Even though I've quite obviously taken a break from the blogosphere since arriving at college, I've decided to take a brief...break...from the said break to blog a bit about NaNoWriMo.
For those who haven't seen/heard of NaNoWriMo before and are wondering, "WTF? Is that even a word?!", I have an answer for you.
No. It's kind of not. NaNoWriMo stands for National November Writing Month. Here is a blurb about it from the NaNoWriMo website:
"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2009, we had over 165,000 participants. More than 30,000 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists."
My views on a month-long writing fest promoting quantity not quality? Eek. It makes me wince just thinking about thousands of potential writers churning out unplanned narratives.
But.
But, I am participating this year.
I feel that NaNoWriMo lights a much needed fire in some cases, and this year, I am one of those cases. I've been sitting on an increasingly intricate plot since July and haven't done much actual writing with it.
When I was younger, I was determined to be an "impulsive" writer. No planning involved. What did I get from it? A spark of an idea, 60 poorly written pages, and a dead end. It wasn't much fun when I realized my plot didn't exist.
So I took a break for a few years. Even then, I recognized my writing itself needed to mature some.
Back to NaNoWriMo. I often fear that what could be produced in a quantity-filled month will resemble those 60 misbegotten pages. However, this time, I have a very detailed plot formed over four months.
So I have faith that things won't end as poorly as they did last time.
But what if...
you still don't think planning is important.
I think my AP Literature and AP English Language exams opened my eyes to just how important planning is. Early on in the year while composing my practice essays, I noticed that I was continually running out of time. After studying my essays, I noticed the problem. Crossed lines indicated rewritten phrases- sometimes the same phrases as before. I had asterisks indicating I have forgotten phrases and arrows desperately trying to stuff my point into the essay before time ran out.
I realized I wasn't planning enough. So I made a change. I began planning. And for me, planning takes time. I was literally the last person in my classes to begin actually writing. Everyone else would be on their second page while I was still planning, and noticing this was disconcerting. But my results weren't. I'd actually finish my essays before the majority of my class, and my grades skyrocketed.
So planning really helps in my opinion. The writing gets faster when you know what's going on.
But what if...
planning makes your writing boring once you already know what's going to happen.
I don't know about you, but this doesn't really happen for me. Even when I know what's going to happen, surprise characters sneak into my narrative to mix things up.
So I suppose my point is, I see nothing wrong with NaNoWriMo if you have some sort of plan. And maybe some people really don't need a plan. That's cool. I just know it personally won't work for me.
So...What are your views on planning? And how many of you book-reviewers are writers, too? And how many of you are participating in NaNoWriMo this year?
Just curious.
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