I mentioned it a few days back on my writing blog, but since pretty much nobody reads that (since I pretty much haven’t been writing there) …
Yes, I am indeed signed up to write in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2009.
For those unfamiliar with the event, subtitled “Thirty Days and NIghts of Literary Abandon,” the rules are simple:
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
That’s pretty much it. Write 1,700 words (or a scosh less) a day, each day in November. In a bit more detail:
- Write a 50,000-word (or longer!) novel, between November 1 and November 30.
- Start from scratch. None of your own previously written prose can be included in your NaNoWriMo draft (though outlines, character sketches, and research are all fine, as are citations from other people’s works).
- Write a novel. We define a novel as a lengthy work of fiction. If you consider the book you’re writing a novel, we consider it a novel too!
- Be the sole author of your novel. Apart from those citations mentioned two bullet-points up.
- Write more than one word repeated 50,000 times.
- Upload your novel for word-count validation to our site between November 25 and November 30.
I’ll be updating my status page over the course of the month so you can see my word count.
And now my NaNoWriMo FAQ.
Why am I doing this? I enjoy writing, but I have not had the discipline <excuses> or energy, opportunity, etc. </excuses> to do much of late. I actually did NaNoWriMo in 2001 and 2002, but …
But why now? Well, yeah, given how much I’ve bitched of late about not having time, about being stressed, about life being too busy, and so forth, this would seem not to be an ideal moment to plow many, many hour into the writing a novel in the month of November.
But, then, will any time ever be the “right time”?
Maybe it’s actually a reaction to all of the above, a way of taking control, setting a priority, and Just Doing It.
Or maybe it’s jealousy of the folks I see around me who are seriously doing writing, and want to prove to myself that I can do it, too. Kind of. A bit. In a simulation, at least.
Or maybe it’s this muse on my shoulder, poking me with a pitchfork, hoping to get me moving before I sink into total creative decrepitude. A harsh mistress is my Muse; fortunately, she’s as distractable as I am.
What are you going to be writing about? Ah, well, that’s the trick, then, isn’t it? I’ve had a couple of novel ideas in the last few years. It will likely be one of those. (Even more likely one of them in particular, since the Muse poked me again this morning and whispered about it in my ear.) More as I get there. I don’t want to jinx things.
It will not be brilliant. It will not be wildly original, genre-bending, or Nobel-worthy. I hope it will be entertaining.
How are you going to be doing it? At the moment, my plan is to do it in Google Docs, to let me access it from, um, wherever I am. What I don’t know is:
- Whether I’m going to Share it as I go (in all its unedited glory), so as to garner (I hope) encouragement from those who follow along (God help you), or whether I’m going to keep it under wraps in case I do some (not recommended) editing as I go.
- Whether I’m going to break it out by day (for easy tracking), or by chapter (as I go along), or just as one big document (for ease of use, word counting, etc.).
- Whether I”m going to natter about it here (where most folks hang), or at my writing blog (where dwell chirping crickets).
Feedback on any of these (or any of this) always welcome.
I will be doing some notes and outlining and a bit of character work beforehand — but nothing extensive. My plan is to write.
What happens when you’re done? Heh. No idea, but most likely not much, aside from bragging rights, and the opportunity to be embarrassed when someone pulls a hardcopy of the thing off the bookshelf. But that’s okay.
Why are you doing this again? I do like this exchange in the FAQ:
There are three reasons.
1) If you don’t do it now, you probably never will. Novel writing is mostly a “one day” event. As in “One day, I’d like to write a novel.” Here’s the truth: 99% of us, if left to our own devices, would never make the time to write a novel. It’s just so far outside our normal lives that it constantly slips down to the bottom of our to-do lists. The structure of NaNoWriMo forces you to put away all those self-defeating worries and START. Once you have the first five chapters under your belt, the rest will come easily. Or painfully. But it will come. And you’ll have friends to help you see it through to 50k.
2) Aiming low is the best way to succeed. With entry-level novel writing, shooting for the moon is the surest way to get nowhere. With high expectations, everything you write will sound cheesy and awkward. Once you start evaluating your story in terms of word count, you take that pressure off yourself. And you’ll start surprising yourself with a great bit of dialogue here and a ingenious plot twist there. Characters will start doing things you never expected, taking the story places you’d never imagined. There will be much execrable prose, yes. But amidst the crap, there will be beauty. A lot of it.
3) Art for art’s sake does wonderful things to you. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you want to take naps and go places wearing funny pants. Doing something just for the hell of it is a wonderful antidote to all the chores and “must-dos” of daily life. Writing a novel in a month is both exhilarating and stupid, and we would all do well to invite a little more spontaneous stupidity into our lives.
Sounds good to me.
Well I suggest you natter on about it at nanowrimo.org and on dennanos.org as well 🙂
And if you win you get a badge and a certificate.
And if you come to a write-in or the write-a-thon then I’ll give you some stickers…and maybe a plot animal, they come in jungle, sea monster and dino flavors this year.
Michelle (one of the Denver ML’s for NaNo, who follows this blog cause some time ago Doyce told me to).
Go Dave Go
sneaks Kubnitschek
First off, Michelle — thanks! I’ve not done the wider “NaNo” community thing before, huddling mostly with friends I already knew and such. I might well participate in some group write-ins and the like, assuming I can do so without adding more Absent Time to my family.
Which, I should note, is very important to me, as is Margie’s endorsement above. Indeed, I bounced this past her first, since it’s a big enough hit on family time and all that I wouldn’t impose it if I didn’t have her support.
Hmmmm … does NaNoWriMo have a NaNoWidow/ers support group?
Like I said at your writing blog: Best of luck to you. I’ve considered taking another crack it also, after having tried so long ago. I’m still mired in the excuses phase.
Go for it, Rey! We can
laugh atencourage each other!Maybe she can start one. Since our entire immediate families birthdays are in November I split my time.
Of course…may be her and your children can write a novel too? NaNo has a young writers program just for kids. I’ve been trying to get my eight year old to do it too!
That’s great! You’re right – there’s NEVER time to write a novel. YT is NOT doing NaNo this year; YT is finishing current novel and getting it sent out.
I used your measure to decide NOT to participate, despite the peer pressure angle. My husband doesn’t think this is a good time, and since I really can’t do it without his support, I’m listening.
Doesn’t mean I can’t up my regular story’s words-per-day, though… [whistles innocently]
As I said, I couldn’t do it without Margie’s support (cf. all those authors’ dedications to their long-suffering spouses). When I raised it, there was a considering, “Okay,” then, “How can I help?” so I knew it was okay.
Even if it’s crazy.
Crazy is just all kinds of good. And good for you, I know you’ve got the talent. Now where is my copy of your first novel (still minus the last chapter)?!
I sometimes feel as if I’m the only non-writer among Dave’s friends and blogees. I have the skills, but lack the creativity. Well, perhaps one day I shall be a technical writer.
Avocet,
NaNo is for everyone…in fact the core contingent of NaNos only write in November. Most have nothing do with writing for the rest of the year.
There are two camps in NaNo, non-writers who write a throw away novel each November, and those of us writing 1st drafts. All are welcome!