NaNoWriMo 2011 --- why I failed.

Warp9 · Nov 26, 2011

My first NaNoWriMo was in 2010. I didn't even know I was going to start with that one until about 7:00 PM on Nov 1st, and then I dived in.

I had no idea where I was going; it was kind of like a reality show. I'd "tune in" and watch my characters play out their lives as I walked through the story with them. I ended up coming to a pretty nice conclusion that I never would have guessed at when I'd started.

November 2011 came around. This time, I knew I was going for it.

I wanted to try something a bit different this year, and plan things out a bit more, so I had an outline of sorts. It was not as complete as I would have liked (I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to write about until close to Nov 1, so I didn't have have that much time to work on an outline, so it was pretty vague in the middle parts), but it still gave me a pretty good idea of the start and the finish. I also had a specific situation I wanted to explore during those middle parts.

November came, I started writing. Things went well for the first 30 pages (although I'd hoped my outline would take me further than that). I had gotten to where I wanted to be. As I said, I knew how things would start, and I had a situation I wanted to explore.

However, once I got everything set up, things started to go wrong. My target situation was not as easy to write about as I had expected. I did know what I wanted to do with the ending, but, being on page 30, I still had a long way to go before it was time to wrap things up.

I had various ideas (lots of them) for the middle-part, unfortunately they all tended to fit into 3 categories. (A,B, and C as follows)

(A) ideas that would tend to quickly alter the situation to the point that it was no longer remotely like what I'd intended to write about. It would be like intending to write about Gilligan's Island, but then getting the characters all off the island (it wouldn't be Gilligan's Island anymore). And this was also a problem given that I had some specific ideas for the conclusion---which would no longer apply if the situation got altered too much. In retrospect, maybe worrying about keeping things on track is not compatible with the spontaneous nature of NaNoWriMo.

(B) ideas that would tend to be boring. In retrospect, maybe part of the problem here is that I gave up on some potentially good ideas rather than working make them interesting. I also wouldn't have concerned myself about this factor last year, I just stayed with the characters where ever they went (boring or not).

(C) ideas that would bring the story to a premature ending.

I kept fighting with it, trying different things. And I did keep up my goal of 6 pages per day, up until day 17 (where I would have hit page 102). I realized it was not working and gave up at page 98. At the end, I'd jumped around trying different ideas to the point where I didn't feel that there was a coherent narrative anymore. And I thought that continuing to fight with it would not be productive.

I don't see this attempt as a waste of time, and instead see it as a learning experience, although I'm still thinking about what I've learned. . . .

First, I don't think I was able to embrace the open-spontaneous spirit in the way I did last year. Maybe a part of it was that I had higher expectations for my second try.

I also think that, if I'm going to have an outline, it needs to be more detailed. Otherwise (when writing at a NaNoWritMo pace) I tend to play it fast and loose, and shoot through it too quickly---meaning that my "novel" tends to turn into a short story.

It may be that having an outline at all is a mistake for me. I tend to let the characters tell the story, rather than pre-planning things. I sort of thought I'd "consulted" the characters for my outline, yet it was not the same as actually writing everything out.

There were also some problems related to fuzzy conceptualization. I had conflicting ideas about my setting, that I didn't see a problem with until I actually wrote the situation out.

Anyway, that is my basic take on the matter. I thought maybe it would help to come here and discuss my experience with other writers.

Have others of you had similar experiences with your NaNoWriMo attempts?

LilGreenBookworm · Nov 26, 2011

Actually, my NaNoWriMo story is the exact opposite!

In 2005, I made my first attempt. I had an idea that had been in my head for a few months, did absolutely zero planning, and just went with it. I hit 50k, but not without learning to hate my story, myself, and all of the writing skills I thought I had before I wrote the trash that novel became.

This year, I tried again, after 6 years of zero creative writing unless required for school (and even then it was a painful process that yielded stories I thought were awful). I had an outline, I researched, I planned, I made character bios...everything I should have done the first time around. I hit my 50k 9 days early, and my story isn't finished yet. I lurk around the forums here reading the writing prompts and limerick threads and it amazes me that I'm actually getting more ideas. I'm not totally burned out and 100% unhappy with my novel. I actually want people to read it, some day. It still has a lot of editing and plot issues to iron out, but the bones are solid, I'm confident about that.

