Just say “NO” to NaNoWritmo. That’s what I keep telling myself.
Aaaaand then I had a dream last night about a really fun story line that has my brain a whirrin’ (as Hubby put it, “If there were a light on your skull like the ones found on computer processors, you’ve been blinking enough to shame a morse-code revival club).
I have bizarre dreams on a regular basis, but this one might as well slather itself in butter and rename itself “scone” because I’m fantasizing about how wonderfully it would pair with my daily dose of coffee. Drat my weak will, why can’t I just say “NO” to NaNoWritmo?!
Some of you may be wondering, “What does a pokemon have to do with Alicia obsessing over a new story line?” Well, first I should tell you that NaNo is not a cuddly conglomeration of cartoonified animal parts drawn in pastel detail, but rather a month-long writing extravaganza devoted to making writer wannabes sit their butts in a chair and pump out at least 50k words. The focus is quantity, not quality, with the aim being that a wannabe no longer has the excuse of “writer’s block” or other such roadblocks to postpone their work. If your story is verbal vomit and smells like such, just make sure you hit the 50k minimum, and you’ll still be dubbed a winner!
It’s tempting because there is something very freeing about knowing that you can, for the small fee of 50k words, be lauded as a “winner” no matter how horribad your work is. At the same time, I’m halfway through the behemoth, and finally hitting a “stride”–I think–and so I’m worried that slacking on one work is merely my desire to be lazy.
Pro NaNo (me): But you’ve got over 70k on the novel, and you might enjoy a bit of a break!
Finish Behemoth (other me): But you’re only half-way through your index cards, and loads of revisions to come!
Pro NaNo: But this will be great practice for connecting with your creative subconscious without self-judgement!
Finish Behemoth: Stop making excuses–you can write that story AFTER you’ve finished this one! Now go figure out names for those damn Council members!
I may just cheat and do both, but, then again, I like sleeping on a regular basis.
I tried NaNoWriMo a few years ago. I suppose I got to somewhere around 5,000 words before my neuroses took over and I stopped. I still have my work if you’re ever interested in reading some truly terrible fantasy writing.
Maybe I should try again, though if I did I wouldn’t want to use one of the story ideas I already have. I would strictly go at it guerrilla style and make it up as I went along.
[...] back in November, when I decided to do NaNoWriMo, and we agreed that it was ambitious, considering I was already working on my baby and a new [...]