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Is NaNo Really What Writers Need?

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PhotobucketTherese here. Today’s guest is Catherine McKenzie, author of Spin, an acclaimed novel released in Canada, and Arranged, a novel that will be released in Canada in January. Catherine visited us recently to talk about her Facebook campaign for a fellow author (post here), and is here today with a fresh perspective on NaNoWriMo. Whether you’ve NaNo’ed or not, whether you’ve enjoyed NaNo or not, I think you’ll agree Catherine makes some points worth discussing. Enjoy!

Is NaNo Really What Writers Need?

I have an admission to make: I have a love/hate relationship with National Novel Writing Month (#nanowrimo to all you tweeps in the know).

Some background. National Novel Writing Month was started in 1999. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November (you can learn more about it’s history on the site). If you achieve that goal (i.e. write 1,666.67 words a day every day for 30 days), you’re a “winner” and you get a fancy little crest to put on your website or blog or Girl Scout uniform. (Actually, I think you can put up the crest without being a winner, but I digress.)

A little admission. Last year, when I had my first novel coming out and I was new to the world of tweeting, I kind of participated in NaNoWriMo. I didn’t actually write a “new” 50,000 world novel, but the novel I was working on – still working on, actually – needed a whole lot of rewriting, and I needed some twitter followers, so I started using the nanowrimo hashtag, and set myself a goal of having a new draft of my novel by the end of the month. In the meantime, I posted about what I was up to just like the other participants. “Working on my #nanowrimo”, “1400 words today #nanowrimo”, etc. Of all the fascinating tweets, in all the world …

And herein grew my problem. As I was trying to craft and refine and better what I was writing, I was (virtually) surrounded by people who were merely … writing. Because the whole goal of NaNoWriMo is word count. Not quality. Not plot. Not realistic dialogue. Just … word count. And it’s not like NaNoWriMo is hiding it. Nope, it’s their mission statement:

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

“Lower expectations”? “The ONLY thing that matters is … output”? “Valuing … perseverance over painstaking craft”? I’m not saying I’m speaking for all writers out there but … huh?

Look, lots of writers have daily write goals. That’s how a bunch of people who work mostly alone and mostly in their pajamas impose discipline on themselves and manage their soap opera addictions. But what I think the whole NaNoWriMo phenomenon is missing is that a write goal is not just a word goal – it’s a quality goal too. I mean, when for instance, Stephen King sits down every day and writes his 1000 or 2000 words, he’s not just looking for a total. He’s looking to deliver what his fans have come to expect, right Stephen? Not that it’s impossible to write something of quality quickly (we all know about Jack Kerouac’s amphetamine fuelled On the Road), but it’s not, you know, that likely. And if it’s not even your goal, then what’s really the point?

The good people behind NaNoWriMo would answer me that part of their purpose is getting past the psychological barrier of putting words on the page (that’s what it says on its webpage, anyway). I understand that barrier; most writers do. The blank page, that fresh Word document with no words on it, can be terrifying. But I just don’t think these kinds of write goals are the solution.

Take Jonathan Franzen for an example. In all the hoopla surrounding the release of his latest novel, he said that he’d only spent a year writing Freedom, his first novel since The Corrections, which came out in 2001. Would NaNoWriMo help him be more prolific? Doubt it.

Now before you say it, I understand that there’s an energy that emerges from any collective movement – I even started one myself on Facebook to promote books I love (check out “I bet we can make these books bestsellers” – current selections Jessica Z. and Two Years, No Rain by Shawn Klomparens) – to help generate that energy. Participating in something, all doing something together; it’s the reason that social networking sites are so popular in the first place. And perhaps it’s just the skew in my twitter feed, but it seems like a lot of writers feed off that energy. So, that can’t be bad … but … what happens to all these NaNoWriMo novels? Are any of them any good? Do any of them actually get published?

Well, here’s what NaNoWriMo has to say about that very thing in their Frequently Asked Questions section:

Many, many winning novels have been written through NaNoWriMo. (…) A growing number of these novels have found publishers, including one New York Times #1 Bestseller (Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen).

What? Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants during NaNoWriMo? Oh, hell. I take it back people. Have at it. I’m going back to editing.

Photo courtesy Flickr’s mpclemens

About Catherine McKenzie

A graduate of McGill University in History and Law, Catherine McKenzie practices law in Montreal, where she was born and raised. An avid skier and runner, Catherine’s novels, SPIN, ARRANGED, FORGOTTEN, HIDDEN, and FRACTURED, were all international bestsellers and have been translated into multiple languages. HIDDEN was a #1 Amazon bestseller, and a Digital World Bestseller for five weeks. Her fifth novel, SMOKE, was an Amazon bestseller, picked as a Best Book of October 2015 by Goodreads and one of the Top 100 Books of 2015 by Amazon. Her latest release, THE GOOD LIAR, released on April 3rd.

Comments

  1. I want to hug this post. You made some excellent points.

    I have nothing against NaNo, and if people out there need it to get themselves going, fine. But I never have nor ever will participate in this. I have to focus on completing the story scene for scene, whether that is two pages or ten on any given day. And I only check the word count once the scene is complete, to give me an idea of where I am in the novel as a whole.

