Why NaNoWriMo Matters
Posted on 01 November 2010
If you are reading this, you probably already know what NaNoWriMo is. But, just in case you don’t know, NaNoWriMo stand for “National Novel Writing Month.” This is a bit of a misnomer because, currently, the program is international. Nanowrimo runs for the entire month of November and challenges its participants to write a fifty-thousand word novel by the end of the month.
Why is this important?
Well, it’s important in several ways. First, it offers a deadline. Second, it offers inspiration. Lastly, accomplishment.
Many of us say that we want to write a book. I believe that there’s something inherent in the human experience that makes us want to share stories. Perhaps this is an evolutionary trait: we must share our experiences with others so that they don’t befall the same dangers or mishaps that we have. But over the millennia, things have changed. Society has become such that we can create stories in our minds that may never have happened but still have all the import and emotional responses as a true story.
But this is beside the point. The fact of the matter is that everyone has a story to tell, real or imagined, and nanowrimo gives us an opportunity to tell them.
Deadlines
Unfortunately, many of us have obstacles. I read in psychology class (heh) that without a motivation, internal or external a human will not do something. That is to say, if we don’t feel the need to eat, we won’t eat. Or, if we don’t feel the need to walk across the room to close a door, we won’t.
The same goes with doing projects. If there isn’t a drive or end goal in mind, we won’t get started on the project. This is where deadlines come into play. With a hard-set deadline, there is a motivation. This motivation is “I must get to 50k words by the end of the month.” Why? Because you may want a book in the end. Or you may want a good portion of a book in the end. This deadline gives a writer the kick in the rear needed to get going with their writing and, if they take it seriously, this deadline is immensely reasonable.
I have a friend or two or three who feel that there is a restrictive hurdle to beginning writing and that’s planning. I feel that there is a true fallacy to this logic. When we tell stories from our own lives — “Hey, I went to the grocery store the other day and you will not believe what I saw” — we don’t spent very much time on the set up. We don’t dwell on the character motivations (though they’re there), we don’t slave over a character history that we may or may not use, we don’t labor over every minute detail on what’s on the grocery shelves. We just tell the story.
Nanowrimo and its deadline gives us the excuse to get rid of all of that extra planning.
And yes, I recognize that planning is a needed component of a well-written story but, let’s be honest, very few of us are going to write a masterpiece in the first draft. If you honestly think that you are the exception, I have land to sell you in Atlantis. Write first. Edit later. Do it.
Inspiration
What happens when you see others doing the same thing you’re doing? When you go to an art class and everyone else is doing art, you can’t help but to try harder with your own craft. When you go to a museum, you can’t help but to think what your take on the same subject might be. You think about the crafting and the processes that go into each individual’s process.
Nanowrimo gives you an opportunity to become inspired by those around you. Even if you don’t go to one of the thousands of write-ins all over the world, you are constantly surrounded by an online community of people who are doing the exact same thing: racing racing racing to 50k words. There is a strange sort of recursive feedback loop where you inspire others and others inspire you and you keep going and going and going and soon there are thousands of words being produced all over the world and the next month the slush pile of agents all over the universe are toppling over with not-very-well-written manuscripts!
Breathe.
Accomplishment
What better feeling is there in the world than that of genuine accomplishment? Right, that was a rhetorical question and not really intended to be answered with valid (if not very topical responses. Don’t troll my blog.
Look, even if you only get to 40k, 30k, 15k, 2k words you probably will have done more than you would have otherwise. Admit it. If I didn’t give myself a deadline on lastmage by publishing every week, I probably would have still been looking at that first part of the first chapter sitting on my computer for yet another year. But every week I put out another chapter and every week I feel as if I’m that much closer to mastering my craft.
Similarly, even if you don’t “win” nano, you can say that you’ve tried. You’ll have a sloppy story that you can mold into something great later.
End
But I think the real story of NaNoWriMo is that it’s okay to fail. Getting to 50k words is okay, but what sacrifices in your work will you have made to get there? That scene that you couldn’t figure out. That two-dimensional badguy. That terrible, terrible one-liner that sounded awesome in your head just ended up a stinker on the page. These are things that career writers have to deal with everyday and by going through the process of nano, you get that all in thirty hectic, wonderful days.
Full disclosure time: I’ve never won Nano. I’ve participated since 2004 and I have several notebooks full of aborted starts otherwise. But I still think this program is important. I will be participating in Nano this year as well, in addition to working on LastMage.com. I have enough time, just never had enough motivation or support.
I think I’ll write a romance this year.
With werewolves and robots.
1 Response to Why NaNoWriMo Matters
We can encourage each other. Inspire one another. This is my first nanowrimo.
It’s day one, and I’ve got 2142. Come on, Andrew, let’s go!