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NaNoWriMo [Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, 6:05 pm]
I was suddenly reminded that November is National Novel-writing month, and that there is a program in which writers can sign up at a website and dedicate the month of November to writing an entire novel. From November 1-30. I'm suddenly struck with the need to do something drastic in order to finish a novel. I just get frustrated with my stories that lay around between 10-60 pages long and never progress enough to near a conclusion. And I know it's my own fault. But I feel like I need to do something. I think maybe this is something I should aim for. It's a little scary. I'm afraid that I may start out with a bang, and just gradually taper off, like I always do. I'm just hoping that holding myself to a deadline along with thousands of other people, will change things. Maybe having this accountability will do the same thing to me that school assignments and professor's expectations did before - made me do it. Of course, this means I'll have to write the novel that's in my head, instead of any that I've already "started." I have the next month to hone my ideas and maybe write an outline before I actually start to write it down. I've calculated that this will be over 6 pages a day, not counting Thanksgiving, since I won't be writing anything that day. This will be very different than what I'm used to - I tend to edit as I write... over and over, slow and plodding... I hone things. In this case though, I would have to focus much more on length and quantity than quality. But... if I am able to accomplish this... it will be exciting. Even if everything I write is crap. If I can do it, it will simply mean that I've finally finished something long. That I've actually DONE something instead of just thought about doing it and drawing it out. I really want to do this, I just hope I have the endurance to see it through. I found some tips from NaNoWriMo (as it's abbreviated to), that made me laugh: -Do not edit as you go. Editing is for December. Think of November as an experiment in pure output. Even if it's hard at first, leave ugly prose and poorly written passages on the page to be cleaned up later. Your inner editor will be very grumpy about this, but your inner editor is a nitpicky jerk who foolishly believes that it is possible to write a brilliant first draft if you write it slowly enough. It isn't. Every book you've ever loved started out as a beautifully flawed first draft. In November, embrace imperfection and see where it takes you. -There will be times you'll want to quit during November. This is okay. Everyone who wins NaNoWriMo wanted to quit at some point in November. Stick it out. See it through. Week Two can be hard. Week Three is much better. Week Four will make you want to hug the world. The middle one is hilarious, because I started doing that even before they suggested it... it goes back to my professor theory. The only reason I did well in school was because I didn't want to disappoint people (well, not the only reason, but one of the big ones). *sigh*... but I LOVE my inner editor :-( I'll agree though, she hasn't helped me much when it comes to actually finishing anything. So, now I'm just trying to come up with an outline. And, yeah... I'm stuck around week 2 ;-) Miss anything?
Vitality - Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009 |