    But that’s just me; everyone works differently. If NaNo helps someone complete a first draft when they wouldn’t have otherwise, then I suppose it is a good thing.

  2. Great post. I can’t do the NaNo thing either. I nail a lot of my prose in that first draft, plus it’s where I get to know my characters. I can’t do that if I’m rushing words out.

    But, as Lydia said, YMMV. It works for some people–just not me.

  4. I participated in NaNoWriMo last year and successfully completed 50,000 words of an unfinished novel that wandered all over the place. I had some intriguing characters and some pretty good scenes, but as I approached Nov 30 and could see that there was no way this would be finished, I just let my story go wherever my fingers took it, and I just stopped–boom–when I hit the mark. I left my runaway teenaged heroine in a Motel 6, wondering what to do next, and she’s still there. Occasionally I feel guilty, and think about going back to help her get out. But then I decide to concentrate on the “real” things I like to work on, the memoir pieces and essays, and realize what my real goals are. I am proud I did it, and pleased that I had the discipline to see it through to the deadline, but I doubt I will do it again.

  5. You make some excellent points and though I don’t disagree, I started doing NaNo for one reason and one reason only – to force me to just confront writing every day and to get into the habit of doing it.

    I am getting it done in-between 2 jobs, family obligations and various other things that have always given me a reason to not write that day.

    I am not doing it for the quality, though I will say that I am learning as I go.

    I’m not trying to win or do anything other than write every day and make that become part of my daily routine.

    For me, that has incredible value.

  6. If it makes you feel better, not all of us treat our NaNoWriMo novels like a joke. I’ve been a writer for the last 8 years and this is my 5th year participating in NaNoWriMo, and I take my writing very seriously. Sure, my novels do need a lot of editing when I finish, but there is a real plot, developed characters, and no random ninjas.

  7. Catherine-
    Thank you for your post. I am inspired this month by the boundless enthusiasm of NaNoWriMo to plow through a good portion of my first draft that has been in the works for a long time, but kept getting pushed to the back burner. I know I won’t get up to the 1600/day word goal, but I’m all right with that. I think all the writing energy happening is great, provided that everyone involved knows they’re going to have to spend at least a few months editing in order to come out with a viable book. Writing is rewriting, and rewriting, and rewriting…

  8. Nano is merely a catalyst for me. I’m a horrid procrastinator so to have a real deadline gets me going (this was true for school projects as well).

    My nano work has a real plot, a beginning, middle, end, climax, resolution, etc. My characters tend to run the storyline, but I don’t mind it. They often lead me to places I like so I let them have at it. Are there those out there who just throw in scenes that don’t make sense to meet the word count? Probably, but I think there are more who really want a good story out of their nano experience.

    For me it was never really about hitting the 50k. My novels are never done by 50k. I normally spend another month or two after nano finishing the basic story. Then it will sit for a while before I re-read and start editing.

    To each their own. It works for some, and others just don’t operate that way. I think it’s more about getting people into a daily writing habit, which some will definitely pick up. I think that’s a better goal than reaching the 50k or finishing the story itself in a month.

  9. Every year I get excited about the idea of NaNoWriMo. I start out on Nov. 1 with great enthusiasm, and by Nov. 3 I’m struggling to remember why my expectations were so high. I normally set a 1,000-word-a-day goal for myself, but somehow in the month of November 1,667 words a day suddenly seems impossible.

    Is it maybe that NaNo appeals more to those who “always wanted to write a novel” rather than writers actively pursuing a career?

  10. I participate in NaNoWriMo (#492455), unlike some. It is fun. I have met a few great people through NaNoWriMo, and we keep in touch throughout the year. I will get a big chunk of writing done this month. I have a great mug and a poster and NaNoMusic on my computer. I thoroughly enjoy the project and – get this – I am a professional writer! *gasp*

    The fact that you use NaNoWriMo on Twitter for your own marketing purposes – is that the sort of topic we, the lowly readers of this posting, are supposed to be discussing? That you cheated your way through NaNoWriMo? That you still try and bump up sales off the back of it? That you bad-mouth people like myself?

    A friend’s father once said: “When everyone around you seems to be an idiot, take a reality check.”

  11. I’m so glad you posted this, I’ve had very similar concerns.

    Though I do think that sometimes a jumpstart is necessary, especially for those writers who haven’t had the confidence to start…or maybe they’ve never known where to start, and NaNo gives them a goal. That’s a decided bonus.

  12. My homeschooled son and I started doing NaNoWrimo in 2007. At the time, the 7-year-old hated to write, and I was looking for a way to spark a little enthusiasm. That year, he dictated and I typed our way to our individual goals. At the end, he was so proud of his accomplishment that he wanted to repeat the experience the next year.

    We completed NaNoWrimo three years in a row. This year, we’re taking a break, but we’ll be back.

    We didn’t write any great novels during NaNoWrimo, but now my son truly enjoys creative writing and it rekindled my own love of writing.

