"It's still been an excellent experience -- it gave me the discipline to work on novels I never would have attempted otherwise, as well as bringing spontaneity to my writing when I might have otherwise gotten bogged down in research or rewriting." That's Pete from the litblog PeteLit explaining why he joined the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) writing marathon last year. For the fifth time in his life, he attempted to write a 50,000-word novel draft during the month of November.
I crossed the NaNoWriMo finish line in 2005 (it took me another two years to edit the goshdarn thing into something presentable, but that's another story), and ever since, I've sympathized with these crazy writers. This year, I'm cheering on our NaNoWriMo-ing readers again--offering them any technical advice or moral support they need.
If you're taking the NaNoWriMo challenge (or know somebody who is), drop me a line in the comments section. I'd love to add your name to the Crazy Novelist Support Group®, and follow your adventure. Last year we cheered on Johann Black, a blogging teacher, and Newsvine writers Yasmin and Miss Dev and RWarner and E to the Z.
If you are taking the challenge, you should tell us why you are writing 50,000 words this November.
I wrote this in my journal tonight:
Regret. Yogesh and Eric aren't much help on that front; they're watching the World Series and telling me about Manny Ramirez, and how he'd show up for Little League games that started at 8 p.m., and how in high school he'd go running with a tire tied to his waist. They tell me that instead of focusing on what I didn't do, I should focus on what I want to do. “Sometimes when you write it down, that helps make it happen,” says Eric, then Yogesh says “Jodi likes to complain; she's not action oriented.” They both tell me to not worry about writing anything good, to think about the process, like Manny hitting baseballs for hours on end. “All I can think to write about is stupid crap from my day,” I say, and Eric says “Sometimes you need to write that stuff down and get it out of the way.” “Okay Julia Cameron,” I say. If I do that and it isn't going anywhere but in wanky circles, then what? Because that's where it always seems to go, unless I rein it in and force something out that's different.
--After I wrote that, I read your entry, went to the Nano-whatchahooey web site, and I'm going to do it.
Posted by: Jodi Vander Molen | October 24, 2007 10:45 PM | Permalink to Comment