Week One NaNo Progress report: 12,000ish to the good. Before anyone gets too impressed (including myself), I should say that is a rough, ROUGH draft. Normally, I would have gone back and revised by this time, since I realized my concept needed to be much simplified. Instead, I put a note at the top of the scene before which I realized things needed to be changed, and continued to write. It'll be an interesting experiment to see whether or not this really works for me.
The first two days of this week have been well below daily par, mostly because I'm not entirely certain about the ending. I admit, I've spent a lot of time doing mindless household tasks and tackling my terrible desk, muttering plot ideas under my breath and occasionally stopping to scribble something down (which, to date, has always been totally unrelated to what I'm actually writing.) But I'll get there once my subconscious has chewed over my options enough. Half a grand, half a grand, half a grand onward.
Speaking of onward, the NaNo topic of the week for me is: why do I NaNo? Why should anyone, for that matter?
I know a number of people who act as if being involved in NaNo gives them some kind of special cachet. Why, I don't know. I do know it happens. I notice quite a few of these people also don't finish. If they do finish, I never hear about any revisions. To these people, it's being known as a writer that's important to them, not actually accomplishing anything.
And hey, if that works for them, more power to them. On the other hand, I hope none of them make the mistake of trying to use NaNo as writing street cred – or at least, not around me. When it comes to writing, as far as I'm concerned, only two things consitute street cred: getting your work accepted by a publisher and/or making some decent bucks if you publish on your own.
I, however, didn't get a gold star for signing up for the Literary Death March. (I did get a t-shirt, but I bought it.) I'm not even going to get one if I zoom past the magical 50K finish line two weeks before schedule. (If that happens, expect the next morning's headline to announce flying pigs.) Clearly, I'm not going to use my involvement for bragging rights.
So why do I do it?
I'll be honest: I approach NaNo a little differently than most. It's not in me to take on a project of any kind for the sheer love of doing it, even if I enjoy what I'm doing. I am, however, far more productive when I have a deadline. Self-imposed deadlines do not work. I wish they did. Give me a concrete date to shoot for, however, and I'm in business.
As a result, I frequently find myself writing on command to various calls. Sitting down and writing something potentially salable which wasn't to a call, however, is something that keeps getting slipped down the list of priorities, to end up somewhere between getting a head start on my taxes and sorting my sock drawer.
Back in 2007, I was rapidly approaching burnout. I'd been writing for one particular website which required a specific BDSM theme. The publisher was great. He paid well and he paid on time. The other writers who worked for him were terrific, and I think the world of them. However, writing the same old thing was driving me insane.
A writing friend semi-challenged me to try NaNo. All I had was a vague idea of an erotic non-BDSM romance, but I agreed, more to keep him company than anything else.
He ended up dumping out of it about a week and a half in, but I kept at it. Not because I had anything really good; I had only a whisper of a plot idea, so I was pantsing all the way. But it was different. I enjoyed writing again, and the schedule pressed me to sit and produce. The challenge was enough to make me want to finish, but the stress level was low. The world wasn't going to end (or rather, a publisher wasn't going to come hunting for my head) if I didn't finish.
I ended up with a 52,000ish word mess, which I later revised into a 7,200 story. Said story ended up getting rejected by the publisher to whom I submitted it. (Deservedly so, I might add. One of these days, I'll pull it off my hard drive and see if I can't scrub it up enough to present it in public somewhere.) But writing it helped stave off the burnout, and more importantly, forced me to venture out of the safe little niche I'd carved for myself.
Last year, I was coming off a two year writing hiatus after having a baby. I'd managed to resume writing earlier in the year, but we ended up with obligations which forced another three month break. When events began to settle, I tried to get back into writing, but the cogs wouldn't mesh. Try though I might, I couldn't make myself sit down and just produce.
November and NaNo came around a few weeks later. I had several calls to which I wanted to write. Even though it wasn't a novel, per se, I thought I'd use NaNo as a personal challenge to just write. I picked my top six calls and decided I'd use the month to write a rough draft of one story for each challenge. If the total words made it over 50K, great; if not, I would have something to show for it.
And I did. My total count ended up being nearly 60K. Of the six I picked, two ended up polishing up well enough to sell. The other four are semi-revised and waiting for an appropriate venue, since they ended up growing in a direction which wouldn't answer what the editors had requested. But the important thing was, I was writing again, and regularly.
This year, I'm using the challenge to force myself to work towards two novellas. Both are a longer length than I've ever managed. Is it cheating because I'm not working towards a single work? I don't think so, and don't really care. The important thing is, if I stick it out, I'll have met a professional goal. I liken it to training for a 5K run. Even if I end up not running in the event, I've at least raised my personal fitness level and achieved something which will help me succeed later.
So, do I recommend NaNo? I'd say yes, provided the participant takes the event in the spirit in which it's intended. I have one participating writing friend who's burning up the keys who's got an incredible writing career. (I want to be her when I grow up, if I ever do.) Yet she's taking the month to try a young adult fiction, which she's never done before, and she's having a blast because it's new and different for her. I have another friend who's a terrific fanfic writer. NaNo's given her the impetus to try her first original fiction.
For them, it's working as intended.
In the end, NaNo is nothing more than a motivational tool for people who really want to write. If you're one of the people I admire, the people who write with a fire under your fingers already, NaNo may not be something you need or even want. There's no need to feel guilty about not participating. If, like me, you get burned out or even just need a kickstart, it's a great opportunity.
What it shouldn't be considered is some badge of honor, or even a feather in one's cap. The result, not the process, is what's important.
To those participating, see you on the other side. To those who aren't, all cheers appreciated!
(Cross posted to http://www.wickedauthors.com)
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