  13. Like everything else in writing, NaNo works for some people and not for others. I tried it for the first time several years ago and was thrilled to discover that I am a pantser. Before trying NaNo, I had always tried to conform to “the rule” that you had to plot out your story ahead of time, with character charts and other detailed things that works. . .for plotters.

    NaNo was devised to help people who are paralyzed by their Inner Critic, and that aspect seems to be getting overlooked unfortunately. Whatever helps people write their stories is a good thing. Does it mean that everyone’s NaNo stories are publishable? Probably not. Does that devalue their efforts? I hope not.

    I applaud everyone who writes, no matter how they accomplish it, and no matter where their story ends up. And if they can have fun doing it, that’s great too. :)

  15. This is a great post. It seems this year there are a number of posts about ‘bad NaNo don’t do it’.

    NaNo isn’t for everyone, but you don’t know it’s for you until you try. I don’t take a ‘don’t worry it’s crap just get it on the page’ attitude. I plot out my book, and I write to the plot. I still get interesting side tracks and new ideas as I write and it’s still fun – not something I can say about other first draft attempts.

    I know I have to revise because I intend to publish. Others don’t intend to publish,they just want to experience the process.

    When I try to write every day in the other 11 months, I fight the reality that my writing is the lowest priority. NaNo gives me permission to make my writing number 2 (or #2).

    Thanks

  16. I hate geographic restriction. I understand that the book might be a bit more expensive in different countries due to different tax rates and electronic delivery costs. I prefer to buy books on Amazon but I have had to purchase on other sites because of geographic restrictions.

    My issue is the statement “I didn’t buy Book X because it’s not available in my country, so I got a pirate copy”. That’s like saying I didn’t by that necklace from Tiffany’s because it was to expensive so I stole it.

    Thanks for the post.

  17. Wow. Obviously you don’t need any such thing like nanowrimo. In fact, you’ll just use nanowrimo as a self-promotion tool and then be amazed to be “surrounded by people who were merely . . . writing.”
    Uh, is that a bad thing? You are “concerned” that all of these writers are simply typing out crap. “What happens to their novels?” you wonder.
    If you were an amazing knitter, and there was an event that helped new knitters get started on the wonderful new hobby of knitting, would you be amazed at all the awful knitting going on around you, or be pleased that so many people are discovering a new hobby?
    I get a feeling from your post of “if you aren’t gonna do it right, then don’t do it at all.” Not very encouraging to young writers (or old writers who are still discovering the craft).
    I say let the peoples write all the crap that they want to. It’s better than watching reruns of NCIS.
    p.s. since you think nanowrimo has its writing goals all screwed up, what would you advice us wrimos’ writing goals should be?

  18. I am doing NaNo this year, but kind of cheating. I had a novel partially written and completely plotted. I know my characters and their turning points, and I’ve already had my critique group alpha read the 1st 100 pages for character integrity, plot, pacing, etc. I know where I’m going, but I also know a lot is going to change between drafts 1 and 8 or whatever it will be before I’m done. I don’t want to obsess about my words. I thought I would use NaNo to help me get through that last 175 pages, or whatever it will turn out to be. And I have to say, I’m so glad I did. I’m still taking the time to GMC and craft my scenes, but the words are flowing more, the voice is clearer, and I feel like I’m finding even more of those unexpected moments where everything comes together and just works. Not thinking about the words is liberating and empowering.

    Maybe what NaNo’s goals are saying is that this is the 1st draft of your story. The crafting and shaping and honing will come later, but before you can do any of that, you have to have the story.

    I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but it definitely has its uses.

    Martina

  19. I do NaNo because I need the kick in the pants it gives me. I consider my output in Nov to be a big outline. I hate outlining so doing NaNo gets my idea on paper without the tedious task of outlining. I spend the rest of the year re-writing my ‘novel’. I am close to submitting last years NaNo to agents and counting this year’s work in progress have three stories at various stages. If it wasn’t for NaNo I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have anything to show for my passion.

  20. NaNo–well, one thing is for certain–not everyone agrees on the merits of NaNo.
    I almost took the plunge this year but the fanfare and intensity of promotion scared me off the decision to participate.
    For some writers, I know, this is a great incentive to write; so, if it works, go for it.
    Just hope the hoopla is toned down a bit next year.
    It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea!
    Best to those for whom it works!

  21. I think the best approach to NaNo is to use it as a discipline tool. I HOPE writers don’t come away from it thinking they have a finished product. But for procrastinators, or new writers, it’s a great way to get started on a first draft. It’s a great way to meet other writers in your area, too. And it’s fun, so that counts for something.

  22. Let’s call it a month-long free-writing session. There may be a gem to salvage but you’re not counting on it. You’ll probably delete the whole thing or let it gather virtual dust, as you do with your free-writing, but if the point of a free-writing session is to get you unstuck for the rest of the day, maybe the point of NanoWriMo is to get you unstuck for the rest of the year.
    I’ve signed up twice: several years ago and this year. Both times I fizzled out a day or so.

