NaNo Gripe

caseyquinn

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So i decided to attend the "kick off" meeting for nano in my home region of NC, USA and was aggigated by the mentality of the people who were both running it (the nano reps) and the other writers.

They kept promoting this idea of just reaching 50 k is the most important thing. Write random junk, write about whats on your mind if you get stuck, etc,etc...

they really dont care if you write a story. to nano, it is just as good as copy and pasting the same paragraph a million times to reach 50k... seemed odd to me.

i personally am working on a novel that i plan to edit for a few months and hope to shop it and get it published. i feel in the minority in this idea and use of nano. am i just running with wrong crowd?
 

Bubastes

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I think that you get out of NaNo what you put into it. I'm also hoping to get a first draft that will eventually be revised into publication-ready form. I also know that not everyone has the same goal as me. That's fine. We all have our own reasons for doing NaNo, and to me it's the shared experience (insanity?) that matters.
 

Alpha Echo

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I'm with you Casey. Our kick-off group was actually really large, and a lot of people showed up. I only talked to a few, and honestly, I tuned them out after awhile because they ketp talking, and I was there to write.

And I think what I'm writing is pretty good. I do go back and re-read and make changes. One girl at the kick-off was talking about how you shouldn't do that or you'll never make 50k.

Oh yeah? Well, I'm at 10k, and we're only on day 3! So THERE!

Good luck!
 

vixey

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I'm planning to polish and shop my novel later. It's an old idea that's taken countless shapes over the years.

I understand your gripe. It does seem like there are people out there who are in it for the word count alone. Perhpas they are not true writers? Maybe writer wannabees? Don't know.

The NaNo experience has been an exercise in slapping my inner editor around. I found myself closing my eyes this morning as I typed. The thoughts flowed onto the paper. When I switched it up and began to read the words I typed, it was as though everything moved in slow motion. Interesting lesson for me, no?
 

Deccydiva

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I am also hoping to have the makings of a saleable novel by the end of NaNo, even if it takes a fair few months (or years) to get it finished and polished. I see it as a way to discipline myself to get words down reasonably efficiently and so far, it's going well.
Perhaps those of us who are serious about producing a coherent first draft by 30th November should have special tee shirts? Such as "I REALLY won NaNo"?
 

vixey

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Perhaps those of us who are serious about producing a coherent first draft by 30th November should have special tee shirts? Such as "I REALLY won NaNo"?


Oohh...great idea! With the AW logo, too!
 

Yeshanu

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NaNo means different things to different people. For those who are writing their first novel, and there are a lot of them every year, it's about getting words on paper, because no matter how much you revise, the chances that your first novel are very slim indeed.

Some folks are in it because writing's a lonely business, and they want to do something every year that jolts them out of their rut of predictable but solitary writing, and into a more social mode.

Some folks are in it to produce fifty thousand words that might eventually be saleable. These folks are in the minority, it's true, but they're a very large minority. Some of them (like our own spacejock2) are multi-published authors.

Some folks like me are writing what may seem to others to be utter nonsense. My own purpose is to rediscover the fun that I'm supposed to be having, to free my muse from the cobwebs of disuse, and to get writing.

If I can do that, then I too, will have "really won" NaNo, even though my first draft may be utter rot, and I do somewhat resent those who feel superior because their first draft is what they believe to be "coherent."

Everyone is in NaNo for their own reasons. Why don't you stop worrying about how others are treating the experience, and instead decide how YOU want to treat the experience? And if your local group doesn't seem to be "your crowd," then find another whose goals more closely align to yours.

Best of luck this month, whatever you do. :)
 

DeleyanLee

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I've been around sites for the last, ghods, 9 years that have talked and participated (not always officially) in NaNo. That kind of attitude is NOT unusual. Even in writing sites where people are supposed to be serious about writing, the "freedom just to slop down words during NaNo" just seems to take hold and not let go.

It's one of the reasons I've avoided NaNo for many years, actually. That attitude is bad enough whenever, but the intensity in November was just too much.

Though, I will say, that one of the reasons I joined this year was so I could go to the local get-togethers. I'm relatively new in this town and would like to meet people outside of my household and workplace. The idea of just being able to chat about writing with new people for a while is wonderful to me.

Not to say that I'm not bringing the laptop and not intending to write. But NaNo is something of a social time by its very nature--it's just got to be a controlled social.

Like Yeshanu said upthread--you get out of it what you put into it. You're in control of what you do, not anyone else. Make it the best for yourself and let them do whatever makes it worthwhile to them.
 
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ravenlea

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Perhaps those of us who are serious about producing a coherent first draft by 30th November should have special tee shirts? Such as "I REALLY won NaNo"?

