With the smell of Pumpkin Spice in the air, Autumn means National Novel Writing Month has arrived. For those not in the know, it’s when writers gather across the internet and try to write a 50k word novel during the month of November.
Will I participate? Nope. And let me tell you why. But first, let me state that I wish the best for writers that are participating. I’m not saying anything bad about NaNaWriMo. It’s been a great tool for many writers to place their butts in the chair and finally write the novel they’ve always talked about starting.
I tried it four years ago. There was a novel that I’d been trying to get off the ground for a while. My thought was that the rigid goals for the 50k would give me the structure that I needed to get moving and have the majority of a novel to send to my agent.
The first couple of days were fine. I was energized and felt a kinship with all of the other writers that were sharing a common goal. And then, I made the mistake of reading the social media posts. Along with the useful tips on how to make the most out of your time, as well as discussions about plotting, style, and dialogue, there grew a troubling undercurrent……..WORD COUNT.
I’ve been writing for many years and have varied success at setting word count goals. Working a full-time job dictated the direction and success or failure of most of my word count goals. However, for NaNoWriMo, there was no excuse for not keeping up with the rigid word count goals. There were daily, hourly, and seemingly instant posts about writers knocking out thousands of words in their latest session. Granted, some of those writers may not be working a full-time job, or sleeping 8 hours, or participating in daily life. Also, some might also just be padding their figures to look good. And, I’m sure there were actually writers that were being blessed by the muses and tapping away, feeling the bliss of a writing high.
I don’t write that way.
I found myself more concerned with comparing my word count to all of the other writers. It got to the point that the daily goal became more important than the actual novel. Instead of listening to my characters, I was watching the word count indicator on my Scrivener writing program. At the end of the month, I did not reach 50k. Additionally, the story that created was fractured and in need of a complete start over. In short, it felt like a 30-day failure.
Some writers would advise me that maybe NaNoWriMo allowed me to get the novel out of me and I could use that to either go back and improve it or realize the story did not hold up and that the challenge allowed me to exorcise the bad ink. That’s possible.
However, here’s what participating in NaNoWriMo did for me. It opened my eyes to what works for me.
I need a daily writing goal.
That daily goal is not a word count goal. It’s a work on the story goal.
My style is part “pantser” and part “plotter”. I need sign posts and a destination. However, I’m open to letting my characters take off at an exit to see the World’s Largest Frying Pan and see where it leads the story.
The only writer I need to compare myself to is the writer I was yesterday.
As long as I keep moving forward, there is no timer ticking away on when I need to finish the story. If I’m enjoying the ride, it will hopefully be passed along to the eventual reader.
So, NaNaWriMO did help me. However, like many great lessons in my life, I accepted its teaching and moved on. It gave me clarity for my writing style. And for that, I don’t regret trying it.
If you’re participating this year, I wish you much success with your writing. Just please keep it enjoyable.