Well I've only gone and signed up for NaNoWriMo, haven't I? How the heck did that happen? 50,000 words to write in the month of November? Easy peasy. Um... yeah.
I blame Twitter. People were talking about NaNo. I felt left out. I joined in. Simple. Trouble is, I have a pesky deadline looming. So I can't just start a shiny new project on November 1st and sack off the WIP (much as I'd like to... shhh... don't tell anyone). So here's the plan:
1. Write some words on the WIP every day. Try not to rush it and make it rubbish.
2. Write some words on SOMETHING ELSE every day. Rush it and try not to care if it's rubbish.
3. End up with 50,000 words by the end of November. The word count will be WIP words and SOMETHING ELSE words combined.
(N.B. SOMETHING ELSE will probably not be YA... Oooh!)
Now, NaNo experts among you will know that this is what's known as 'cheating'. Lucky for me, in NaNo world, 'cheating' is more commonly known as 'rebelling'. Yup, I will be a NaNo rebel (along with a few of my Twitter friends who introduced me to the concept). There's even a forum for us rebels... and that makes it official, like.
Somehow I've already managed to convince two friends to join me in this madness. Any chance I can convince you too? Or are you already signed up? Or would your rather lop off your left arm, nibble off all the flesh and then use the bones to bash yourself over the head?
NaNo? YesNo? Or HellNo?
I reactivated my nano account and immediately started feeling guilty, but then SARAH, the clever sausage, turned around and said "yeah, I won't be doing Nano if I don't think my edits are good enough" and I thought - bloody hell! That's a clever thing to say. And then I realised also, that I have a choice!
ReplyDeleteI do have a choice - to do Nano or not to do Nano. Just because I've signed up for it, and already having guilt and stress, means clearly ... why the hell amd I putting myself through this when I can write whenever I want and how much ever I want??! And even if I write in November, is it Nano?
So yes and no. Clear? I have come to the conclusion this comment makes no sense at all. This is 100% how my brain is right now.
Liz - No sense whatsoever! My brain is doing the same thing right now. The way I look at it is this: it's an awesome opportunity to be spurred on to write more than you normally would. Even if you get nowhere near 50k, you'll probably write more in a month than you otherwise would. Plus there's the added bonus of the whole community atmosphere. That's pretty much why I'm doing it, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of being a NaNo rebel, and I think I'm right there with you! I've said I'm going to use NaNo to try a new idea but my much neglected WIP is giving me the evil eye so I don't have a clue what I'm going to be writing at the moment. I imagine it'll be a bit of both. I've definitely signed up for the community thing, that was the bit that swayed me from my initial no way this year stance.
ReplyDeleteAnd Liz I completely agree with you so you must have made some sense!
I think I'm a bit weird when it comes to writing. I will sit down and write big swathes of it in chunks of 4 to 6k a day or over a weekend. Then nothing for a few days, then loads again in chunks. I don't think this is conducive to Nano writing, where the whole thing is getting into the habit of writing every day. This, I think will have to change for me, if I want to take my writing further as it is too eratic. So MAYBE I should for this exact reason, get involved in Nano. ;-/
ReplyDeleteJenni - Be a rebel! Go on...
ReplyDeleteLiz - I'm also sporadic in my writing habits. Except I have NEVER written anywhere close to 6k in one day! You could definitely do NaNo this way though - no rules to say you must write every day. But if you WANT to get into the habit of regular writing... what better opportunity?!
Yes Liz I know that feeling. I see so many writers saying that way to write is to sit down every day for a set time and write but that doesn't seem to work for me at all, this is always what I've blamed for my past failings at NaNo. But I've also thought that maybe I need to be forcing myself into this habit, guess NaNo is as good a reason as any.
ReplyDeleteYou know...if I get Grimm edits...No, WHEN I get my tweaking of Grimm done, I'll do Nano. I may start a bit late, but will see how it goes. I may do my contemp fiction which has a decent chunk written - I'll do my best not to add in dragons, elves and fairies and shapechangers.
ReplyDeleteI am joining you in this madness. I think. *gets cold feet*
ReplyDeleteI'm participating again. Last year I wrote a middle grade novel and it was so much fun I'm doing the same again. Problem is, I have a MG novel I'm already working on, so I'm racing to finish it BEFORE november 1 so I can get on with ... another MG novel. They're multiplying!
ReplyDeleteYou know I'm with you! I like how you say "rebel" instead of "cheater"...
ReplyDeleteSo my plan is to complete the first 50 pages for two new novels, so I have proposals that can go out on sub. One I want to do by Nov. 15 and the other by Nov. 30. That's only 100 pages of writing all month, maybe like 30,000 words? And I've already started cheating on the fact that I'm cheating by beginning the pages of the first novel (plus outlining the chapters I want to write), so I may only need 40 pages for it by the time November 1 rolls around.
I love cheating. I mean rebelling!
I'm so happy you're doing it too!
Luisa - warm up those feet, pronto!
ReplyDeleteSimon - Now THAT'S impressive. I considered rushing to finish my WIP, but didn't think my editor would be happy with 'And then they all died.' Good luck with both the MGs!
Nova - A fellow rebel/cheater! You're the one I REALLY blame for getting me into this mess/fun. So if it all goes horribly wrong I'll be knocking on your door. Good luck with your NaNo, my friend!
I feel like I may have been one of many to influence you in this! LOL. I will promise to keep quiet on Twitter about Nano in future.
ReplyDeleteVivienne - you can have some of the blame too. Unless it all goes better than expected, then you can have some of the credit. Happy NaNoing!
ReplyDeleteHmm, think I'll be joining the rebel group as well. I really want to finish my WIP so my shiny new idea will have to wait... or maybe just kept aside for weekends :)
ReplyDeleteooo! Something Else will not by YA, that sounds intriguing! I'll be there to cheer you on. Since I started work the creative fictiony side of my writing brain has ceased to work so there is no NaMo for me but I will cheer everyone on!
ReplyDelete