No, not Christmas. NaNoWriMo-- the month of literary abandon wherein would-be novelists devote themselves to cranking out 50,000 new words. If you complete the challenge you "win" the month. In my book, if you attempt the challenge, you also win.
There are some (who shall remain nameless but survey your writerly twitter feed and you'll see them) who believe NaNo is a bad idea. "Not everyone can craft a novel," they say. "Novels take time to simmer and build," they say. "What's the point of pounding out 50,000 words if you're going to throw away half of them?" they say.
Insert my eyeroll here. Why? Because these arguments (and the many others you'll find) are bunk. First of all, part of the time and simmering process is drafting... which is what NaNo is. And second, well, what's the point of doing anything? Why train for and run a marathon if you'll never "win?" Why attempt cooking a fancy dinner if you'll never be a professional chef? Why take a photography class if you'll never be Ansel Adams? Hell. We should just all give up and sit on our couches and eat potato chips until we DIE.
Kidding. Obviously. The point of NaNo is not to crank out a publishable book in 30 days (ha!) the point is, like anything else one endeavors to do, to grow. To learn something. To experience a sense of community (there are NaNo meet-ups all over the country). To try. Or, you know, to have just FUN.
I know, right? Some of us actually enjoy writing just for the sake of it.
NaNo taught me that I am a fast drafter. I need to crank out a (as Anne Lamott says) "shitty" first draft as quickly as possible and if I don't, I lose momentum and thus interest. I'm a fickle writer, apparently. I never would have figured that out if I didn't attempt NaNo. Odds are I would be sitting here having never finished a single manuscript and wondering why I have all these partially finished ideas, why I get 20,000 words in and then stall out.
NaNo also taught me that I prefer revising to drafting because in the revising I see my book getting better. Stronger. More akin to the vision I have in my head. (In case you didn't know, it's DAMN hard to get the vision onto paper).
I fast-drafted a manuscript this summer (although by fast-draft, I mean over the course of 2-3 months), then revised a bunch. Now, I'm about to REVISE a bunch more. NaNo for me will be NaNoReviseMo-- I cut about 20,000 words yesterday, I've got to add back in that plus a good 10-20,000 more. Meep!
So. Are you doing NaNo? If so, the internet is laden with people giving tips but here are mine:
1) Write.
2) Keep writing.
3) Write some more.
Simple, right?
Seriously. JUST. KEEP. WRITING.
Don't worry about plot holes, character development, missing scenes, bad dialog, nothing but dialog etc. etc. Your first draft is like a coat of primer-- it's laying the foundation for what can come next. What will come next if you're willing to put in the work (and it's hard work-- fun work, but HARD work).
My other tip: HAVE FUN!
5 comments:
I tend to skip NaNo since I'm not a fast drafter, but I'm feeling slightly inspired today so I may go ahead and start something. The way I see it, even if you don't make it to 50,000 if you get something rolling and write (mostly) every day, you're doing something productive.
Exactly! nothing to lose :)
Word. A-to-the-men, sister. (I'm a fast drafter, fickle writer too. But, I prefer the drafting to the revisions and edits. I fester too much over ever single nuance during edits.)
This is my first year doing NaNo, and I'm loving it already. I fast-drafted a novel last summer that I then spent the next several months revising and eventually rewriting, but without that first draft, nothing ever would have happened. Happy revising!
Also, loved this: Hell. We should just all give up and sit on our couches and eat potato chips until we DIE.
You are so right about this, Lindsey. I think people need to remember that everybody's writing process is different. These people who say that NaNo is useless because you pound out 50,000 words of crap are forgetting that for many people the first draft is a bare bones hunk of crap.
Like you, I kind of prefer revising because that's when the story really starts to shine. That's when you can strip away the crap and add in the good stuff. And NaNo is supposed to be about accountability, finding motivation, developing good habits, community, and having FUN!
Great post! And much needed encouragement to just keep writing. :)
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