Nano

Of course, sometimes our internal censor does us a favour. I tried the "going where the pen take me" route and believe me, sometimes it takes me to pretty mundane , pompous etc. places. It's harder to edit afterwards, if you just let your pen blather on about anything. Not everything in our heads or hearts is brilliant. Some of it is cliche, and even boring.

seanie blue said:

A completed novel is a fusion of inspiration and passion

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Lol! And a hair-tearing chore sometimes. It is some sort of physical work. I can almost prove it. ()

I'm a slim person and if I sit here and goof off day after day, along with my regular eating and puttering habits, I remain a slim person.

But, if I sit here on a creative tear and write, even while maintaining my usual 'other' routine, I disintegrate. I end up looking like a scraggly lollipop. I have to eat more and remember my vitamins while I'm hip deep in a writing project to avoid them throwing dirt over my head before my time.

It's work, I tell you.

i'd love to but with a very active toddler under my feet 24/7 and a partner who is in and out of hospital and house hunting and running my website, i really doubt i would have the time! maybe next year though!

i have accepted the fact that writing my current novel will probably take a million years!

seanie blue said:

Has the NaNo process actually spit out anything worthwhile, as far as anyone knows?

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http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/xoopsfaq/index.php?cat_id=1

Scroll down to "Has anyone had their novel published?"

I haven't read them, but some have been pub'd through Ballentine, Warner, and Berkley. That's something, anyway.

I just may try it with one of the book ideas kicking around in my head.

seanie blue said:

That desperate clawing for mediocre production won't do anybody any good, especially when it comes to creativity.

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Who says everyone's writing crap in Nano? We're writing rough drafts. The book I wrote last year during Nano was no worse than anything I'd written before Nano, but I wrote it much more quickly and used a rough outline for the first time--and it worked so well for me that I've followed the same process in the two novels I've completed since. So Nano helped me as a writer in a most unexpected way.

I think people are missing the point of Nano. No, most people are never going to write anything decent, but at least they can allow themselves to try without donning the "I'm a serious writer" crap hat. And for the real writers who participate, it's a time to set more important work aside for a few weeks and just have fun with our craft.

Hmm, if anyone doubts that a book bashed out in four weeks could possibly be any good, email me and I'll be more than happy to email you my last year's Nano book. I think it's quite good. Heck, I think I have the rough draft saved if anyone's interested. The strange thing is, I started with 4k of the book already written (I ended up with over 54k at the finish line to make up for it), and when I went to revise I had to completely rewrite the beginning because it seemed flat and uninspired next to the rest of the book. There's something to be said for spontaneity, when it's grounded with many years of hard work as a writer.

Me me me!

I'm in! I'm in!

I hadn't heard of Nano until last year when it was too late to register so I'm definitely going to be trying it for the first time this year.
I'm excited!

I guess I should get going about those ideas/plans/outlines...

I tried last year, I really did. But my focus was on rewriting an existing novel, rather than writing something new. I couldn't split up my free time enough to make a good run at NaNo, and quit after a week and a half.

My co-author and I may try it again this year with another idea we've been kicking around. I know the "rules" are different with co-writers, but I don't care. I look at it as a challenge.

soloset said:

I do disagree with the idea that you haven't lost anything, though -- you've definitely invested a month of time. It's still fun, but be prepared to finish the month with nothing of value to show for it.

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Saanen said:

Not necessarily. My mother's done Nano two years in a row now. Before then, she'd never written anything longer than a few thousand words (although she's a brilliant essayist). Both years she finished Nano and now has two completed novels she's revising. So if you just keep at it, your month-long investment can yield a return of a finished novel.

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Whoops, I'm sorry, I wasn't at all clear with that post. I didn't mean that last bit as in "you'll have nothing at the end" but as "be comfortable with the idea that your finished work might have serious issues or be uneditable". I wish I could blame holiday punch but it was just fuzzy thinking on my part. And congratulations to your mom, that's awesome!

Jamesaritchie said:

And the whole idea of barfing out 50K in a month is nonsense. 50K in thirty days is not very fast writing for anyone, and is certainly slow enough to write well.

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If I get one more person to refer to it as "barfing" I get a prize, so someone jump in, quick.

Actually, though, 50K in a month is a lot of words for some people. Me, I can churn out pages and pages of solid material in a few hours IF (the big if) I can get myself going. But I know people who consider a polished page a day to be incredibly fast progress.

The quality of the output is going to rely, as always, on the quality of the writer. Nano is just a game, a friendly competition where anyone who tries hard enough can win.