Orianna2000 · Nov 26, 2011

I've always won NaNoWriMo, even though every year I used a different tactic. This year, my goal was to write a full novel, albeit a short one, from start to finish. In past years, I just wrote until I hit 50,000 words and then stopped, which left me with only half a novel. I wanted something that wouldn't take as much effort to make publishable, so I resolved to write a beginning, a middle, and an end. I got a nice beginning written. Then . . . well, let's just say that this was the first year that I failed miserably at NaNoWriMo.

I don't think it's connected with my plan to write the full novel, instead of half a novel. I had a good outline and an interesting world to play with. The problem was that my characters fell flat. They had no depth, no spark. No personality, no life. Usually my characters are individuals. They have unique voices and personalities and I enjoy writing them. With this novel, however, I got three or four chapters into the story and realized that I was having to force myself to write each day. I wasn't enjoying it or looking forward to each day's writing. It became a chore--and it was because I had no clue who the characters were. They were one-dimensional and boring and I had no interest in writing them.

Once I realized this, I knew it would take quite a lot of work to fix the problem. I had too many other things going on this month, so I set aside my NaNoWriMo novel and conceded defeat gracefully.

I do plan to return to this novel eventually. I've got three other novels I'm trying to finish right now, so my plate's rather full at the moment. But when I've got nothing better to do, I'll dust off my copy of Nancy Kress's book on creating dynamic characters and work on fleshing out the characters in this novel. Then perhaps I'll be able to finish it.

Warp9 · Nov 26, 2011

Orianna2000 said:
I do plan to return to this novel eventually. I've got three other novels I'm trying to finish right now, so my plate's rather full at the moment. But when I've got nothing better to do, I'll dust off my copy of Nancy Kress's book on creating dynamic characters and work on fleshing out the characters in this novel. Then perhaps I'll be able to finish it.

It is interesting that you should mention "dynamic characters."

One of the things I've noticed is that my characters tend to end up playing out as more dynamic than I expect. Things tend to explode, which leads to interesting results, but makes it hard to keep things going for an extended story. That was a part of why a number of my ideas would not work (meaning they'd either alter the story too much, or end the story too quickly)

For example, I'm lucky if I end up writing an argument at a dinner party that doesn't end up with my characters trying to kill each other.

VictoriaWrites · Nov 26, 2011

I did fine on the first half of NaNo. The second half was where I completely failed.

I didn't outline because I didn't decide I was going to do NaNo until Nov. 1st and because I have always stubbornly refused to outline.

My characters ended up being pretty awesome, but my plot fell short and I had a difficult time trying to make their actions into a novel. On top of everything else, I'm a student and I have two papers due at the end of November, and now I'm sick.

It wasn't a waste, though.

I learned that I need to work more on plotting and that outlines are not the enemy. I wrote more than I ever have before, and I wrote more consistently than I usually do. And after I've taken a breather (and written my papers for school!) I can apply what I've learned to my next project.

Warp9 · Nov 26, 2011

VictoriaWrites said:
I'm a student and I have two papers due at the end of November, and now I'm sick.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Here's hoping for a fast recovery, and a smooth ride with your two papers.

VictoriaWrites said:
It wasn't a waste, though. I learned that I need to work more on plotting and that outlines are not the enemy.

I may have learned a different lesson about outlines.

VictoriaWrites said:
I can apply what I've learned to my next project.

Good luck!

SRHowen · Nov 26, 2011

Well, I didn't fail to meet the 50k, but I didn't meet my own goal of 100k. I don't outline ever. If i do I kill the story. It was my laptop's mother board that stopped me. I am on the netbook, and I can not write on this thing. I can, but it is so slow going due to vision problems, I lose ideas before I can get them down--and I can't connect it to the TV screen, so I can't see what I am doing.

VictoriaWrites · Nov 26, 2011

Warp9 said:
I may have learned a different lesson about outlines.

Well, if we all wrote the same way, we wouldn't be able to have internet wars about outlining vs. pantsing, would we?

Jessykuh · Nov 27, 2011

I failed but I normally fail NaNoWriMo. It's discouraging haha. I thought this year would be a bit different. I had a story idea in my head, although as usual, I refused to do an outline. I like winging it. But that's probably also my downfall. I really enjoyed writing it at first and then I realized, like another said in this post, that I didn't know who my characters were. I kept wanting to change their names and nothing fit, ever. I tried getting to know my characters and it only made me more frustrated.

