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October 26, 2005
To NaNoWriMo or Not To NaNoWriMo?
It's almost Halloween, and that means my mind is turning to the National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo). That's right, it's the time of year when thousands of would-be writers, manic-depressives, and masochists say, "Yeah, I'd like to try to write an entire novel in one month." Hey, at least they don't try it in February. The question I'm struggling with is, do I do it again this year?
I did it last year, and while I did succeed, the whole experience was a mixed bag of good and bad experiences. So, I'm enumerating some of them in hopes of reaching a conclusion. Also, both Marvin and Tanya did it last year, and I'm curious as to where they are on some of these issues as well as the larger question of NaNo2005.
Good: It was an insane goal, but I did actually crank out the required 50,000 words in 30 days. It had a nice sense of accomplishment.
Bad: While I met the NaNoWriMo challenge (50K in 30 days), the novel itself was not finished. It's now a 65,000 tale that stops right in the middle of Act 2.
Good: Hey, I was actually writing for a while there, and that's a good thing. I like to think I have a lot of creative ideas, but they're also like little demons, constantly chipping away at my ability to concentrate. Getting them out into concrete form is a form of exorcism.
Bad: Did you see the Exorcist? Yeah, well something like that. When I'm writing, I tend to have much more vivid dreams, at least I remember more vivid dreams... but also nightmares. It can be a little stressful working through that stuff.
Good: While I haven't actually shown my NaNo2004 output to anyone, I think it's actually pretty good. That is, I think I was actually putting out something pretty good, so if I ever finish it and edit it, I think I've got a real novel on my hands.
Bad: Yeah, and if I do the same thing this year, I'll now have two really good, really unfinished novels in the closet.
Neutral: I could, of course, try to finish NaNo2004 as my NaNo2005 effort, but that's sort or cheating. I sort of did that last year since I was already a little bit into the novel before November, but it had stalled out several months earlier. I still did the 50K, so it wasn't really cheating, just sort of. But I don't think I'm up to diving in with the necessary fresh energy to pick up on something that stalled out last December.
Bad: It took a lot of time last year, time I could have spent with my family, or on my job, etc. The same will be true this year. Plus, time is even scarcer this year since I've planned one weekend trip and Thanksgiving is going to involve travelling this year, making it that much harder. I can probably just whack five days out of the calendar.
Good: Last year I was trying to do it while I was also sick, and with the exception of some ongoing stomach issues, I'm feeling pretty good.
Bad: I was also thinking about a 12-part rendering project to do in November, and that would be tough to do as well as NaNo.
Good: I've got a plot idea that should do fairly well. It won't require a lot of advance research, and if it goes really badly, I don't have a lot emotionally invested in it so far.
Bad: I snacked incessantly while writing last year, a habit that lasted through the winter, making me about 15 to 20 pounds heavier than I was last year. I can't have a repeat of that.
Good: The cameraderie of it was fun, being in it with others that I knew as well as anonymous strangers on the NaNo forums.
Neutral: Work is being really demanding right now. I say this is neutral because while it's really eating into my personal time, it's also consuming me, and I could use a distraction that's at least moderately healthy.
Well, I'm not going to tally it up, and I haven't really reached a decision. It's tempting, but I don't know if I have it in me this year. In the end, I think a lot of it will depend on whether friends do it and on what MAW thinks.
Life in General by Dan at October 26, 2005 12:52 PM
Comments
I've been thinking about this too. I had fun last year, but after I hit 50,000 words I never finished the story, and I don't really have a burning idea for a story this year. Some days I think I wrote well, other days I wrote crap, and in the end I basically proved that I had enough free time and willpower churn stuff out for a month.
This year I don't see much point in doing Nanwrimo just to prove I can. But I'd like to do something creative for a while -- that part was very fun. Maybe I should try something different, like drawing. Then again, probably the best thing for me would be to get off my ass for a couple of hours every night for a month and stay away from the computer and out of chairs.
Posted by: Marvin at October 26, 2005 07:22 PM
The strange thing is that since thinking about it over lunch, I spent a little time rereading the last two chapters of my effort from last year, and it was amazing how quickly I picked up on those characters again, just how compelling they were to me. Maybe I'd have the energy to launch into them again for this year.
On the other hand, maybe I should just work on the throw-away idea to get my writing chops back in shape, and then launch back into it.
But on the gripping hand... last year's story is strangely appropos to this year's Proposition 2, so maybe I should give it a go.
Meanwhile, after telling MAW to put down the knife, she was quite open to the idea of me going NaNo again this year, provided I helped clean house before Thanksgiving.
Posted by: Dan at October 26, 2005 11:35 PM
you could write about your angst derived from trying to decide... Still 50,000 words is a lot I guess
Posted by: satyr at October 27, 2005 10:17 AM
Yeah, it's a lot: 1,667 a day, though this year it would be more like 2,000 a day since I can pretty much strike 5 days from the calendar that I wouldn't be able to do squat. Even when I'm "in the flow", 1,000 words of fiction per hour is about my top-line.
But finding something to write about has never been the problem. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Hell, I've got ideas for about 25 novels sitting around in notes and in my head, but I'd be hard pressed to get twenty cents for them.
Posted by: Dan at October 27, 2005 10:56 AM