LeeFlower said:

November? Horrid month for students. Horrid), and my schoolwork comes first (at least in theory). .

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My thoughts EXACTLY. I usually feel like I'm using all my energy just to keep my head above water with classes by the end of the semester, and some days even all the necessary things don't fit in, much less over 1500 words a day, finals will be just around the corner plus all of the holiday chaos that time of year...I am going to be optimistic and try to participate, but you're right, schoolwork does have to come first. I wonder who picked November, anyway?

I just got out of exile while doing my own version of this. I'm not doing NANO! NO! Nooooooooooooo!

I have done it before (never signed up, though). I average about 2-5,000 words a day (usually I fall in a comfortable 3,500 words area) so I don't have a huge problem with getting my word counts in. The only problems I have are working on many projects at once, whihc means my wordcounts get spread around quite a bit.

I eagerly look forward to seeing what ya'll do, and how you do it. We should have an AW Nano-Participant Blog. That would be fun.

seanie blue said:

And as for 50,000 words of crap being better than 0 words of genius, okay, I will agree. But one word of genius is better than 50,000 words of crap!!! That desperate clawing for mediocre production won't do anybody any good, especially when it comes to creativity.

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Requiring that every word you write be genius and genius from the start isn't much aid to creativity either.

I guess I'm siding with Perks on this. This whole Nano thing escapes me. Why do you need this special month, this forced arbitrary deadline to produce something? Are you that undisciplined a writer that you write NOTHING the other 11 months?

That may hold true for those who are trying out NaNo to see if they can be a writer. For other writers who write the rest of the year, me included, I do NaNo because it's fun. But then, I've also done similar challenges in other months of the year as well. Sometimes, it does help to have an arbitrary and otherwise meaningless goal to propel a person on to writing something a lot faster than it would happen otherwise.

And really, what's the harm? So what if you or others don't understand it or don't approve. You don't have to. Are all writers the same? Do all writers repsond to the same stimulus? Do all writers have outlines/write by the seat of their pants? Do all writers work best at writing 4 pages/10 pages/some other arbitrary amount of pages per day every day of the year? Heck, no!

NaNo works for some people. That it doesn't work for others is no reason to condemn it. (Not that I'm pointing any fingers or anything - this is a generic statement.) It's enough that it works for some. That alone makes it, in my books, worthwhile.

As for me, I'm in. Because arbitrary challenges, along with chocolate rewards, have been known to up my word count. On occasion.

Just for clarification, I didn't say I didn't approve. I said I didn't understand. I have no problem with writing exercises and have used them in the past to kickstart projects. This attempt to get a novel done in a month though... I guess being married with children and pets and little free time for my normal writing output, attempting to write an entire novel in a month would just be too much stress.

An arbitrary forced deadline would just make me nuts or more nuts than I already am.

In my own life, taking on Nano would backfire and I'd begin to resent it.

Jamesaritchie said:

And the whole idea of barfing out 50K in a month is nonsense. 50K in thirty days is not very fast writing for anyone, and is certainly slow enough to write well.

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That is so not true. It takes me more than a month to write 50K, because other things in my life interfere, like endless schoolwork and teachers who demand you read their minds and every single textbook available on the subject before you even dare step into their classroom (yes, I have one of those, yes, I study from 4 different textbooks regarding that subject and yes, it's not enough).

So yeah, I don't have time to BIC. Instead, I have to steal five minutes here, five minutes there, and the maximum I write every day without going to sleep at 2 a.m. is 1000 words at the maximum. 1000 words x 30 days is not 50K, but it's still a respectable amount for someone who's stealing little minutes here and there for her writing.

And yeah, I'm going to enter Nano this year, although I don't think I'll be able to complete it unless I dedicate every spare second to it (and I'm not going to repeat that experience, thank you very much). But yeah, it's all in the name of fun, right?

I would do it, but I started on my new WIP progress a little over a week ago. I don't want to put it down and start on something else to participate in this. However, I might participate without signing up just to see if I can write 50K in a month. I did 10K last week, so it might not be that much of a stretch.

Confused

I'm confused by the number of posts questioning whether NaNo is a good thing. I'm fairly new to AW, but in the last few months I've read numerous posts advising writers to:

1. BIC
2. Set word counts
3. Just push through the rough draft, you can fix it on revision

How is NaNo any different from the advice that is posted daily on AW?

KatRiley said:

I'm confused by the number of posts questioning whether NaNo is a good thing. I'm fairly new to AW, but in the last few months I've read numerous posts advising writers to:

1. BIC
2. Set word counts
3. Just push through the rough draft, you can fix it on revision

How is NaNo any different from the advice that is posted daily on AW?