  23. I think the key to NaNo is preparation. If you plot and outline and do whatever necessary beforehand, you can write a fairly decent ms. If you just start on page one and write everyday just for the sake of writing, then yeah, you are going to end up with a big pile of pooh-pooh.

    I have learned that if I plot (as you might have guessed, I’m a plotter), I can write my first draft pretty fast. I wrote the 60,000 word first draft to my last ms in 15 days, worked on it another six weeks, then sent it off to my editor, but it was nice to have that first draft behind me. For me, that’s the hardest part. I love revision, so once that first draft was done, I had lots of fun with it.

    So I can see NaNo’s point. But it certainly isn’t for everyone.
    Great post!
    ~D~

  24. I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo a half dozen times, though my current forum account would have you believe otherwise. I’m definitely one that NaNo isn’t for me, more because November is a terrible time of the year, almost universally, for me.

    My primary employment at first was in retail, and November is a hell of a month, getting one word out during November was a blessing some years. Now, I’ve moved past retail, but gotten myself back into school, and all of my classes’ major deadlines happen in mid-November!

    I liked the idea, and for some people, I still think it’s a wonderful time of year, but I know how to get words on paper, and I’ve got other commitments beyond my fiction, and so, while I’m a ‘participant,’ I don’t expect a winner’s badge any day soon.

  25. I posted before how much I love NaNo, but I think it is a mistake to go into it with a first draft or a partially written story because you are thinking about revising and quality. My first drafts are ALWAYS bad, no matter when I write them. 11 months of the year I write 1000 words a day and I revise and reflect. Nano gets my book jumpstarted. My latest book my agent is trying to sell started as a NaNo novel and I suspect that fewer than 10% of those initial 50,000 words are still in it. I revised and deleted them away all through the spring and summer.

    But that’s okay, because everyone who is doing NaNo is WRITING! My 13 year old son is writing! How cool is that?

  26. Love the last line! Just goes to show there’s no one way to the goal line. I write fast, but the Nano thingy is not my kind of thingy. The group mentality would be a distraction, but again, that’s just me.

    For those of you plowing ahead, Give me “G,” Give me an “O,” Give me a Go, Go, GO!

  27. I like NaNo for three reasons:

    1) I am one of those writers that suffers from a particularly b!$chy inner editor. If I let her she will correct line-by-line. Every word must be poetry or it gets backspaced. The goals established by NaNo require me to push her away and accept a ‘good-enough for now word’ in order to get the story out. After NaNo, I take a one month break to enjoy the holidays and the feeling of accomplishment and then spend months re-writing and honing the work.

    2) Because NaNo has a great public profile it is an easy excuse to get my family, circle of friends, and even strangers on board to enable the focus on writing. For the rest of the year I fight the ‘you are at home – you must have time to do XYZ for me’ misunderstanding. NaNo gives me a very public and therefore provable reason that I am not available to do that extra laundry, watch your cats or take the car to the shop. For this one month every year I am free to indulge in all the writing time I need without explanations or compromises.

    For the record I never really get involved in the silliness – the forums, the monkeys vs octupi etc. I do attend a few local write-ins as you must get out of the house occasionally and I do print the certificates at the end to place with the completed draft of the novel.

    3) My final reason why I think that NaNo is a good thing – the Young Writer’s Program. There are numerous kids that get exposed to writing through NaNo and in my book, anything that encourages literacy (be it reading or writing) is worthy of support!

  28. I think NaNo is a perfect excuse to break through the chains of perfectionism. I love that it is pushing me to get the story down. I write 500 words here, another 600 there, and I look at it and think, My gosh, that’s crap. But when I pull back and look at the big picture, I get shivers down my spine. Dang, that’s a good story.

    NaNo is for writing a first draft. First drafts are ugly. Accept it and embrace it. That’s the heart of NaNo, in my opinion. Once I have my diamond in the rough completed, I can go back and rewrite, add color, theme, and flavor, flesh out those characters, and more. But, as a good friend recently reminded me, you can’t edit a blank page.

    The failure of NaNoWriMo to produce tons of good published books isn’t an inherent flaw in the process. It’s in the lack of dedication authors bring to the editing phase.

  29. This is my sixth NaNo and I use it as a kick start. I go in with an outline and I know what I’m doing.

    I hate November and Nano gives me a reason to get through it without (too many) drugs or other crutches. The only year I didn’t finish was when my husband dumped me and ran off with the computer. The ex-husband tracked the soon to be ex down, but the drive had been scrubbed.

    My first Nano from all those years ago is at a publisher who is giving it serious consideration. If it doesn’t make it, it can go out again. For most of the year, I write poetry and short stories, but November is a commitment!

    There is also a huge social component to NaNo. Young people who have an idea meet other kids who want to write. They may never publish a word, but they have learned how hard writing is, and may have a greater appreciation of the craft.

    The original poster needs to put a spoon of sugar in her grapes. As for me, I’m up to 23,000 words in my first week, so I’m off to the beach to write poems about swans being blown by the wind.

