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On NaNoWriMo
Nov. 29th, 2010 04:43 pmIt's been a while since I updated you all about NaNoWriMo. I kind of burnt out on it -- I've been writing rubbish for the past few days, just to get it done, for my own stubbornness. I haven't really been interested in updating people about it, because it's, like I said, rubbish.
That's not to say I haven't got anything out of NaNoWriMo. I have, but for some years I've been somewhat burnt out by the whole phenomenon -- the very first novel I wrote for it, Shadow, was glorious. I wrote and explored a whole story, without getting caught up in whether it was good or bad. The same in the couple of years after that. Since then, though, it's become too much of a personal competition with myself: can I finish earlier than before? Can I write two novels in the time? Can I write a good novel?
I'm not sure what I can do about that, other than take some time away from NaNoWriMo. A part of me would hate to do that -- I've participated and won every year since 2004! -- but another part of me thinks it may be the only sensible thing to do. I've stopped taking joy in it.
The experience is very valuable in some ways: getting you to sit down and write every day, getting you to write without second guessing, getting you to throw yourself into it whole-hearted. And even for me, this time, it's helped me get to know my characters, and the story, and helped me to listen to my characters and what they want/need to do.
I'm just not sure NaNoWriMo is what I need, now. I'll have to give the matter some thought, over the next year!
I do want to keep dealing with this novel, so now I have to navigate an editing process, which I think will largely be rewriting almost from scratch. I might try the 'two pages a day' sort of method. I'll probably start work on that in January -- I have some short stories to be writing, through December.
That's not to say I haven't got anything out of NaNoWriMo. I have, but for some years I've been somewhat burnt out by the whole phenomenon -- the very first novel I wrote for it, Shadow, was glorious. I wrote and explored a whole story, without getting caught up in whether it was good or bad. The same in the couple of years after that. Since then, though, it's become too much of a personal competition with myself: can I finish earlier than before? Can I write two novels in the time? Can I write a good novel?
I'm not sure what I can do about that, other than take some time away from NaNoWriMo. A part of me would hate to do that -- I've participated and won every year since 2004! -- but another part of me thinks it may be the only sensible thing to do. I've stopped taking joy in it.
The experience is very valuable in some ways: getting you to sit down and write every day, getting you to write without second guessing, getting you to throw yourself into it whole-hearted. And even for me, this time, it's helped me get to know my characters, and the story, and helped me to listen to my characters and what they want/need to do.
I'm just not sure NaNoWriMo is what I need, now. I'll have to give the matter some thought, over the next year!
I do want to keep dealing with this novel, so now I have to navigate an editing process, which I think will largely be rewriting almost from scratch. I might try the 'two pages a day' sort of method. I'll probably start work on that in January -- I have some short stories to be writing, through December.
