Late to the dance here today – I met with a girlfriend and talked a little shop and a whole lot of Project Runway this morning. I needed it. I’ve had a stressed week trying to get things wrapped up before I run off this weekend and next week. And let’s not forget the time sink NaNo (the National Novel Writing Month contest for those of you new to it) has become. But that, for me, is a delicious requirement and one that’s taught me plenty.
Before I took NaNo seriously, I plodded along, editing in my head as I went. It’s an occupational hazard. I was once on staff and had to churn out front-page features, usually last minute thanks to sources who arrived late on the scene. That meant I had to get it out fast and good. It’s not a terrible dilemma, believe me. But it doesn’t translate well to book manuscripts, where forward motion can be thwarted by too much editing.
But somewhere around the 24K-word mark this year, it all clicked. Words started coming out and underlying stories evolved almost without my knowledge. The practice of sitting down intent on going ahead rather than back loosed the bond the editing monster had on me. Now I’m up to 36K words and there are plenty of notes in the margin. Reaching 50K is no longer in question. The question is whether it will happen November 30th or December 1st. Either way is fine with me.
NaNo has also taught me to add more depth. I’m near the end of the story, but I’m seeing areas that need to be expanded in order to make a richer, more lively experience for the reader. Questions I might not answer before in the quest to get to the end I’m now finding myself seeking answers for. What’s this guy’s motivation? Why is she acting this way? How do these people live and breathe and what made them that way? I don’t know how or why a 30-day deadline made me fill in the blanks (could it be the word-count goal?), but there I am doing just that.
It’s also taught me to let the story tell itself. Editing can come later. For now, these people need to speak through me.
So what has NaNo taught you?
I don't do NaNo – I'm just not a fiction writer. But my 14 year old daughter has been bitten by the bug, and she has been participating in NaNo. She started off strong and then petered out, and then began to despair that she wouldn't hit the 50K mark. She was ready to quit, but I encouraged her to not be a perfectionist, and just do what she could. Now she's at the point where she's thrilled to have done as much as she did, and it's taught her a lot about process along the way. I hope she continues to do this every year; it will really help her develop not only her writing skills, but also persistence and dedication.
I'm like Eileen. I'm just not a fiction writer. I have no ideas!
But I will say that I love Project Runway! But I finally gave up on it a few episodes back. Love Tim, Heidi, Michael, and Nina, but there was little of Michael and Nina this season. And the designers this time around were boring and simply couldn't hold a candle to the best of the previous seasons.
I'll be back when it starts again in January, though.
Have a great vacation, Lori!
One of the most important lessons Nano taught me was to put my own work, my fiction, be it contracted or not, FIRST.
I do my first 1K of the day every day before I start hitting the contracted work.
I started that during Nano (when I wrote 2500 words a day so I'd hit 50K before Thanksgiving). When I do that FIRST, put my fiction FIRST, instead of waiting until other stuff is cleared off and I "get around to it", my head is screwed on straight, I feel I've already accomplished the most important part of my day, and my entire workday is more streamlined and more productive. Then, if I finish other projects and have the time, I go back and work on the fiction some more, but I've already got my quota in for the day, and all the stress is gone BEFORE I start the rest of my working day.
It's helped me enormously in focus, esteem, and in the quality of work i give to my clients, because I don't resent the time spent away from my own work.
I started applying this outside of Nano, and it's been a great help.
Fiction first. Client projects when I officially start my day.
I have an article up on the realities, pros and cons, of Nano, up on the SDR blog:
http;//thescruffydogreview.wordpress.com
I swear I'm going to do this one of these years! You are inspiring me!
This is my first NaNo. What I've learned is that I love writing fiction, something that surprises me. Almost all my writing experience to date has been non-fiction.