  30. I am a non-fiction writer. I take part in Nanowrimo to let my imagination have free reign. It always frees up my non-fiction writing and I feel it improves it. I haven’t won nano yet, I plan to this year.

  31. I agree that NaNoWriMo is not for everyone, but it is for me. It allows me to work on ideas that I would normally put aside because of the time and (lack of) money involved, or that’s outside my usual genre. It’s just a month, so if it works, great…you have the start of something. If not, it’s a good experience in writing discipline, and there’s bound to be something salvageable among the 50,000 words: a character, plot point, or section of well-written prose. My last attempt at NaNoWrimo did not render a successful novel, but I was able to get a short story out of it that ended up being published.

  32. Interesting post, but although I’ve never done NaNoWriMo I can see its usefulness. I’ve written first drafts of the same length in about a month’s time. Those first drafts are not the same as finished product, nor should they be held to the same standards (structure, character development, plot, voice, clean copy, etc). Personally, I view the first draft as an early prototype version of what will hopefully be a coherent novel. It is raw material, in much the same way as character sketches, notes, and early outlines are parts of the initial, necessarily messy first stages of a book.

    Further, during NaNo or any first draft (or freewriting exercise), elements of story and character sometimes emerge spontaneously, without conscious planning. These elements can then be honed and developed in later drafts.

    I could go on and on about this, but I won’t. I don’t see any harm in taking part in NaNoWriMo, whether a person is a writer or just an enthusiast. A greater danger for the writer is to expect to plan everything perfectly in advance, and then to write the final versions right off the bat…which in my experience is nearly impossible.

  33. I disagree…participating in NaNoWriMo doesn’t have to mean abandoning any sort of quality or plot or anything else. I love NaNo, myself, and I’m doing it for the third time this year, and I do keep up the quality of my writing as I go. For me, the quality is very important, but I love the mad rush and insanity of NaNo at the same time, so I’ve managed to do both.

    Not that I think writing crap during NaNo is bad either…especially since NaNo is geared for new writers who just need to get something written. Sure it’s crap, and sure that’s all they’re aiming for, but if they can succeed in that and enjoy it, then eventually they’ll write more and pay attention to quality, too. And if they don’t, well, it’s not as though some crappy novels sitting in the dark recesses of someone’s harddrive ever hurt anyone. ^_^

  34. I agree fully with the original post in this thread. I did Nanowrimo last year (I won.. I churned out 51,000 words of junk in 30 days). But I won’t be doing it this year. I’d rather revise and learn how to write well than write out lots and lots of fluff.

    David

  35. This is the first year I have participated in NaNo. I did it on a whim because I had been going through a dry spell trying to navigate the waters of publishing my first novel. Needless to say I became overwhelmed with that whole process and a little discouraged – in fact so much so that work on my second novel has suffered. While I spend so much time researching how to get my first one in print I’ve allowed my second one to lay untouched for months.

    I approached NaNo with the thought that word count was unimportant and what everyone else was writing or how they were writing was unimportant. I haven’t become involved in the NaNo posts that seem to get everyone so motivated, because it just seems to be a distraction to me, but I do admit that on occasion I have read some of the things others are writing and I’ve noticed the challenges they make to one another, which is fine and fun for them, but for me, not so much.

    I cannot get past the part of me that wants to edit as I go. I know that NaNo philosophy is to put out 50,000 words in thirty days regardless of whether it makes sense, has a plot or whether it has any publishing potential. That is fine for some, but I don’t roll that way and just can’t make myself put the words on paper and then move onto the next page without making sure my verb tenses are correct and my commas are in the right place. I find myself taking the time to go back to make changes when I come up with a new idea that requires modification of the work I have already churned out. In other words, even if it will be an incomplete work on November 30, needing much more editing, I don’t want that date to roll around and all I have is a product that I am ashamed to show to someone, no matter what the word count is.

    I admire the parents and teachers who have used NaNo to motivate their children and students to write. If NaNo had existed when my children were younger, I would have done the same thing, but not for the word count, rather for the fun of creating and being able to put a story on paper for the sheer enjoyment of self expression and accomplishment. That is how I am approaching NaNo for myself this month and I am happy to say, despite my editing phobias, I have been able to write over 50,000 words in less than seven days and because of my phobias I feel that it is the beginning of a product I can be proud of. The key word here is BEGINNING, because I am only about half way to the end of my story and I know I will have to edit and re-edit for months to come.

    While NaNo is not for everyone, and I don’t know if I will ever participate again, it has served me well in that it has given me a break from the tedious task of figuring out how to get my previous work in print and has allowed me to get back to the joy of writing. I hope to eventually get the publishing game figured out and when I do I will now have more than one contribution to make to the world and hopefully I can get back to the novel that still waits on my hardrive to be rescued. That makes three – and hopefully many more to come.

