NaNoWriMo: What don't I like?

  If you're a writer, read other blogs or have been on my email list for a while, you've heard of NaNoWriMo. The seemingly nonsense word is short for National Novel Writer's Month and brings with it both a feeling of dread and a thrill. The goal? Simple. Write a whole novel, 50 thousand words, in the month of November.

     As simple as the goal may seem, however, it is far from simple when executing it. In order to have your complete novel written by midnight of November 30th, it is necessary that you write roughly 1700 words a day. This includes weekends, Thanksgiving, and the days after this holiday when you'd rather be decorating your house for Christmas than writing.

     And yet, every year, hundreds of thousands of people participate. Out of that number, a relatively small percentage reach the ultimate goal of writing a 50-thousand-word novel in a month. This year, it is my pleasure to announce that, though I started NaNoWriMo, I stopped in the middle. I'm also happy to say that the fact that I failed doesn't bother me.

     Wait...really? I'm excited to announce that I won't reach my goal this November? And shouldn't that bother me? Why doesn't it then? Keep reading, and I'll tell you.

1. NaNo can be very discouraging

     That's right. Though it can be uplifting to get involved in a community of people who all love to write, National Novel Writer's Month is a huge open door for discouragement. Because of the excitement and hype surrounding the month, many new or young writers may feel that it is something everyone must achieve in order to call themselves a writer. It is easy to feel that if you do not finish, then your chances of becoming an author have gone down the drain. The discouragement of having failed the biggest writing month of the year can be so tangible that people question whether or not they're fit to be a storyteller. It's an easy trap to fall into. Wordcount takes over your life, and the only thing you can see is not how much you've written, but how much there is still to go. And that brings me to my second point.

2. NaNo demands quantity, not quality

     When a word count is on the line, it's easy to not care about what you're writing. How much becomes infinitely more important than what. It's more than possible for someone to begin a book that they think will fill the full fifty-thousand-word goal, only to find that the plot points are flying by, and they're only 10,000 words in. Fluff finds its way into the pages because of the deep desire to make it to 50,000 words. In the same way, someone who knows that they can't possibly write more than the 50,000 words their novel deserves but would like to see it finished by December 1st will cram it into that word count. I do like that NaNo gives you the push to get your ideas down, though. Sometimes, it is hard to just write. As long as you aren't expecting your manuscript to be a masterpiece after NaNo, you may find that it's a good way to get an editable draft down on paper.

3. NaNo can become too important

      I don't know about everybody, but when I set my mind to something, especially completing a goal within a certain amount of time, it can become all consuming. I have experienced this before with writing, though not during NaNoWriMo. (I imagine it can be a lot worse during NaNo, actually.) It is very easy to lose oneself within the pages of made-up worlds, as well as within the deep desire to follow up with a goal that has been set. Where NaNo is concerned, a whole month can be spent fretting over how many words you have to make up from the day before, as well as just losing yourself inside of a world that isn't real. While this is going on, important things like relationships (especially during this time, while holidays are coming up!) can become less important, replaced by the word count. I am completely guilty of this, and it is something that I find myself very easily tending to do when my story becomes too important. I don't know about others, but I see it as perhaps the biggest problem with NaNoWriMo.

     These three points just touch briefly on the reasons that I am happy that I didn't get all caught up in NaNoWriMo this year. Of course, as hardly needs to be pointed out, everyone is different, and things that I have found true for myself probably won't affect every other writer out there. But these are things that I have talked about with other writers who agree with me.

     Does this mean that I'm not a fan of NaNoWriMo? No. I think that the hype, motivation and habits that can be built during it are huge. It can also give some people the much-needed push to. Just. Write. Besides that, it can show lonely writers that they're not the only ones out there, though some people's seriousness about the craft can vary.

     In the end, then, as with everything, NaNoWriMo can create both positive and negative effects. I see nothing wrong with attempting it (I did!), but the three things listed above are definitely things that I would keep in mind, both for those still doing it this year, and for those who are considering it for years ahead. My suggestions to avoid discouragement, quantity over quality and letting it take over your life are these:

     First of all, if you are a new writer, NaNo probably isn't the best place to test whether or not you're cut out for the job. Writing close to 2000 words a day is harder than it seems, especially when it's all coming out of your head. It's definitely easier to write larger and larger word counts the more you practice. I do not suggest starting as a new writer, floundering in the middle of the month and deciding that, because you couldn't finish NaNo, you don't have what it takes.

     Secondly, to avoid letting the wordcount take over, I would carefully plan the story ahead of time to decide whether or not it deserves NaNo. Get a good, firm grip over the plot before you try to stretch it out (or cram it in) to the word count length. Of course, no rough drafts are going to be perfect, so you may decide that NaNo is the best way to get the words on paper. "You can't edit a blank page," someone told me once.

      And lastly, decide whether or not you have the time to do NaNo without sacrificing things that are more important. These things include sleep, work and relationships, and most importantly, your time with God. Sometimes, it's hard to know whether or not NaNo will take up the time these things deserve until you've already started. You may have to decide in the middle that it's best to back away from your writing. This decision might be very hard, but once it's made, you may find it very freeing.

     By the time you've finished reading this, you are probably wondering why in the world I decided to publish this more than halfway through November when everyone is almost done with NaNoWriMo. Well, these are all things that I learned this year during my attempt, and I felt the need to share them with the people who were/are also doing it, and with those who knew that I was attempting it. If you are doing it, I'd be interested in knowing what you think about this post, as well as how you are doing in your goals. Do you think I came down too hard on NaNo? For those of you who have been wondering how I did this year on my goal…now you know. What do you think? 

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