If you are listening very carefully, you will feel rather than hear the subtle pressure of thousands of fingers gently tapping against the membrane slightly below plastic keys. The sound of NaNoWriMo is incessant, and a dedicated group of writers and writer wannabes are gently bringing their dreams to life. It is a day past the midway point, and they have been writing one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven words a day.
My personal feelings about this challenge are at the end of this article. Those of you participating are not reading this today. You are writing your novel, and you don’t have the time to read this. I write this for those who do not, have not, or just wonder about the value of NaNoWriMo.
The Pros of NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is a powerful incentive to write.
If you take the effort to sign up and publicly commit to writing the first draft of your novel in thirty days you have more than 400,000 other writers making the same promise. The critical point is you share a universal promise as well as a commitment to a goal. When you get tired and frustrated, there are forums and groups to support and to cheer you on. The encouragement available to you and from you is a powerful force that can drive you and others to successfully reach the goal of finishing.
NaNoWriMo is writing only.
By taking part in this challenge, you have promised to write almost 1,700 words a day. That’s a goodly amount of work to produce every day for thirty days. Given any day how much time will you have to edit what you have written today or to date? Zero time. That’s good. Keep this thought in the forefront of your mind as you work. For thirty days you write, and for thirty days you will not edit. This is your first draft. You do not worry about grammar, tense, adverbs, and adjectives. What incredible freedom to have as you write.
You've Done It
At the end of 30 days, assuming you have complied with your goal of 50,000 words, you have actually written the first draft of your novel. You have accomplished a tremendous, compelling goal. That which has been a romanticized dream is now an accomplished work. You still have a ton of editing to do, but what an excellent reason to take on NaNoWriMo. In your possession is the real, physical body of your dream.
The Cons of NaNoWriMo
Does not build Good Habits
Many advocates of NaNoWriMo tout its power to put you in the habit of writing at least a thousand words a day. I don’t think so. Contrary to popular belief writing thousands of words each day may not be suitable for you or your manuscript. Binge writing is not an indicator of quality writing. If you can produce 500 words of good prose a day, you have decent output. Remember that NaNoWriMo stresses editing free writing. If you plan your work, you should be editing to at least ensure your writing follows your plot structure.
The End Result may be flawed.
This situation often develops with new writers or writers who are first contemplating NaNoWriMo around November 1st. Your dream book may be genuine in your mind, but in writing, there are glaring holes in the plot, so everything falls apart. It is a fair assessment of time to give yourself three months to write down the details of your plot. Remember every novel or poem or short story is populated with people and places. You need to spend time and effort detailing both before you begin writing.
My Personal Feelings about NaNoWriMo
I have always had mixed feelings when discussing NaNoWriMo. When it first started, I thought how unique for beginners and in the early years there was nothing I could see to change my opinion until I looked at the quality of some of the results. From such a month of frenzied, frenetic scribbling came both Wool by Hugh Howey and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I can never trivialize the competition again and I will not. There you have my serious accolade.
NaNoWriMo is not my writing tool of choice. Writing for me is a solitary activity. Whether a blog post, short story, or notes for a novella, I do not want the encouragement or the companionship of a group of other writers. Recognition by other writers and readers is another thread altogether. That is why I have a blog and why I submit my stories and articles for publication. But the development of the plot and the agony of creation is, in my opinion, a solitary endeavor.
I believe in a structured environment for writing. You must take the time and expand the effort to build your plot line. You must make an effort to craft a strong cast of characters. This is not a requirement for NaNoWriMo.
And finally, editing is an integral part of the writing process. My two favorite writing tools are Scrivener and Ulysses. I divide my work into sections or sheets, and when I complete a section, I edit it in a simple manner. I correct errors of spelling and grammar. That’s enough for a first run. Final editing is much more extensive and done as the final writing step. Something I should have to give up during NanoWriMo.
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