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It isn't, IMO.

KatRiley said:

I'm confused by the number of posts questioning whether NaNo is a good thing. I'm fairly new to AW, but in the last few months I've read numerous posts advising writers to:
1. BIC
2. Set word counts
3. Just push through the rough draft, you can fix it on revision
How is NaNo any different from the advice that is posted daily on AW?

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It's not any different, but that's not the point. I'm all in favor of NANO, most especially for the younger clique of writers who are just cutting their teeth in the world of writing. It gives them a deadline, and not only that, it gives them a PUBLIC deadline to aim for. I think that's a good thing.

Sometimes, it's a good thing to do deadlines. I always invent little deadlines for myself. It's like saying, why did Spooky and I do the novel deathmatch instead of just doing BIC/set word counts/etc? Because we could. Because it's fun to say "Race you!" to a bunch of people, and then go off.

I think I do a good deal more than 50,000 words a month in an average month, between short stories, articles, and novel-work (if I counted scripts, it would be more). That doesn't mean that having a deadline like Nano, or a Novel Deathmatch, isn't fun.

And if you wind up producing 50,000 words of crap...

...First off, why can't you tell it's crap? One of the valuable skills of a writer is being able to say "This blows goats" before anyone else sees it (not always, but sometimes, most of the time, God willing). If it's crap, put it aside and start writing something that makes you happy and sounds good and do fifty thousand words of that.

And if we're talking a new writer who produces 50,000 words of crap...well, that's 50,000 less of their million words of garbage before they start writing quality. This means that while they're hammering out the junk, they're at least learning some discipline (hopefully) or at least learning how to make a deadline.

Plus, in a way, it's like running a marathon. Yeah, you could run three or four miles by yourself at five in the morning, down a empty highway road.....but sometimes, it's more fun to run with fifty other people in the sunlight with people cheering you on.

KatRiley said:

I'm confused by the number of posts questioning whether NaNo is a good thing. I'm fairly new to AW, but in the last few months I've read numerous posts advising writers to:

1. BIC
2. Set word counts
3. Just push through the rough draft, you can fix it on revision

How is NaNo any different from the advice that is posted daily on AW?

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I asked about for testimonials regarding the value of Nano because, although the above is common advice for writers, I don't work like that at all. Except for sitting in the chair part. Standing up and writing makes my legs fall asleep.

Those rules are not the only way to fly.

Perks said:

Those rules are not the only way to fly.

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Of course not. But if they help someone, somewhere, work then I think they're wonderful rules. Just like Nano is useful.

I would never actually do Nano, for example. I have my own writing style nailed down, and my writing habits are comfortable, consistent, and productive. Those are the three things that you need to achieve. If you are, in fact, comfortable consistent and productive, then I don't think any suggested writing methods need apply to you at all.

KatRiley said:

I'm confused by the number of posts questioning whether NaNo is a good thing. I'm fairly new to AW, but in the last few months I've read numerous posts advising writers to:

1. BIC
2. Set word counts
3. Just push through the rough draft, you can fix it on revision

How is NaNo any different from the advice that is posted daily on AW?

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Personally, I think word count goals set one up for disappointment if you can't achieve that day's count for whatever reason. And if you have a busy lifestyle, even setting a specific daily time can lead to frustration. But that's just me.

Plus, I never just push through a rough draft. If it starts going in a direction I don't like, I sit back and analyze it for a while to figure out where it went wrong and to correct it.

My bone of contention was simply that it seems some people were saying that if it weren't for NANO they'd get NO writing done whatsoever. (Something about 50000 words of crap in a month versus NO WORDS of quality.)

That is completely foreign to me and I didn't understand it. If you want to be a writer you have to write. As often as you can. Not just once a year for a month.

I do understand that we're all individuals and I guess if NANO works for you, fantastic! I just don't get the mindset that if it weren't for NANO you'd get nothing written.

*shrugs*

PeeDee said:

Of course not. But if they help someone, somewhere, work then I think they're wonderful rules. Just like Nano is useful.

I would never actually do Nano, for example. I have my own writing style nailed down, and my writing habits are comfortable, consistent, and productive. Those are the three things that you need to achieve. If you are, in fact, comfortable consistent and productive, then I don't think any suggested writing methods need apply to you at all.

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Just for the record, I never disparaged Nano! A friend invited me to participate last year and I didn't, so this thread just made me revisit that decision. I was looking to hear if anyone's experience was something that I might be looking for in my life right now. That's all.