National Novel Writing Month
It is National Novel Writing Month (NANO)!!! This is the month where people in all walks of life have the goal of writing a first draft of a novel from beginning to end. The goal is to reach 50,000 words by the end of the month. On this blog I have wanted to get in the mind of my experience as a reader but I have a few things to say about NANO.
Some books I LOVED had first drafts written during NANO such as Water for Elephants and Night Circus. But I am quick to say that completing the NANO goal does NOT make someone a writer and not making it to the NANO "finish line" in time does not mean someone is NOT a writer. Everyone has at least one story in them to tell but what makes someone a writer is the quest to make it a story told well.
There is serious craft involved with telling a story well. Learning the building blocks of good writing is part of what it takes to be a good writer. There is a debate on to get an MFA in creative writing or not. For the type of writing I am pursuing an MFA would not help me (and actually if I went to get another degree it would be in a business related field) however that does not exempt me from learning the craft of writing. I am constantly attending classes and events at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis (which is a gem of a place that I am damn lucky to be able to get there with public transportation) and purchasing and studying books that I find on Writers Digest. However any writer will say that making sure that these components are a part of the process is part with the editing process. Part of what makes someone a writer is being willing to rewrite drafts several times to make it better and accessible for the type of audience that they want to target.
I also say that finishing or not finishing NANO is not a requirement of being a writer because it took me TWO YEARS to complete the first draft of the romance novel that I am working on right now because I was juggling writing with working full time and planning a wedding. The idea of writing my first draft a month would have virtually been impossible for me at that point in time. What I did learn was to grab chunks of time along the way that my reality allowed me to. I was a substitute preschool teacher at that point in my life and so nap times when kids were actually napping were a godsend to me and so was showing up early to places so that I would have a 15 minutes to scribble something while sitting in my car. This taught me more about the regular habit of writing more than anything else did. In my most recent job I worked 1 half day a month and I was always committed to having the other half of my day be for writing related tasks. I also took the train into work and often used my commute time to work on my writing. Finding ways to formulate a regular writing habit is more effective in the long run than thinking that you should be able to write a novel from beginning to end in 30 days.
A friend of mine was recently saying that she is cheating and writing a detailed outline instead of writing the actual novel during NANO for one hour each day. I told her that this is a great way to start because it helps formulate a writing habit and a strong base for her story. My sister and her boyfriend run a lot of marathons. They regularly train for the type of marathons that they want to run. They stress that no one is able to just get off of their couch and immediately run a 5 K even if they are in shape, there is time that is put into conditioning your body effectively to run a race. Writers need to conditioning their brain for writing a novel and this can be accomplished through an outline. There are other ways to condition a writers mind too. The other ways that a writer can train is though too such as keeping a journal, writing a blog, working through a book of writing prompts or taking a writing class.
But the reason that NANO is so effective is because some people work really well under the pressure of the word count and the goals of writing a book by the end of the month. While this time line works better for some than others there is something about deadlines that is helpful for some people because it forces them to sit down and just WRITE.
I am currently cheating by using NANO time to heighten the word count on my 5th draft of my novel. I am between jobs right now. My ideal situation is to have the my desired word count (which by the way is, 40,000 words not 50,000 words), a query letter and a solid start on my next novel before I would start my next day job. However I need to be kind to myself because I am also actively pursuing job options which takes time as well. My word count is not quite what I thought that it could be at this point in time merely because I just rewrote my resume, have been heading to job fairs and employment agencies and have been applying for jobs. I take chunks of time as they present themselves to work on my novel because I am the type of person that legitimately wants to be able to work full time and enjoy my marriage in addition to having my writing world. In fact my writing can risk getting stale if I do not put my foot into the world outside of the page. Writing is about being able to create a time capsule with words for the rest of the world to see.
Some books I LOVED had first drafts written during NANO such as Water for Elephants and Night Circus. But I am quick to say that completing the NANO goal does NOT make someone a writer and not making it to the NANO "finish line" in time does not mean someone is NOT a writer. Everyone has at least one story in them to tell but what makes someone a writer is the quest to make it a story told well.
There is serious craft involved with telling a story well. Learning the building blocks of good writing is part of what it takes to be a good writer. There is a debate on to get an MFA in creative writing or not. For the type of writing I am pursuing an MFA would not help me (and actually if I went to get another degree it would be in a business related field) however that does not exempt me from learning the craft of writing. I am constantly attending classes and events at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis (which is a gem of a place that I am damn lucky to be able to get there with public transportation) and purchasing and studying books that I find on Writers Digest. However any writer will say that making sure that these components are a part of the process is part with the editing process. Part of what makes someone a writer is being willing to rewrite drafts several times to make it better and accessible for the type of audience that they want to target.
I also say that finishing or not finishing NANO is not a requirement of being a writer because it took me TWO YEARS to complete the first draft of the romance novel that I am working on right now because I was juggling writing with working full time and planning a wedding. The idea of writing my first draft a month would have virtually been impossible for me at that point in time. What I did learn was to grab chunks of time along the way that my reality allowed me to. I was a substitute preschool teacher at that point in my life and so nap times when kids were actually napping were a godsend to me and so was showing up early to places so that I would have a 15 minutes to scribble something while sitting in my car. This taught me more about the regular habit of writing more than anything else did. In my most recent job I worked 1 half day a month and I was always committed to having the other half of my day be for writing related tasks. I also took the train into work and often used my commute time to work on my writing. Finding ways to formulate a regular writing habit is more effective in the long run than thinking that you should be able to write a novel from beginning to end in 30 days.
A friend of mine was recently saying that she is cheating and writing a detailed outline instead of writing the actual novel during NANO for one hour each day. I told her that this is a great way to start because it helps formulate a writing habit and a strong base for her story. My sister and her boyfriend run a lot of marathons. They regularly train for the type of marathons that they want to run. They stress that no one is able to just get off of their couch and immediately run a 5 K even if they are in shape, there is time that is put into conditioning your body effectively to run a race. Writers need to conditioning their brain for writing a novel and this can be accomplished through an outline. There are other ways to condition a writers mind too. The other ways that a writer can train is though too such as keeping a journal, writing a blog, working through a book of writing prompts or taking a writing class.
But the reason that NANO is so effective is because some people work really well under the pressure of the word count and the goals of writing a book by the end of the month. While this time line works better for some than others there is something about deadlines that is helpful for some people because it forces them to sit down and just WRITE.
I am currently cheating by using NANO time to heighten the word count on my 5th draft of my novel. I am between jobs right now. My ideal situation is to have the my desired word count (which by the way is, 40,000 words not 50,000 words), a query letter and a solid start on my next novel before I would start my next day job. However I need to be kind to myself because I am also actively pursuing job options which takes time as well. My word count is not quite what I thought that it could be at this point in time merely because I just rewrote my resume, have been heading to job fairs and employment agencies and have been applying for jobs. I take chunks of time as they present themselves to work on my novel because I am the type of person that legitimately wants to be able to work full time and enjoy my marriage in addition to having my writing world. In fact my writing can risk getting stale if I do not put my foot into the world outside of the page. Writing is about being able to create a time capsule with words for the rest of the world to see.
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