  36. I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo for a few years now and last year I officially crossed the 50,000 word mark. For me, my challenge has always been, “Am I ever going to finish this bloddy novel?” I was great at starting novels, creating my world and developing characters, but I sucked at finishing. NaNoWriMo pushed towards that last page.
    Last year, I finally finished a novel I started in high school. I kept writing beyond Nov.30 to ensure that I finished the novel. I do admit, it’s still sitting on my shelf waiting for the rewrite, but I’m okay with that. I still love the story, and the longer i wait the more I itch to get back to it. The funny thing is a few weeks before NaNoWriMo I pulled out the draft and started tweaking.
    Personally, I get way to caught up on rewriting before the novel is even finished. NaNoWriMo challenges me to finish the novel and explore the story. Rewriting starts in December and that’s where i pinpoint all the plot holes and character flaws that I’ll work on during the rest of the winter months. I understand that NaNoWriMo isn’t for everyone, but for me it’s perfect.

  37. If I’d known about NaNoWriMo when I started out, it would have been of great value to me. I had fears about my abilities and wasn’t sure where to begin. At the time, I needed “permission” to be a “bad” writer. I’m not saying participants are bad writers, but that I needed to allow myself to just write, to get it on the page, tell the story as I imagined it and worry about editing later.

    Now I have a routine and a process and NaNoWriMo doesn’t fit into it. But I could have used it back then. I can see how it would be of value to some and not to others, as I’ve been on both sides of that fence.

  38. I unofficially joined NaNo one year and the worst piece of crap on my computer came from that – I’ll probably never revise it.

    Real writers have to be self-starters and set their own deadlines. I’ve been involved with the publishing world for 30 years and if you can’t motivate yourself, then forget a career in writing.

    But if all of those writers want to spend their time on their piece of crap, then I could use it to revise my current manuscript and get it to market sooner. :)

    Okay, I don’t mean to sound harsh, and I’m doing it half humorously, half seriously, but the truth is, it’s all true.

  39. Here’s my problem with NaNoWriMo. A lot of people are going to finish their little novels, and they’re going to try and push them out onto the market. That’s a headache for anyone who’s a serious writer. I’m not saying that writing has to always be serious, but there are some people who think of it as their job, and they don’t need hobbyists joining in.

  40. Is it really only 50,000 words? Huh. I’d no idea. That’s only half a book.
    s
    Look, I’ve given up workshopping and writers group (to concentrate on my own work) but in all my years of working with other writers, I’ve never seen a single workable novel come out of Nano. Not one.

    I’m sure it’s good for lots of things (and I think the idea about letting your 7 year old participate is brilliant) but I don’t believe for one second that producing a decent novel is one of those things.

  42. I participated in a six month workshop called, Write your Novel. The instructor was a famed college professor who stressed the importance of throwing down the first draft and taking time to revise. He insisted a true writer does not edit or go back and reread while creating the first draft. He felt the plot flowed more consistently and the characters were more fully developed if one didn’t stop and rethink their choices until after they had completed the work. Nano provides the drive for writers to work pusuant to this technique. Many acclaimed writers use this do’t stop until you have completed the first draft method.

  43. I had to weigh in on this. I am a published author. Seven romance novels and numerous short stories. This is my first year taking part in NaNo. I have pretty much ignored it for years. Well, I have also pretty much ignored my writing. I haven’t truly written in over five years until NaNo. Why?

    For one thing, I am a publisher and I have been focusing on my authors’ work. For another, I could not find the drive or motivation. I love writing, I have missed writing, but I just couldn’t ever get past a few words or a chapter at most. I am obviously not afraid of myself because even internal threats failed to work.

    So, when a couple of my authors signed up for NaNo, I thought what the heck. I can write 50,000 words of dreck in 30 days. But you know what? I don’t think I can. In the first week I write 18K or so. And only about 14 pages of it is dreck. I have also discovered that I cannot resist editing while I write. NaNo says not to edit, but unless they are here to crack my knnuckles with a ruler, I am going to edit. And when I “WIN” NaNoWriMo for 2010 I will have a novel that is not dreck.

    It is many things to many people, but to me, it is a step back into life as an author, not just one as a publisher of other authors.

    K

  44. Not everyone looks at NaNoWriMo the same way.
    I’ve been doing it for three years now and I don’t do quantity over quality.
    But let’s be honest. 1st drafts are mostly crap (excuse the language) and in bad need of a revision, so obviously a sane person doesn’t just pick up his NaNo-novel and send it to publishers like that. It need work. Tons of it! Just like any other 1st draft out there.
    I know most people doing NaNo just want to write and they don’t really care what comes out of it, but I also know a lot of people like me, who manage to get to the same goal with something half-presentable, because they think hard about what they’re writing and want it to not just be “words”.

    But mostly I do NaNoWriMo because seeing all those people trying so hard, actually gets me working harder on my own novel. >I don’t care if they’re writing omething unreadable or not, what I acre is taht they’re trying and that I’m doing my best to achieve my own goals, my own way.

    Actually, I don’t agree with a lot that’s said on the NaNoWriMo inciative, because it scares awya the most “serious” writers who just by looking at that “permission to write crap” part, get the goose-bumps. I don’t like it, but since I love NaNoWriMo, I really don’t care.

  45. Whoa.

    This year more than any other I’m seeing a huge backlash against NaNo – usually from people who make the allegation if you write fast, you’re writing crap.

