NaNoWriMo 2014

This year was my first time attempting (and winning!) NaNoWriMo. For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It is an event where writers from around the world attempt to write an entire novel (or at least 50,000 words of one) between 12:01am on November 1 and 11:59pm on November 30. No small feat, especially considering many of those writers are juggling full-time jobs, school, kids, etc. then you throw Thanksgiving in there just to keep things interesting.

There's actually a bit of debate about the benefit of an event like NaNoWriMo. Some argue that it gives people "permission" to stop writing the rest of the year. Some argue that anything produced during NaNo is absolute rubbish so the exercise is useless. Others argue that NaNo gets new people interested in writing, that it brings community to the otherwise solitary activity and that it forces people to turn off their "inner-editors" and just get words down on paper.

Now that I've done it myself, I feel I can legitimately present my opinion on the matter. So, here are a few thoughts on my NaNo experience...

1) A lot of what is produced is truly rubbish.
Really truly. When you are writing just trying to get your 1,667 words in for the day (the amount needed to finish on time), sometimes you just aren't "feeling it." And it shows. When this happens to me my writing becomes a seven-year-old's retelling of the school day. "And then, and then, and then..." Sometimes you lose track of your plot but keep writing "because 1,667 words" and your character's names have changed because you forgot them and they're not doing anything at all related to what's supposed to be going on and your dialogue is stilted and your descriptions are mundane and you know what? That's okay. Even when you aren't doing NaNo a lot of what you writing in draft #1 is rubbish, so why not just get it over with in one fell swoop. It's like ripping off a band-aid. Just get it over with.

2) Writing during November means nothing if you're not going to write in December (and January through October too).
"Saving up" all your creativity and writing time for November would be like training for a marathon once a year instead of everyday. It just doesn't work that way. If you're going to put the effort into doing Nano, you'd better be prepared to put in the effort the rest of the time as well.

3) Nano did virtually nothing for my "community" feel.
This is mostly my fault. I could have done the online write-ins. I could have connected with more Nanoers on Twitter. Heck, I could have gone to the real life meetings in the Twin Cities. But I didn't. I'm not sure if it would have helped or hurt honestly. However, it was nice to know that on those days when 1,667 words seemed impossible I knew there were others out there feeling my pain or celebrating with me when I topped 3,000 in one sitting. That was nice.

4) Nano gets words on paper.
Or rather, participating in Nano gets words on paper. I can guarantee you that I would not have written anywhere near 50,000 words in November if I hadn't participated in Nano. That alone makes it worth it because even if no one else ever reads what I wrote, I wrote. I practiced. I trained. And one day I'll finish my marathon and I know that Nano will have been just one more training exercise that helped me get there.