NaNoWriMo: For the "luv"?
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
As November 1st draws closer, writers everywhere are busy tearing out their hair, screaming at their Muses, and beating their heads against the keyboard wondering why oh why did they decide to do something this crazy? (All I have to say to that last one: Be glad you don't have friends banding together to go for a "double Nano." ;)Nano's a wild ride that gives a lot of people the motivation to attach their butts to the chair, fingers to the keyboard, and write. But there's an attitude I've seen surrounding Nano the past few years that I don't particularly like.
"Write crap." Basically, write whatever the hell comes to mind, pull things out of thin air, write useless words... just to hit 50k.
Err. WTF?
The intention of that, as I've always read it, is for people to kick their Inner Editor out the car door while they zoom off writing at high speeds. It's not to give people an excuse to write mindless garbage. Browsing the Nano forums, there seem to be a lot of people who do Nano, write crap... and don't write till next November. Sure, they're not hurting anyone, but I think they're missing the entire point of the challenge.
Or maybe I am. I don't know.
It raises an interesting question, though. How many people do Nano "for the luv," without any serious intentions to publish... and how many do it with the expectation of having a publishable manuscript at the end? I don't see any point in writing something that I'm just going to shove in a drawer because it sucks so bad. I want to have something that I can send to my crit partners, rewrite, and ship out. 50k is a reasonable length for an ebook; why not work towards that?
Then again, this is my career. It isn't for a lot of people.
Opinions, anyone? Are you planning on doing Nanowrimo? And if so, are you doing it "for the luv," or are you going to try for something submittable at the end?
Posted at 12:18 PM by Nonny Blackthorne
7 Comments:
I'm in, but like you, I don't write anything just for the luv anymore.
I think Nano's a great tool for someone trying to see if they *can* write 50K in a month, but as far as taking that much time and then not doing anything with the result, or writing something that *can't* be finessed into a publishable work? I can't afford something like that.
Exactly, Sara.
I don't have the time to waste on something that I'll never be able to submit -- or at least not without a ton of work.
Last year it was...can I do it at all, forget about good or bad or submittable or whatnot.
This year--I'm more focused on getting a product at the end, not just a good feeling.
But I don't begrudge all those who do it for the sheer pleasure and accomplishment, either. NaNo has room for all of us :)
I'm doing NaNo.
I figure I already do so much revision of my first draft, a bit more won't make a difference. BUT getting that first draft out in one month would certainly cut down the amount of time I spend working on it.
Last year was my first, and I had no idea what to expect. It was all for the fun of it. It was a first deadline for me...
As for writing crap... hmmm... I don't think I did that consciously. I used a story I had been working on with a semi-hope of seeing it getting subbed somewhere. It had multiple starts and I used NaNo to get my groove on it.
I know it happens. I know people write a few thousand maybe and never touch it again. Then other people can shoot the 50K in the big toe and keep rocking.
I wanted to see when I did it, which category I was. If I could consider myself a serious writer.
Very serious.. :D >>>>>>
Some people don't care to really see their stuff published and that's fine. If those of us who write, do want to see that, then we make the effort to not write crap. I think that's the difference.
Writing is experimental. Finding what works, what doesn't, our voice. How our characters live. NaNo can give use the freedom (Without the guilt of blowing off a whole month) to try to find those answers.
My .02..... :D LOL
I think NaNo is a great tool but personally, I cannot just 'write crap' to get it on the page and make it 50K. If I don't hit 50K, that's not a real issue for me becasue I know (or at least I hope) what I have is pretty durn good.
Amelia: Neither do I. If you really want to write crap, have fun. But I resent the people who act like that's ALL you should do Nano for. It doesn't help me, when I'm having trouble, to say, "Don't worry about it. It's Nano. Write crap!" or "Oh, time for the NINJAS!!!!" Really, WTF?
Emily: That's a great way of looking at it. I like that. :)
May: Hmm. That makes sense, actually, if you're a layering/revising writer. Personally, I want it to be the best it can be the first time around... or I feel like utter crap about it. So just writing something to get the words down doesn't work for me, because I never get back to it.
Diana: Much agreed. :)
Sanna: And that's fine. I'm more talking about the people that intentionally go in to write crap. As in, they throw in every cliche and crazy device they can think of. I'm not sure what the point of that is.
Aurelia: Same here. :)
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