I second this! :D

I don't bother going to any of the write-ins and kick off parties in my area. I think there are a total of five of us here and the one year I bothered to go, only one other person showed up and she wanted to talk about nano rather than doing nano. i'm with you, I want a finished project that I can turn into something even better, not something bound for the shredder.

raven
 

cklayne

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I think the fact that so many different people with different goals and motivations can come together for a whole month and celebrate the thing that connects us all.. our love to write, is the spirit that makes NaNo magical.

This is my first NaNo. I discovered it mid-way through November last year. I'm using it to give me a reason to make my writing top priority.
 

Yeshanu

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I think the fact that so many different people with different goals and motivations can come together for a whole month and celebrate the thing that connects us all.. our love to write, is the spirit that makes NaNo magical.


:Hug2: :kiss:

You got it!
 

Deccydiva

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If I can do that, then I too, will have "really won" NaNo, even though my first draft may be utter rot, and I do somewhat resent those who feel superior because their first draft is what they believe to be "coherent."
Everyone is in NaNo for their own reasons. Why don't you stop worrying about how others are treating the experience, and instead decide how YOU want to treat the experience? And if your local group doesn't seem to be "your crowd," then find another whose goals more closely align to yours.

I didn't mean to cause offence, apologies if I did, but I do feel free to express an opinion.
Incidentally, I don't have a local group, out here in the wilds it's virtual or nothing.;)
 

BenPanced

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I understand your gripe. It does seem like there are people out there who are in it for the word count alone. Perhpas they are not true writers? Maybe writer wannabees? Don't know.
Who's to say who is a "true writer" or a "wannabe"? Like the song says, it's not for me to say.
 

dgiharris

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I'm viewing NaNo as a learning experience. I don't intend to get a first draft out of NaNo. More likely a really great outline from which to write my first draft.

But it is the learning that most interests me. Introducing characters, connecting scenes, using POV, and writing for the long haul versus writing short stories.

I did switch off my inner editor to some extent, but I would not call what i'm writing 'crap' with the intent of reaching 50K. I'm easily past 3K words and think that writing 50K words in a month is easy. The hard part is writing 50K words that have some sort of value.

Personally, I do not believe my skill level is high enough to write a useable 'first draft' this go around. But it is my hope that by this time next year, my skill level will be high enough to kick out a first draft that is more easily honed into a second draft. As is, I think I will be using my NaNo novel more as on outline and re-writing from scratch.

Mel...
 

Cranky

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I'm viewing NaNo as a learning experience. I don't intend to get a first draft out of NaNo. More likely a really great outline from which to write my first draft.

But it is the learning that most interests me. Introducing characters, connecting scenes, using POV, and writing for the long haul versus writing short stories.

I did switch off my inner editor to some extent, but I would not call what i'm writing 'crap' with the intent of reaching 50K. I'm easily past 3K words and think that writing 50K words in a month is easy. The hard part is writing 50K words that have some sort of value.

Personally, I do not believe my skill level is high enough to write a useable 'first draft' this go around. But it is my hope that by this time next year, my skill level will be high enough to kick out a first draft that is more easily honed into a second draft. As is, I think I will be using my NaNo novel more as on outline and re-writing from scratch.

Mel...

Ditto your bold, Mel. It's also a great exercise for your imagination and problem solving skills, not to mention making a habit meeting a daily quota, which has been problematic for me thus far.

They say you only need 21 days to establish a new habit, so...here's hoping. :)
 

Yeshanu

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I didn't mean to cause offence, apologies if I did, but I do feel free to express an opinion.

Apologies accepted. It's not so much the fact that some people feel the need to write coherent prose that got my hackles up, but the assumption that in order to truly "win" NaNo, you have to be like them. NaNo's for everyone, in that respect. That's not just my opinion, that's how the founders envisioned it.

Do it your way, have fun doing it, and you'll come out a winner. :Hug2:


Incidentally, I don't have a local group, out here in the wilds it's virtual or nothing.;)

That's why we're here at AW. And I'd guess, though we have our share of people who are simply trying to have fun and put words on paper, that there are more "serious" writers per capita amongst us (meaning those who will go on to attempt to get their novels published.)

As for me, I haven't met my local group yet -- this year's going to be a first in that way for me -- so I don't know what I'm dealing with. Judging from the word counts, some of them are pretty serious about it, and some of them aren't.
 

virtue_summer

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Given how many people participate in NaNo I'd be surprised if there wasn't some diversity in intentions. Seriously, some people just like to have fun and write whatever comes to mind. Nothing wrong with that. Some people just want to set a challenge for themselves and try to accomplish it. Nothing wrong with that either. And some people want to give themselves a kick in the butt to write the story that's been going around in their head, possibly with the intention of eventual publication. There's certainly nothing wrong with that.