    Well, in the year you’ve been working on one book, I’ve sold three, have two on sub and am working on my sixth.

    Oh, and two of those novels I sold? They were NaNo projects. Obviously my editors don’t have a problem with the fact I write at speed.

    No, I’m not doing NaNo this year; simply because I have other commitments – line edits, deadlines and such. Plus, I don’t want to put my current WIP down again, to dedicate myself to another story. I want to get this one finished.

    But this assumption that all participants are only throwing words at the page is wrong at best, an insult at worst.

    Not everyone likes or participates in NaNo, but when you’ve finished sneering, remember that it’s disciplined SOME of us into building a career.

  46. Let me begin by saying, I am participating in my fifth NaNo and I have won every year. In those five years I have made a ton/tonne of great new friends and I have learned that writing doesn’t have to be a solitary thing.

    My first NaNoNovel is one of those that has been picked up for publication. It is a YA Novel so the 50K word goal is perfect. It HAS had a lot of editing, but as the old saying goes, you can’t edit what isn’t on the page. The novel will be available in 2012.

    I agree that it isn’t for everyone, but NaNoWriMo is a great way for me to get a book or a significant portion of a book rough finished in a hurry. It gives me the motivation to push through those days when I don’t necessarily feel like writing. I do still write on those days, but I don’t write as much is all.

    This year I am working on something completely different and that is another reason why I love NaNo. It gives me an opportunity to flex my writing muscles and be different. Because I’m under a deadline, I don’t necessarily worry about the different style or tropes of the genre. Those things can come later and it allows me to focus on plot and characters. The pieces that are most important to me.

  47. Great post, lots of good points – NaNo is a great way for non-pro writers to fuel their initiative, to get over the fear of starting, and a great way for pros to find a community to support them.

    I myself use NaNoWriMo as a kick in the butt, to try to be the last push to get a WIP finished or really started. Whatever my WIP is at the time gets funnelled into NaNo, whether I’ve already got a hefty amount of stuff done on it or not. Sometimes I finish the novel during NaNo, sometimes I don’t.

    Either way, I have 50 000 more words to play around with than I did before, and if half of those end up cut from the novel later, then that’s fine.

    It’s nice because my friends participate with me, and it’s the one time a year that they go “Oh, so THIS is what it feels like to be a professional writer. We’re sorry, we won’t make fun of you and your sock pajamas and tea addiction anymore.” (And this understanding lasts until about.. oh, mid January.:)

    Writing in a community is fantastic – I find pro writing a bit like writing into the void. Nobody cares if I finished chapter 7 and the COOLEST APLHA CLIMAX EVER today, because nobody but my editor is paying attention to the status of the novel before it’s done. In November I get to be part of a community, and so what if I would have been doing that much writing that month anyway? For this one month, I feel like a PART of something, and it’s a great feeling.

    My 2008 NaNo, “(Back)”, became the first third of my novel “Triptych”, which will be released in April 2011 – and several of my other novels have sections in them that originated through NaNoWriMo.

  48. Obviously, the purpose of NaNo can be interpreted in several ways. This is my interpretation: Get together and write. Writing is a lonely job, and it is rare for writers to offer each other support in such a universal way. Writers are, generally speaking, very private people; the craft risks losing a sense of SOLIDARITY. My last blog post was on this topic exactly…

  49. Great post, and discussion! I love J.M.’s comments about the community feeling of NaNo.

    I participate in NaNo because it allows me to write exactly what I want to write for a month, instead of leaning towards projects I know can earn me a dollar or two…it’s only a month. My last NaNo attempt did not render a published novel, but I did sell a short story that was salvaged from the 50,000+ words.

    In the least, you have a foundation that you can scrap, remodel, or build upon to suit you in the future.

  50. Nano is fun.

    That’s the main truth of it for me. When I did it, it was a lot of fun. I got in on some of the local forums and met with some local folks and it was great fun just shooting the breeze and getting to know a new creative group in town.

    After 3 years, though, I stopped doing it. My first year I was so worried that it was a difficult goal to reach that I wasn’t sure how I could manage… and then, 2 weeks later, I was done. I started thinking about how I would do it again the following year (plot, chapter summary, etc) and someone asked why I wasn’t giving it a shot seeing as there was still half a month left. I could not think of another reason and went ahead with it. 11 days later, another 50k novel completed.

    Like someone else commented above, I’m a speed writer. When I begin, I do generally have a good idea of the who/ what/ when and can get through a first draft quite well. Afterwards, the revision is where I spend more time cleaning up, expanding, deleting where necessary, recreating, etc.

    I do agree that completing Nano does not make you a writer, however, and I do know a lot of folks who simply can’t get that output. All that is irrelevant, though. In the end, the main reason for tackling something like this is different for every individual.

    My next challenge would be to go through the 3-Day Novel project ;)

  52. I’ve ‘won’ Nanowrimo once. I lost once. I decided last year not to do it again. This year I thought why not. I will lose this year.

