November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to write at least 50,000 words during the month of November. Those who succeed are awarded an official “Winner” web badge, a PDF Winner’s Certificate, and a well-earned sense of accomplishment. So on November 1st, writers all over the world sharpened their pencils or fired up their word processors, poured themselves caffeinated drinks, and settled in for marathon writing sessions, hoping to write 50,000 words by midnight on November 30th. I’m not among them.
Unless I lose my job, get a divorce, and put aside all my other interests, I’ll never write 50,000 words in 30 days. To stand a chance in my present circumstances, I’d have to do nothing but write the entire month of November. Wake up, go to work, come home, write, wake up, go to work, come home, write, rinse and repeat. That doesn’t appeal to me at all, even for a month. It wouldn’t appeal to my partner, either; living with me wouldn’t be pleasant. Writing is a part of my life, not my life, and that’s exactly how I like it.
Even if I did focus exclusively on writing for an entire month, my writing style would hamper me. I’m a slow writer. I’ve read many times that one should ”write crap” to get the first draft down and then go back and fix everything later. That technique doesn’t work for me. I can’t write scene two until I’m satisfied with scene one (yes, I usually write in a linear fashion). That doesn’t mean I won’t edit the heck out of scene one later, but when I’m writing a first draft, I won’t move on until a scene is free of glaring errors and loose ends. If I’d be embarrassed to show it to anyone, I won’t move on.
Some writers like NaNoWriMo because it offers an incentive to write and provides a deadline to shoot for. I’m fortunate in that I don’t need the extra push and I’m good at imposing my own deadlines. Oh sure, there are days I’ve done everything I can think of to avoid writing. “What, you want me to scrub the kitchen floor with a toothbrush? Well, I was planning to write today, but hey, if that’s what you want!” Yeah, sometimes writing is as appealing as having a root canal without anaesthetic. On those days, I just don’t write.
I’ve occasionally read on writing sites that you must write every day, as if that was the 11th commandment, but Moses dropped the tablet. I don’t need to write every day. In fact, I’ll sometimes take a break for a week or two when I think my writing is growing stale. The part of me that fuels my writing needs the occasional rest. What works for one writer might not work for another, so every writer has to figure out what works for them. For some, writing every day might be important.
So I’m not participating in NaNoWriMo, but that doesn’t mean I won’t write much during November. I’m doing my usual thing, focusing on the Rymellan story for March (already started) and spending time on the fantasy story whenever I can (coming along slowly, but well; I’ve written 2000 more words since yesterday). So I’ll be writing along with the NaNoWriMo writers, but not as fast and toward my own deadlines.
Good luck to those participating. I hope you all earn your badges.
