Friday, November 9
NanoWriMo returns
So, my brother asked me about two weeks ago if I was "doing" NaNo this year. Paul got me started in 2002, and he does it "unofficially" each year, aiming for 25,000 words. Jared's been after me this year, too, as I talked him into doing it in 2003, and he's doing it again too.
So, what about me?
Last year I did it for the fifth time, but just barely. And it wasn't much fun, really. It was hard. And I probably only got about half-way into a very rambling novel. It was a struggle. And I thought, at the end, well, I won't do that again.
And I've pretty much had that thought all year. Won't do that again.
Yeah, doing NaNo is no way to write a novel. No way to write a good one, at laest. Not the novel I want to write, the one I keep trying to write. And I guess I was just tired of breaking my fingers to type 50,000 words in a month, and then noodling around with it a little bit in the months after, just to let it sit mostly unfinished on my hard drive. I haven't even printed out the last three of 'em, they're so far from being finished (in my mind). [What a sec: fifth time? Geez, that's more than a quarter million words.... whoa.]
So I thought, that's it. No more. Time to retire from that. Won't do it again. It no longer works for me.
And I still feel that way.
However. As I was trying to explain to my brother and Jared why I didn't feel like doing it this year, I realized that the best thing about NaNo is the fact it makes me write. And I really don't write as much fiction as I would like to write [not counting what I write for work, which is fiction of a whole different time]. And NaNoWriMo forces me to write. Even if it's not good, or not what I'm aiming for, it does make me write. And writing makes me happy.
So: Yes, I guess I am sort of doing NaNo this year. I have an idea for a novel that I've been thinking of since about last June. I outlined large parts of it on airplanes flying back and forth to Phoenix in September. And last Saturday I wrote my first 3,518 words. I didn't touch it all week, but here I am facing another weekend, and I plan to write some more.
And I'm way behind on my word count.
So, what about me?
Last year I did it for the fifth time, but just barely. And it wasn't much fun, really. It was hard. And I probably only got about half-way into a very rambling novel. It was a struggle. And I thought, at the end, well, I won't do that again.
And I've pretty much had that thought all year. Won't do that again.
Yeah, doing NaNo is no way to write a novel. No way to write a good one, at laest. Not the novel I want to write, the one I keep trying to write. And I guess I was just tired of breaking my fingers to type 50,000 words in a month, and then noodling around with it a little bit in the months after, just to let it sit mostly unfinished on my hard drive. I haven't even printed out the last three of 'em, they're so far from being finished (in my mind). [What a sec: fifth time? Geez, that's more than a quarter million words.... whoa.]
So I thought, that's it. No more. Time to retire from that. Won't do it again. It no longer works for me.
And I still feel that way.
However. As I was trying to explain to my brother and Jared why I didn't feel like doing it this year, I realized that the best thing about NaNo is the fact it makes me write. And I really don't write as much fiction as I would like to write [not counting what I write for work, which is fiction of a whole different time]. And NaNoWriMo forces me to write. Even if it's not good, or not what I'm aiming for, it does make me write. And writing makes me happy.
So: Yes, I guess I am sort of doing NaNo this year. I have an idea for a novel that I've been thinking of since about last June. I outlined large parts of it on airplanes flying back and forth to Phoenix in September. And last Saturday I wrote my first 3,518 words. I didn't touch it all week, but here I am facing another weekend, and I plan to write some more.
And I'm way behind on my word count.