For a bit, I did keep going but it got to the point where I had to force myself to write. Then I just gave up. The plot is something I would love to tackle another time but at this point, I don't know who my characters are and nothing is helping me get to know them. I've been trying to work on other projects but I always stop. I swear, I'm my own worst enemy.

Anninyn · Nov 27, 2011

I was using it as a test to see if I could write erotica.

I couldn't.

Warp9 · Nov 27, 2011

SRHowen said:
I don't outline ever. If i do I kill the story.

It seems like my outline became a problem.

Something else just occurred to me. . . . One of the big differences between my successful NaNoWriMo 2010, and this years attempt, was that I previously just stayed with a single character (whereas this year I jumped around to different POVs). Staying with one POV made things simpler, because I didn't have to consider which POV I was going for as I changed scenes. I could just always write the continuing story from my main character's POV.

Changing POVs seemed to require a plan of how I would progress. I sort of needed to know ahead of time whose vantage point would be better for a given situation. And having a plan meant more of an outline type structure.

Maybe my plan would have worked better if I'd been writing more slowly, but I didn't seem to make it work too well for NaNoWriMo.

Silver-Midnight · Nov 27, 2011

The reason why I failed is simple: I spent more time worrying about writing than writing.

I was very self-critical and judged everything I wrote. I do that a lot actually. I'm highly self-critical, and I'm still learning to put my "self critic" in a box.

I was so nitpicky. I hated my style and everything else, excluding my plot.

At least that's how I feel so far.

Jessykuh · Nov 27, 2011

Warp9 said:
It seems like my outline became a problem.

Something else just occurred to me. . . . One of the big differences between my successful NaNoWriMo 2010, and this years attempt, was that I previously just stayed with a single character (whereas this year I jumped around to different POVs). Staying with one POV made things simpler, because I didn't have to consider which POV I was going for as I changed scenes. I could just always write the continuing story from my main character's POV.

Changing POVs seemed to require a plan of how I would progress. I sort of needed to know ahead of time whose vantage point would be better for a given situation. And having a plan meant more of an outline type structure.

Maybe my plan would have worked better if I'd been writing more slowly, but I didn't seem to make it work too well for NaNoWriMo.

I agree, one POV is simpler. I tried writing one story, at first it was going to be from one POV. Then I decided to experiment and try multiple POV but I realized it took away from the story. Funny enough, I looked back on my POVs for that story and realized the supporting characters POVs were better than the main characters.

dangerousbill · Nov 27, 2011

The term 'fail' has little meaning for me in Nano. It's an opportunity to meet local writers, and sometimes to kick off a new novel project.

I never expect to 'win', because I can't write that way.

fredXgeorge · Nov 27, 2011

Officially I'll fail, but it doesn't seem that way to me. I'm quite behind because of exams and a trip away but because I've had NaNo, I've made sure to keep writing as much as possible. One day I wrote 4,000 words which might seem like nothing to some people but to me it was heaps. I started on the 7th and I think I'll be able to reach 50k by Dec 7th which is double my previous achievement. So even though NaNo will be finished I'll still feel like a winner.

fourlittlebees · Nov 27, 2011

The best part about NaNo for me is letting go of the editing. I am great at editing, but often get so caught up in trying to make things perfect that I never make it to the end. That said, I failed to finish last year because the idea I was working with needed a fantastic amount of research and I really underestimated how much. I trashed the entire thing, spent the year doing research, and started fresh this year with the same original concept, but an entirely new way of writing it, and it went much better, and I finished. At just over 50K, it's maybe 1/2 on the page, and definitely needs places fleshed out, but I have a nice skeleton in place, which is exactly the goal when I do this. Now, for an idea for next year.

AnnieColleen · Nov 27, 2011

Warp9 said:
I also think that, if I'm going to have an outline, it needs to be more detailed.

This is me, only there's no 'if'. Based on past years, I have to have an outline, and it has to be to a certain level of detail if it's going to work. Word count isn't a problem for me - last year's NaNo was at ~74K when I got frustrated and just ended it. Thinking through structure/events/motivations/setting absolutely is a problem for me, at NaNo pace, so what I end up with is a lot of words that go nowhere, trying to link up events I don't have a clear idea of.

