One Word After Another
It’s that time of year again: NaNoWriMo! 1,667 words a day for 30 days straight. And it’s not just the writing… the group energy dynamic really helps one keep going when the going gets tough.
And this year, I really need your help. For the first time, my schedule is clear of pseudonym’s obligations. I’ve been behind for ages, but come November 1? I actually have time to write a novel targeted for New York!
Yikes. No pressure or anything.
Boy, I am really hoping that some of you will be doing NaNoWriMo this year, because I know the going is going to get tough for me. I am praying for your camaraderie!
Pretty please? Think about it?
I want to do my part, too. Melanie mentioned feeling alone and abandoned by her NaNoWriMo friends by the end. I promise to check in here every day of November, up until the ugly end. (Except the first three days, when I’ll be travelling, but I’ll try to pre-schedule posts.)
What can we do to make this more fun? Chat party once a week? How about writing races? (I can do buddy writing from 7:30am-10:30pm… I’m so there! Name the time!) How about mini-NaNoWriMos for those who want to write every day but don’t have the time for 1,667 words a day?
Let’s get motivated with one of my favorite writer’s NaNoWriMo pep talk. Here’s Neil Gaiman talking about that awful three-quarter point of writing a novel:
You don’t know why you started your novel, you no longer remember why you imagined that anyone would want to read it, and you’re pretty sure that even if you finish it it won’t have been worth the time or energy and every time you stop long enough to compare it to the thing that you had in your head when you began—a glittering, brilliant, wonderful novel, in which every word spits fire and burns, a book as good or better than the best book you ever read—it falls so painfully short that you’re pretty sure that it would be a mercy simply to delete the whole thing.
Welcome to the club.
That’s how novels get written.
I am stopping short of quoting the whole thing, but just short. I am pretty sure I am breaking the rules of how much you’re allowed to quote, but here’s the bit I read every time I’m at the part of my book where I happen to be at now:
"Oh, you’re at that part of the book, are you?"
I was shocked. "You mean I’ve done this before?"
"You don’t remember?"
"Not really."
"Oh yes," she said. "You do this every time you write a novel. But so do all my other clients."
I didn’t even get to feel unique in my despair.
So I put down the phone and drove down to the coffee house in which I was writing the book, filled my pen and carried on writing.
One word after another.
You can read Neil Gaiman’s whole pep talk here. And I’m “spyscribbler,” if you want to buddy me on NaNoWriMo!
How can we make November a big old writing party for you, NaNoWriMo or not?
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Natasha Fondren is a writer traveling the U.S. in a camper with her four cats and husband. She spends summers camped near her niece, because, well, her niece is her favorite girl on the planet.
I’ll read his pep talk, because I can use it, but I’m passing on NaNo. I actually plan on finishing my book by the end of Nov., but I think I do better struggling by myself. And by then I might need less than 40K to finish my book.
Good luck!
You’re like the rock-solid turtle who wins the race, Edie! You always keep on truckin’! You’ve got it working well for you, that’s for sure!
Thanks, Edie!
I’m not NaNoing this year, for the first time since ‘05, but I’m definitely up for waving pompoms if you’re going to be posting here about how you’re doing.
[I have some other projects I need to get done in the next month or two, and none of them lend themselves to being NaNoed; I'm finishing things up here and there, and don't have anywhere near 50K worth of verbage left in any one project, nor can I afford to take November off to start something new.]
I have an awesome animated NaNo icon I’d love to pass on, though — drop me a note at angiebenedetti at gmail dot com and I’ll send it.
Angie
Angie, tanks for the gif! And I hear you: SO many years have gone by where I’ve been dying to do NaNo, and my writing schedule just wasn’t aligned. Maybe next year!
I’m doing it again this year!
YAY, RJ! I’m so excited!
Way to call me out.
I’ll cheer from the sidelines!
Your cheering rocks, Melanie, but nothing is like watching you work. You’re an inspiration! No one is ahead of you to inspire you, LOL! (That wasn’t a bad way to call you out, was it? I didn’t mean it that way!)
Nah, you made up for it with that comment.
I am on NaNo for this year as wyrddsmith. I think I already added you to my buddy list.
I’m all for any sort of encouraging interaction for the NaNo cause. I will likely have trouble with chats and such, though, unless they are later in the evening (which cuts into my writing time.) Complications aside, though, it would be a fun thing to have a bit of sharing.
The other thinga bout NaNo is that I’m too far away to make any of the Maine NaNo gatherings. And I have very few Saturdays off, which is when the meetings typically are (or in the evenings five hours away.)
Cool, Written! I added you as a buddy!
I’ve never been able to make it to the local meetings, unfortunately. Maybe this year! It would be good, since I’ll be in a new state!
Oh, hey, we can always have a pledge of some kind, such as NaNoers who pledge to give money to Breast Cancer research (or whatever cause that is acceptable to all) if they don’t make the 50k. Or get NaNo sponsers, like a walk-a-thon? Only a write-a-thon?
I LOVE that idea! What a great idea, Written! So cool!
I can’t imagine writing 1,667 words a day for thirty days in a row. If I get to 1,500 in one day, writing all day, I’m thrilled. Besides, I am committed to writing about tax exemptions for a legal encyclopedia and actually the article is probably twice the size I should have agreed to for the time period involved so I have my own writing panic period. However, I admire your courage. Good luck. And, hey, no matter what you manage it will be more interesting than tax exemptions!
Eric, I have to admit that I will be very happy not to write tax exemptions!
LOL!
Good luck, Natasha. I’m not one to NaNo but I can shake those pompoms at you. My schedule won’t allow me to make a schedule when it comes to writing. LOL.
Thanks, Liz! I’ll need all the rah-rah I can get!
Oh dear. I’m a NaNo drop out from last year. I fear that if I try again, I’ll let you guys down. I’ll cheer you on. I’m a really good cheerer. Cheer! See?
Oh Robin, you won’t let us down! Thanks for the cheers! You ARE a good cheerer!
I still don’t get what the big deal is with this.
This is true, since I generally more than that every day. I suppose it’s the energy of it. Lots of young people, lots of enthusiasm, lots of that wonderful beginner enthusiasm. Everyone cheers everyone else on, and everyone helps everyone through the doubts and the hard bits.
I guess it just makes me feel less alone. It reminds me that writing is an adventure. Encourages me to experiment and wait to worry about fixing it until the month is over. It’s a time to stretch one’s wings.
I did enjoy that pep talk. I’m approaching the 1/2 mark in my current book and feel like I’m slogging through Jello or quicksand or something else that’s gross and thick. No NaNo for me; I have to finish this book. But I do think it’s a great adventure!