I too am intending to use NaNo to produce a first draft (or at least the majority of one) of a novel I eventually intend to submit for publication. I think NaNo is a great way to do this. It lets me fully immerse myself in the story and feel proud of the work I'm accomplishing toward my goal each day. But my goal and other people's goals are not the same, and given that the only prize for NaNo is the feeling of personal accomplishment each winner gets, I don't see anything wrong with someone else calling themselves a winner as well as long as they've met their own goals the way I won't call myself a winner unless I meet mine.
 

Deccydiva

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Apologies accepted. It's not so much the fact that some people feel the need to write coherent prose that got my hackles up, but the assumption that in order to truly "win" NaNo, you have to be like them. NaNo's for everyone, in that respect. That's not just my opinion, that's how the founders envisioned it.
Do it your way, have fun doing it, and you'll come out a winner. :Hug2:
This is my first time so I'm still feeling my way. Good luck with your aims, that goes for everyone. :Hug2:
 
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ajkjd01

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I'm an ML, it's my third year in NaNo, and I've been submitting stuff to try to get published over the last two years.

I heard several people say things to me about their stories or about their plots that made me want to step in and give them advice about their stories. I bit my tongue and kept my mouth shut.

Someone else made a comment about how to get wordcount up with randomly generated ideas that had nothing to do with the plot. Again, I bit my tongue, encouraged them to keep writing, and kept my criticisms to myself.

Why?

Well, because not everyone in NaNo shares the same goal I do. I've already noticed in the first 7K words of my novel for this year that I'm going to have some restructuring and cutting to do...otherwise it's taking to long to get the plot going. But I'm not going to stop. You know why? It might not be why you think.

I've got a long outline. I want to get closer to the end to see where I go, and what changes get made before I decide how much needs cut at the front.

To me, NaNo is the first draft. It's like someone who makes clay pottery on a wheel. They can't make the pot until they throw the clay on the wheel. NaNo is throwing the clay on the wheel. I can shape it and edit it and scream about it after NaNo, but completing NaNo means that I have something to shape and edit and scream about. Do I plan to submit this? Absolutely. But the first step is getting it on paper so I can mess with it later.
 

cjharley

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I am letting NaNo take me where ever it wants to. I am writing a story and darn it I am going to do my very best to get 50K words done by the end of November.

I do see, however, why the OP would get annoyed at people who just write whatever they feel like without it really being a novel/story.
 

melaniehoo

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I'm in the group that would like to see my nano novel go someplace. I couldn't participate last year and have been looking forward to this since then. I wrote a novel over this past spring and summer and timed it so that I'd be ready to start this novel for nano. I've gone back and tweaked a couple little things, but for the most part I'm saying true to the "spirit" and not checking my work.
 

caseyquinn

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Thanks for everyone's point of view. This is my first nano and i guess i had built it up in my mind after years of lurking the nano writers on all the forums i belong thinking man, i want to write a novel. Was just fraustrated i guess at the general attitude of write to get it done instead of write a good story. i tend to take writing too serious (even if what i write is garbage :) )

Thanks again and i understand what you all mean - everyone does everything for their own reason - ill just shut up and go write :) i need to hit my word count for the day :)
 

Beach Bunny

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They kept promoting this idea of just reaching 50 k is the most important thing. Write random junk, write about whats on your mind if you get stuck, etc,etc...

*snip*

i personally am working on a novel that i plan to edit for a few months and hope to shop it and get it published. i feel in the minority in this idea and use of nano. am i just running with wrong crowd?
One way to silence the inner critic, turn off the inner editor, and free one's muse is to give one's self permission to write junk. I think that is what "they" were trying to do for people.

This is my third year doing Nano. Each year I have had a different goal to reach. This year it is a first draft of 50K that I hope to polish into a saleable novel. Last year, I only wrote over 5K. Technically, I did not win Nano. But, I achieved my goal of getting an entire novel length plotline from start to finish down on paper. And it was crap. I gave myself permission to write crap. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

Are you hanging around with the wrong crowd? Maybe. One of the reasons that I came to AW from another group was because the members here are published authors or have goals of becoming published authors in a major publishing house. It's a whole different ball game from what I was in before. My needs were not getting met with my old group. So, if your local group is not meeting your needs, then yes you are hanging out with the wrong crowd. There are other Nano groups to work with. :)
 

Elonna

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Seattle has been the region for highest Word count for a couple years running. They already said they plan on winning it again. I imagine there are some regions that are going to try to knock them out of it. I know that Austria/Germany is on their tail currently along with a couple of others. Not knowing for sure where you are, it could be that they are just trying to get notoriety as being the best region for this year maybe since they do not verify content only word count. You could type 'crap' 50K times and that counts.
 
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