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NaNoWriMo Week One: Six Lessons

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1.  Writing a novel is hard.  

Okay, so I knew this already, but it’s hard in ways I didn’t expect.  The story came easily enough, as did the characters and the key scenes that had to take place.  The problem is all the rest.

Dialogue.  Point of View.  Continuity.  Clarity.  Back Story.  And the dreaded Setting.  I suck at setting.  It is so important and if you choose a real place, you darn well better do your research.  Research?  You bet.

What is the height requirement of a Rockette? **

You’d be amazed by what I’ve looked up this week.

**Answer:  Between 5′ 6″ and 5′ 10 1/2″ in stocking feet.

2.  I am an incurable editor.

The whole idea of NaNo is to write with reckless abandon, either ignoring or celebrating the sheer crapiness that inevitably comes out of your head.  I can do that, to an extent.  However, today I deleted 459 words because they were junk.  I have some pride.

I correct all spelling errors because my browser underlines them in red.  I can’t ignore that. When I think of something I should add, I do it.  I can’t remember my own children’s names half the time.  I’m certainly not going to remember, in January, to add that super awesome part I thought of in the checkout line at Kroger that one time to the part I wrote on the night we had chicken for dinner way back in November.

3.  There’s no way I’m posting this thing anywhere on Dec. 1.  

“Ooh, I can’t wait to read it!” I get that a lot.  Well, trust me, you can and you will.  This is a massive free-writing exercise.  Glorified pre-writing stuff.  It’s not even a real first draft, which I wouldn’t show to anyone either.  Again, I have some pride.

4.  I am a creator and a listener.

Rebekah Loper, a seasoned NaNo, wrote a post asking the question, “Do you create, or do you listen?”  Basically, do you decide what your characters will do and say or do you let them tell the story?  My response:   “I’m a creator.  After all, they’re my creations.  How can they do anything other than what I want them to do?”  I don’t know how, but they do.  I start a scene with an idea and somewhere along the way, that idea goes out the window, and I find myself in unchartered territory.  I beg, “Please don’t do that.  That’s not how this is supposed to play out.”  Do they listen?  No, they go right ahead and do it.  ”Okay then, but you’ll regret this when you see what happens next.”  See?  Listener and creator.

5. Nobody you know in “real” life wants to hear about your NaNo progress.

Honestly, I wouldn’t either if I didn’t know what NaNo was before my friend/cousin/uncle/sister started blathering on about it.  I’ve decided to keep my progress to myself and anyone who happens to read my blog, is my friend on Facebook, or follows me on Twitter.

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6.  Writing a novel is easier than I thought.

No Muse.  No bleary-eyed, middle of the night, frantic scribblings to get down that idea that came to me in a dream.  I’m not drunk all the time.  I’m not doing drugs, aside from healthy doses of nicotine and caffeine.  I’m not depressed.  I’m not mentally ill and I’m not suicidal.  So, my chances of being anthologized in a future American Lit. text-book are not good.   I’m okay with that.

I think a lot.  I sit.  I type.  Grammar, spelling, plausibility.

Voila.

I’m writing a novel.

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It’s your turn.  Anyone doing NaNo or writing a novel learn anything this week?  I’d love to hear about it.

 

 

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NaNoWriMo: Are You In?

Posted in All Posts, Words by

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) begins on November 1.  What is NaNoWriMo?  Basically, it’s writing a 50,000 word novel in exactly 30 days.  Basically, it’s crazy.  And I think I might give it a try.

Why on Earth would anyone want to do this?  Well, if you’re like me, you’ve read a lot of novels and found yourself wondering, “How in the world did this ever make it into print?”  You think to yourself, “I can write better than that.”  Then you smugly go about your life, resting in the knowledge you could write a novel.  If you felt like it.  If you had the time.  If you knew the right people.  If…

Well, this is an excellent opportunity to write that novel we all know we’re capable of writing.  Expectations are already a little low.  Come on, 50,000 words in 30 days?  You know that a lot of what your writing will be garbage, filled with unnecessary adverbs and long philosophical passages that seem brilliant when you’re churning them out at 2 am but are ridiculously cliché and downright dumb when you read them after a good night’s sleep.  But I think that’s part of the fun.  Who knows?  You might find a new direction in the meanderings of your mind that you can actually use later.  When November 30 is over and you start the excruciating process of rewrites and vicious edits.

This is directly from the NaNoWriMo website:

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

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

Sounds good to me.

The best part about the whole thing is that you’re a “winner” if you accomplish the 50,000 words in 30 days and you get a PDF certificate and a nifty badge for your blog.  Normally, I’m not a “you participate you get a trophy” kind of gal, but if you accomplish this, you are definitely a winner.

I know one person who participates in NaNoWriMo.  Rebekah Loper, Writer, is where I first heard of NaNoWriMo and instantly thought of “Nanu, Nanu” from Mork and Mindy (which I now say in my head every time I see the word NaNoWriMo.)  I hope she can give me some advice before I start this thing.  I’d like to know what I’m getting myself into.

So, what about you?  Do you think you could do it?  Do you want to join me and the 200,000 other crazy people who think they can pull this off?  I’d love to do this with someone.  It might be fun.

I know I’m not the only one who thinks they can write a novel but has always been too scared to try.  This is the perfect opportunity to do so and probably the most stress-free way to do it.  So what if it stinks?  You only had 30 days to do it.  Maybe, just maybe, it will be good.  Really good.  Potentially good. Kind of good.  Whatever.  What have you got to lose?

It’s now or never.  Join me?