    Nanowrimo is for writer’s who want the thrill of pounding our words. When you write 50 000 words something will be good (unless you use monkeys to do the typing).

    But Nanowrimo is churn. It is the thousands running that will never make a decent marathon time. It is the thousands cycling, knitting, painting or doing whatever it is that has a low entry level. Nanowrimo just lowered that level for writing.

  53. Last year I used Nano as the motivation I needed to complete a novel. One year later, I’m on draft seven. This November, I’m using Nano to complete revisions before handing my manuscript in to my editor. I’ve found it to be a great, outside tool that encourages me to push myself, make writing a priority, and drop excuses. Now, if someone wrote a novel during November and started querying that novel in December, that would be a problem. Hopefully people use it as a boost.

  54. I’m very sad at all the backlash I see NaNo getting this year. The criticism is sounding a heck of a lot like excuses to avoid the true grunt work that real writing is: just you and the page, persisting putting words together for the purpose of a recognizable result. When every man and his dog really IS doing it you realize two things: 1) it’s not as easy to be a writer as you might think (the minimum word count per day for NaNo is an average work day for a pro – and they HAVE to end up with ‘good’ words for their goals) and 2) putting words on the page is where the writing begins, not ends. It’s up to you how much quality you aim for.

    NaNoWriMo is a wonderful concept, motivator and activity to participate in. It’s also, in principle, more necessary than many would admit. It’s very easy to dismiss NaNo because, yes, quality is not the aim of NaNo. Instead it’s about showing you that a) writing is consistent, hard work and b) that it IS more possible than you might think to do. For those people who don’t regularly write under deadline, NaNo does three things:

    1) It brings home just how much WORK there is to writing by forcing you to do it. It’s not all about crafting words – first you have to have some words to craft. And if you want to ever be a pro writer, I’ll say it again: the minimum daily requirement for Nano really is a fairly average day at work.
    2) They say it takes 30 days to make (or break) a habit. NaNo goes a long way to getting the ‘write EVERY day’ necessity for serious wannabes going (and if you’ve been a little slack in the previous year it’s a great way to get you back onto the writing wagon).
    3) It shows you that, if you persist, you CAN write even when you don’t feel like it, have crazy schedules getting in the way and more. And sometimes you even write GOOD stuff.

    NaNo also teaches you things about your own writing that aren’t possible any other way. For me, I’ve discovered that while I can do NaNo just fine, I’m happier with my writing if I can edit as I go, so writing a novel “NaNo-style” (ie. keep writing, don’t stop and don’t look back until you’ve hit 50 000 words and/or ‘the end’) is NOT the best writing method for me personally BUT other principles of NaNo DO apply – write every day, keep going when you feel you can’t, some words are far better than no words, a little every day adds up quickly, you CAN achieve a big goal in a short period of time if you persist despite all manner of obstacles & limited time and yes: sometimes you HAVE to write through the crap in order to get to the good stuff. If you’re writing something new – a new genre, new issues, a new style etc – do you REALLY expect to get it right without putting in the learning effort in the first place? You cannot run a marathon without the regular exercise needed beforehand to build up strength, stamina, effective race techniques and strategy. At least not without putting your health in serious danger. Writing is the same. (That’s the reason for the little NaNoWriMo logo of the guy running holding a pencil.)

    If you’re feeling disgruntled with NaNo I urge you to take a hard look at yourself – are you using other people’s results as an excuse NOT to get involved? Isn’t it YOUR results that count? Or are you secretly worried that you’ll end up being one of the many average people ‘just writing’?

    I suggest you challenge yourself. The best writers and the best writing come from facing the hard stuff. Nobody said it was easy. If you feel ‘churning out words every day = crap’ and you’re not OK with that, work harder. That’s the whole point. Unlike the rest of your writing life, though, it’s during November that you don’t have to face the difficulties alone. There’s a built in network or support, fans, cheer squads and even expert research help standing by to help you.

    There are plenty of excuses not to try. NaNoWriMo is not one of them. If you’re not up to getting involved then at least cheer on those who are. They’re taking their dreams seriously and that is an achievement in and of itself.

  55. I enjoy doing Nanowrimo, I love the camaraderie and the excitement of whether or not I can do it in the 30 days. I’m an unpublished writer, and I hope one day to be published (assuming my crap writing turns into good writing one day!).

    Nanowrimo gives me the encouragement to start writing, it’s always been one of those things I meant to learn to do one day, but never started. And one valuable lesson Nanowrimo has taught me, along with it’s sister site ScriptFrenzy, is that you learn so much by actually writing. Practice makes perfect, and writing lots teaches you lots.

    My novel will definitely need rewriting after November, then I know I can improve it greatly. Doing Nanowrimo hopefully gets me to complete my novel, so I can have something to rewrite later. Having a goal like this keeps us moving forward with our novels, and prevents us from stopping because we think it’s rubbish and not worth carrying on with. We write some good amongst the rubbish, and the rubbish is fixable after we’ve completed a first draft.

    I love Nanowrimo, it’s transformed me from a wannabe writer, to a practicing writer!

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