National Novel Writing Month happens every November, for those of you who don't know. It is a commitment to write a 50,000 word novel (anything but nonfiction) in 30 days and happens all over the place. Chris Baty got it going and wrote a companion book called "No Plo
t? No Problem!" which alone was enough to excite me about participating.This book metamorphosed my writing process. For all of you writers out there, how many can relate to writing a good 10 to 20 pages of fiction, only to start endlessly editing and never really finishing the darn thing? The NaNoWriMo method is about turning off your editing brain and committing yourself to quantity, not quality. In the process, a huge body of writing will be produced and some of it just might be really great. (And obviously, some of it won't be. :)
I have never actually participated during November. I picked my own month (July, I think) after reading Baty's book, took the 50,000 word count, divided it by 30 days, and got to work. It took about 2 and a half hours of writing a day, greatly aided by frequent visits to Barnes and Noble where I spent lots of money on coffee and cupcakes. Thus, I am not committing today. I do not have an extra 2 and a half hours a day. At least until this semester ends.
Looking back, I found it to be an incredibly productive process. Some of the writing thrilled me, and some of it embarrassed me. I got to work editing it after the fact, and realized this process increased my creativity and productivity. You might want to try it too. I think I will do it again next midyear with poetry, as I apparently have no further poems left in me, but I want to believe that's not true. :)
For the record, this blog strikes me as hypocritical in a "Sure, TALK about writing a novel in 30 days but don't actually participate!" kind of way. To me, NaNoWriMo is about doing whatever the thing is that you say "I don't have time for." Finishing 40 units of prerequisites to nursing school while taking care of my newborn baby and her siblings falls into that category for me...the "are you crazy?! That's impossible!" category. And it turns out it's not! But another 50,000 words will have to wait.
You should totally do it!!
You have a very positive take on this. Having written a novel (that took me 4+ years to "finish") and a lot of other stuff I feel good about, I always find this kind of thing inauthentic. Grad school in creative writing was all about people badgering each other to write daily, and write more! And telling each other how writerly they were, and feeling lesser every time somebody else was successful with their writing, and comparing how much they'd written, and keeping track of it, and one-upping each other about it under the guise of encouraging each other. Seriously, every time something clever happened at a party, somebody had to make a comment about using it in a story. But for me, it was always about quality rather than quantity. If I write three good sentences in a week, it's far more fulfilling than three crappy pages every day for that week. And in the end, I come up with what I feel like is enough polished writing to feel accomplished. I've tried that sit down and write whatever comes to mind every day thing and I usually just come up blank and annoyed. I'd rather get my 2 a.m. inspirations when they come and stay up all night indulging them.
ReplyDeleteBut that's me. I know writing every day is quite useful for many writers. And maybe some of them come up with a worthwhile novel in this November writing challenge. Plus, right now I'm working on short story translations, which may someday soon acquire a deadline (lets hope). I would really do well to take on a "write every day" approach to them.
I've noticed a lot of online criticism about this process. It reminds me of "Ratatouille": "Anyone can cook, but that doesn't mean that everyone should." (Hey, I'm a mom, not a grad student :)
ReplyDeleteHaving published lots of poetry in the past (sniff...back when I could write it, when I was all emotionally whacked and saw poetry in everything), I appreciated actually finishing a draft. Poetry gratified for me because it was an intense but relatively brief process. I have almost never gone back and revised my poetry, and to have a finished work at the end of it all fulfilled me to no end.
Then I started writing short stories and also enjoyed that process. It took longer. It seemed more iffy. The gradual process by which a plot would occur. The hit or miss of a strong hook that interested me enough to make a story. All that depended on the weather, so to speak. I hope to do more of it when I'm done with school.
With this process of speed-writing, I found it painful, challenging, exciting, and surprising. I became completely intrigued at the unexpected plot and the twists and turns. The story blew my mind by the end of it all. I ultimately worked on revising it but discarded the whole thing, not because there wasn't quality to it on some level but because it wasn't a story I wanted to tell anymore.
Looking forward to reading your blog! :)
Oh geez, the blog I never update? I really should make more of that thing. :)
ReplyDeleteWell...(purely selfish reasons)...yeah! You should!! :)
ReplyDeleteUpon reflection of the process of speed-writing a novel, I found it very purgative. Characters in my head which dominated the scene were able to finally get the heck out and have a life. And go away, already. It definitely made room for other better literature and characters.
I'm just rereading your first comment and drooling at the reference to 2 a.m. inspirations.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I feel that ever since I had children, my writerly creativity has deeply suffered. I know it still must be there somewhere in some form, and I've certainly done some writing over the last decade, but my perception of the quality is that it has suffered. I think I'm in a protectionary mode so that I can be a decent parent and wife and not wallow in gobbledygook, as delightful as it was. :)