Monday, October 29, 2007
Are you ready for NaNoWriMo?
A few years ago I was spending much of my spare time (and some of my working time) writing short stories and chapters of various unfinished novels. I was a member of the OWW, or Online Writing Workshop (not be confused with Online World of Wrestling, in which I have absolutely no interest whatsoever). There are various groups including "Fiction" and "Romance" but I was a member of the largest group, "Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror."
During my time as a writer I learned a lot of tips and tricks, brushed up on writers' terminology and publishers' requirements for formatting manuscripts, and spent a lot of time critting (ie, critiquing fellow writers' work in return for having my own work picked apart). It was all VERY useful, and I heartily recommend any would-be writer or author to at least try a workshop of some kind for a year or more.
Anyway, during that time I learned of NaNoWriMo. When I first heard the odd word from a writing buddy, I assumed it was a type of futuristic car or some kind of nanobot technology. But no, it was something far more exciting: National Novel Writing Month. Every November, writers are urged to churn out a 175-page, 50,000-word novel, the trick being to start on November 1st and be finished by November 30th. Why the rush? Well, the entire point of NaNoWriMo is to get over the hurdle that trips many would-be writers — the dreaded situation where you get so bogged down with editing and refining what you've written so far that you fail to make it to the end of the story.
NaNoWriMo says on their website:
It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down. As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and — when the thing is done — the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2006 there were 79,000 participants, of which 13,000 made it to the end of their novel by November 30th. This is a pretty staggering achievement. Of course, it means writing about 1666 words a day, every day for the month of November. For me, the 1666 words in a day isn't a problem; but writing that amount every day certainly is! I couldn't write every day; there's just no way that would happen. Realistically I'd be looking at writing 4 days a week... which means I'd have to push for nearly 3000 words a day. That's a bit closer to what became my normal output a few years ago. The most I ever wrote was about 15,000 over two days, and that included breaks and other daily stuff; probably no more than a full day's work if I had sat there and typed without stopping.
As we've all heard, Enid Blyton managed 10,000 words a day. Many see this as "impossible," but I see it as entirely feasible and not even very surprising. The big difference between Enid Blyton and all us part-time writers is that she:
- earned enough money for her writing that she was able to treat it as a full-time job and spend all day at it — which, let's face it, most of us are unable to do
- had years and years of practice typing every day, so built up slowly to her "unbelievable" output of 10,000 words a day
I wish I could participate this year. I've wanted to for the last couple of years, but — and yes, here come the excuses that separate true writers from would-be writers — I've just had too much on my plate. My wife goes out to work all week, while I work from home at the same time as "being a dad" to my little girl; this business of juggling work-time and daddy-time leaves little room for writing-time! But Lily is three now, and already at pre-school, so I'm beginning to catch glimpses of a near-future when she'll be at school all week and I'll find myself with a bit of spare time on my hands. That sounds unappreciative, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Anyway, the point is that perhaps next November I'll be able to participate in NaNoWriMo.
In the meantime, check it out: National Novel Writing Month
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