I’m back!
General Announcements:
Mostly, today I want to talk about the pros and cons of NaNoWriMo. Now that the craze of NaNoWriMo and college finals are over, I should be back to resuming my weekly posts. For the next few weeks, I’ll probably focus on the writing process. I’m taking a class this winter on science fiction, specifically fiction focused on virtual reality, so I’ll definitely have some information to share from that as well. As always, stay tuned!
Today’s Topic: National Novel Writing Month
Today I want to talk about my experience with NaNoWriMo. For those of you who don’t know, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a personal challenge to write 50,000 words during November. Whenever I tell people this, they ask me: “What do you get from it?” So here’s the thing: you don’t “win” anything. Sure, if you submit your document and the total word count is 50,000 or more, you get a nice certificate with your name on it. You also get some coupon codes and the chance to have a copy of your book printed (which I declined, since my novel is totally scattered and I ended practically mid-sentence). You do get some things, but you don’t really “win” in the sense that you don’t get any money, and you don’t get published. But this doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth it. I, personally, would never have started writing without NaNoWriMo to push me, and the feeling of having written 50,000 words in 30 days fills me with a sense of accomplishment.
I would highly recommend NaNoWriMo to anyone, whether you have a lot of experience writing or have just started. If you don’t think you’ll be able to get 50,000 words done, aim for 25,000. The point is simply that it gives the push to write. I believe NaNoWriMo is a specifically useful tool for writers of sci-fi and fantasy. We, more than other authors, tend to get stuck in the phases of planning and world-building. We read of these huge, beautifully crafted worlds and mythologies, and we feel as if we have to enter the writing process with this same caliber of material already developed. When we see the final products of prolific fantasy and science-fiction authors, we forget (or, at least, I do) how many drafts they went through, how many changes they made. The drive to write 50,000 words forced me out of planning and into writing on November 1st. While I had a clear outline, the set deadline meant that I couldn’t stop writing for a week or so to reconsider the plot line or the characters. I had to just keep writing. Too many times, I’ve told myself that I am taking some time off to reconsider plot or characterization, and then simply never get back to writing. I have a chronic issue with the planning phase, and for those out there like me, NaNoWriMo is exactly what you need. If you have the opposite disposition, and are a total on-the-fly writer, NaNoWriMo is perfect for you as well.
There is one significant problem with NaNoWriMo, and I am facing it right now. I finished, and I told myself I would pick it back up as soon as the bulk of my finals were done. It’s been a week since I turned in my biggest paper, and I still keep putting off writing. I’ve spent almost three weeks without my characters or my world. It is a dangerously long amount of time. Like many other writers, the 50,000-word mark did not indicate the end of my story. I’m perhaps about 2/3 of the way through. Going into November, I did not know exactly how much of my story 50,000 words would be, but I knew I had to reach that mark. Oddly enough, it’s a lot easier to say “I will write 50,000 words in a month” than “I will finish my story in a month.” To write 50,000 words in November, I had to write 1,667 words per day. I will have to set a similar (albeit smaller) daily goal for myself to finish my novel. I’ve always been the type to sort of wait around for inspiration to strike, and I have only just realized that this is essentially a form of procrastination. While NaNoWriMo helped me understand the importance of setting a daily goal, it also provided an all-too-convenient stopping point. Now that I’ve hit the 50,000, it’s easy to feel like my job is done, and there’s nothing left for me to do.
Overall, I would recommend setting a daily and a long-term goal, whether or not you participate in NaNoWriMo. I think a lot of us say we will do a certain amount of writing every day, or tell ourselves we’ll have reached a certain goal in x number of weeks, but it is really the combination of both goals that keeps us going and motivates us to catch up whenever we fall behind on our goal! Once you reach your goal, set another one right away. Don’t let the space between get too long!
The Story Web 