Countdown to NaNoWriMo: Start Your Engines!
First things first — HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Well, it’s October 31, and you know what that means. Less than twenty-four hours before you can start your NaNo word count. Pretty much at this point you’re as ready as you’re going to be. I suggest making today a clean-the-house/apartment/room-and-stock-up-on-caffeine day.
I’m also declaring it Just Say No to Naysayers Day.
If you’ve announced your intention to do NaNo, you probably know the people I’m talking about. The ones who say things like:
- Shouldn’t writing be about quality over quantity?
- You should be writing that much every day if you want to be a professional author anyway.
- You are a _________, you don’t have time for that.
- It’s a waste since you’ll end up with a mess that you just need to re-write anyway.
- You don’t really win anything, so why bother?
- It isn’t for serious writers.
I’ve recently heard all of those.
What I want to tell you is this: the naysayers just don’t get it.
Honestly, they probably never will, but in the meantime, here are some ready answers for when those comments inevitably pop up:
- Yes, but if there are no words, then there are no good words. Bad words can always be improved upon during revisions.
- True, and for all you know, I write that much regularly now. Regardless, until someone is paying me for my writing, I still have to be a _________
- And I will be a _________ when November is done as well, but I will be a ________ with 50,000 words written in my novel. What will you have accomplished in that time?
- As any professional author will tell you, revision is part of the job regardless of when or how you write your first draft.
- I win bragging rights. I win a sense of accomplishment. I win progress on my novel.
- I’d hate to tell Kelley Armstrong, Toni Andrews, Skyla Dawn Cameron, Lilith Saintcrow, Michelle Rowen, and a host of others that they are no longer serious writers. I’ll let you do that, okay?
Most of us don’t participate in NaNo just for the words. Any of us could (and do) put ourselves on that deadline any given month of the year. We take part for the camaraderie of thousands of people all doing the same thing we are. We do it for the energy of write-ins with friends and strangers. We do it because regardless of whether we could do it any other time, we want to do it in November with all the other faceless mobs of writers.
National Novel Writing Month is about more than just words.
The naysayers will probably never understand that.
Posted: October 31st, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments
Comment from Iapetus999
Time October 31, 2009 at 12:04 pm
NaNo! NaNo!
Naysayers be damned.
This is how I write best…and if I’m doing it alongside 100,000+ people, all the better.
Comment from Firewolf
Time November 3, 2009 at 10:18 pm
LOL “- I’d hate to tell Kelley Armstrong, Toni Andrews, Skyla Dawn Cameron, Lilith Saintcrow, Michelle Rowen, and a host of others that they are no longer serious writers. I’ll let you do that, okay?”
I was thinking that as I was reading the previous part of your post. hehehe.
Comment from Gareth
Time October 31, 2009 at 11:25 am
Hey Jules,
Great Thread and an apt rant to be honest. One thing that I want to say to the nay sayers is that whilst the words I write may not be top quality its to get a complete first draft sorted for my story. I can then go in and play with it until I’m 100% happy. I don’t have to worry about losing the arc by constantly correcting little bits here and there. That, as you’ve already said, is for later drafts.
I may not get to 50k in the end but Im going to attempt to have fun doing it and as to why Nano?
Quite simple, theres a whole host of us writing out socks off that are in the same boat as me and are doing it because they want to have that warm glow at the end. So Neyyyeeerrrr (sticks tongue out. LOL)