a long To Do list, I might try and do one thing a day. That might mean spending the day researching or brainstorming rules for your magic. It might mean reading through one chapter and tweaking things to fit the new plan. It might also mean writing a completely new scene.

Most writers know that there is always more that could be done on most books. (Sometimes even after they’ve been published!) So whether you’ve reached your 50K or not this year, don’t worry! Just do the next smartest thing, whatever that might be.

How did your NaNo go? Are you still at it? Have you moved on? What is the next smartest thing you could do with your book? Share in the comments.