Nanowrimo has stared up again for 2010, and I know some of the members of this blog are participating in partial ways, and some not at all. It’s always one of those exercises that’s a great excuse to write, but also needs to be tailored to the individual. And really, that’s the theme of so much writing advise. Some things work for some people, and not for others, and the reason things work varies just as much as whether they work or not at all. Thankfully I’ve seen an evolution of Nanowrimo to recognize those facts. It’s still about sitting down and just writing, but more and more of the community (and, like a lot of internet stuff, it is community driven) has recognized that amorphous nature of writing.
Early on in my involvement I almost got turned off of Nano completely thanks to the rule nazis. There was a faction within the community a half decade or so ago that felt that the rules of Nanowrimo had to be very strictly interpreted. You couldn’t write word #1 until midnight on November 1. It didn’t count unless you finished the whole plot in the month of November. There was even a small group that felt the ideals of the program were being undermined unless words 49,999 and 50,000 were “the” and “end.” Afterall, isn’t the goal to write a 50,000 word novel, not a 50,010 word novel?
But there’s been a lot more leeway within the community of late. There’s been the recognition that it’s okay if someone is bringing a work-in-progress to the table. If they’re using the month to write short stories. If they’re using the month the way they want to use the month because, damnit, writing is a highly personal activity. It’s great that a large number of people get together as an online community once a year and write together, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should be constrained to the exact same process.
So get out there and Nano in the way that works best for you. Because writing is a fantastic, just so long as it gets done.
By the way, if you are doing Nanowrimo and want some tips, this Twit showed up on my recommended follow list recently: @FakeNNWMTips
DL Thurston is the author of Rust, available in print, for the Kindle (US/UK), from iBooks, and in all other eBook reader standards. You can read his various exploits at his blog, follow him on Twitter, or watch him try to make sense of the War of 1812. He’s currently disturbed by the thought of just who wrote the song Johnny B. Goode, recently faced down rejection, but at least had some fun last Wednesday.
About the author
DL Thurston is a writer of novels, screenplays, and the occasional short story. He has short stories due out soon in the Steam Works anthology from Hydra Publications and in The Memory Eater. When he's not writing, he also brews beer and even drinks it sometimes. Check out his exploits either on his blog or on Twitter.
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November 3rd, 2010 on 11:55 am
Amen! It is November and that means a-writing we will go! And that’s all it means. No rules, no fussing, just plain ole writing. Yay!
Now how to combine this with wedding preparations and celebrations…?
November 3rd, 2010 on 12:02 pm
Easy: Write your own 50,000 word vows. Just don’t expect us to sit through them