For those not in the writing business, November equals turkeys, Black Friday and football. For us writers, November also equals NaNoWriMo. Or, National Novel Writing Month.
What that means is that crazy writers (like me) vow to write an entire novel in one month. 50,000 words in 30 days. 1600 words a day. Its dirty, no-holds-barred writing. No editing, no polishing, simply writing.The purpose is to get a novel written. Not a pretty novel and definitely not a novel completely edited, but at least the framework is there.
I like to do it because it takes me back to the roots. To the time before I knew about "rules" and passive writing and those dreaded -ly words. When I wrote for the sheer joy of writing.
The problem is that we're nine days into it and already I'm waaaay behind on my word count. Not because I don't want to write. I actually am writing. Just not on my NaNo novel.
Years ago, when I first started doing NaNoWriMo I didn't have any other writing commitments. I could dedicate an entire month to one story and type until my heart was content. Now, things have changed. I have a story that is this close to being finished and this close to being sent to my editor. A finished novel has to take precedence over a barely-even-started novel.
So the NaNo story has been put on the back burner while priorities take place. But hey, I'm still writing and any kind of writing is better than no writing. Right?
Except the characters in the NaNo novel don't think so. They're a little ticked off at me right now.
So, all you authors out there, are you doing NaNo? If so, are you doing better than I am?
2 comments:
Don't you hate it when "teh shiny" insists on getting in the way of work--or is it the other way around? ;-)
Good luck, regardless!
I have never participated, but I do like the idea of devoting an entire month to non-stop writing. Sounds like bliss.
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