This year I had a fairly clear outline (based on character goals & outcomes), and then half an outline based on the story structure at storyfix.com. (Half an outline = I ran out of prep time.) And it's obvious in the novel where that second outline ends, particularly in the last quarter of the story. But this draft at just over 50K is still enormously better than previous years, and I can see what I need to do to fill in the gaps - which is the most noticeable difference this year.(Previous NaNos are still sitting until I figure out what to do with them.)

Penelope Finn · Nov 27, 2011

I failed again, like every year for the past five. I officially give up. No more NaNo for me. I'm tired of being a loser.

The Lonely One · Nov 27, 2011

You guys can have your NaNoWriMo. I admire you for trying, whether you succeed or not. Seriously. You're amazing if you can pound the words like so many others cannot, ignoring the itch to edit one sentence to death or stare at a blank screen. Go you.

However, I know my writing pace and that ain't it. I'd rather be honest with myself now than in a heap of frustration later. With school it's just not in the cards for me; I'm not interested in pursuing ominous word-count deadlines I'll never meet opposite a mounting courseload.

The most that thing would do for me is give me tens of thousands of words of unfocused trash to sharpen my quill on, so when I actually sit down to write with the intent of coming out the other end with something decent, I'll be a bit more ready.

Not knocking it, for some it really seems to be a great thing. I think for me, though, it'd be more discouraging than anything.

Warp9 · Nov 27, 2011

Penelope Finn said:
I failed again, like every year for the past five. I officially give up. No more NaNo for me. I'm tired of being a loser.

I'm sorry to hear that you want to give up. As long as you keep learning from your experiences, I don't think failure is that big of a loss.

I can definitely understand what The Lonely One says in the post above. I did feel that I was writing so fast that I couldn't really take the time to get as much of a feel for each scene as I would have liked (although that was not so much of a problem last year). And I want to change gears and do some writing at a slower pace now.

But I'll likely be back for NaNo 2012 (unless the Mayans are right

)

fredXgeorge · Nov 27, 2011

That's another thing that has amazed me. I'm actually happier with what I've written for NaNo that anything else I've written, like, ever. I always thought it wouldn't suit me because I'm a slow writer but in actual fact it's been one of the best things I've ever done in terms of my writing.

LilGreenBookworm · Nov 27, 2011

Warp9 said:
I'm sorry to hear that you want to give up. As long as you keep learning from your experiences, I don't think failure is that big of a loss.

I can definitely understand what The Lonely One says in the post above. I did feel that I was writing so fast that I couldn't really take the time to get as much of a feel for each scene as I would have liked (although that was not so much of a problem last year). And I want to change gears and do some writing at a slower pace now.

But I'll likely be back for NaNo 2012 (unless the Mayans are right )

Even if the Mayans are correct, there will still be NaNo 2012, since the date the world evaporates or whatever is supposedly December 22. What better way to end life than with another novel under your belt?

Storm Surge · Nov 28, 2011

This was my first NaNo, and I've failed it rather miserably. I can already feel my inner-perfectionist plotting to send me off into despair December 1 for having done so badly. On the other hand, I've written more than I've ever written before in a month, and I had a lot of fun. Besides the world did a lot of conspiring against me this month. It's kind of amazing that I got anything done. I'm not the least bit sorry I did it.

ShadowFox · Nov 28, 2011

Ok, going to say this once:

There is no such thing as failing at NanoWriMo

You see, the entire point is learn something extra and become a better writer. You learned a method that doesn't work for you. That is valuable. Try something different next time.

There is no such thing as a failed story, either... every time you write, you learn something new.

Storm Surge · Nov 28, 2011

ShadowFox said:
Ok, going to say this once:

There is no such thing as failing at NanoWriMo

You see, the entire point is learn something extra and become a better writer. You learned a method that doesn't work for you. That is valuable. Try something different next time.

There is no such thing as a failed story, either... every time you write, you learn something new.

If I set out to do something but didn't for whatever reason, that is a failure. It wouldn't matter if it was NaNoWriMo or trying to go on a really long hike. I learn from failures all the time. Doesn't stop them from being failures.

NaNoWriMo 2011 --- why I failed.

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