Night time during Day Eight of NaNoWriMo and I’ve got no words. Enthusiasm is waning. I should be ploughing ahead. I like my story, I’ve got a nice lead, yet the doubts are beginning to set in. Some of it is the usual doubts that come every year with Week Two, when the dust of excitement settles and you realize you still have a fuck load to write.
But then there’s the serious voice of reason in my ear, sewing doubts. I feel like the whole world is telling me: “Stop! Writing isn’t meant to be fun! You’re not taking it seriously.” Not exactly like that. I’m kind of overreacting but in an effort to get out all my doubts, I’m going to go with it.
There was a lot of talk on blogs since it started, which I responded to kind of last week, countering the claim that NaNoWriMo is silly and if you really want to be a writer you need to realise it’s a long and boring process, and you have to edit a thousand million times, and it’s not meant to be fun. It’s a job. No fun!
Again, overreacting, and I do know that there is work beyond November. But then a friend tells me that creative writing teachers apparently hate NaNoWriMo because it teaches bad habits (like having fun) and that you end up not finishing your projects, which looking back at my last few novels, is kind of true…but I’m intending to get to it…one day (oh fuck).
There’s truth to what they’re saying, which is why the doubts are setting in, but I can’t help but feel resentful, because I’m having fun writing, like I do each November. And sure I like the competitiveness, writing in ridiculous scenes that probably won’t make it any serious rewrite. And now people are telling me I have to have a life, that I need to take writing seriously and that it’s a long hard slog.
Wet blankets, I say! It seems that all this doubt is only getting in the way of writing, but it does have me thinking how to get the rest of it done beyond November, if I’m going to work on it beyond and how I’m going to make the time. Probably not the things I need to be thinking about now.
Enlighten me dear writers and bloggerati.
I think if you’re serious about writing, nanowrimo is a motivator and should be seen as that and that alone.
When I first started NaNo I didn’t have all these blogs I followed and all these people who knew better than I did, telling me what to do. I think it actually helped. I didn’t have to wonder if I was doing it wrong, or wrecking my creative life, or anything–I just concentrated on what *I* was doing! So I think that’s a good suggestion for anyone, to get a little perspective.
I have to say, reading lots in the lead up to NaNo really muddied up my headspace and I think has played into yesterday’s decision. But at the same time, all the discussions really solidified my resolve for what’s important about NaNo. So yay/nay… I’ve made my mistakes and learnt from them.
I’ve ditched the single-mindedness regarding the wordcount so I can refocus on what NaNo is about for me this year – honing the writing routine and enjoying writing again. Writing is a serious business, but it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be enjoyable. This was one of the important things to come out of my discussion with Janette yesterday, if its not fun, if you don’t enjoy it – why are you doing it? Your project sounds kooky and lots of fun and I imagine (but its not me doing it) it would and could be a hoot to write it.
Love your writing to the fullest and enjoy it and let all the boring sods who would prefer you worked down a mine 16 hours a day and never ventured into a creative sphere to be boring sods with their own thoughts. I’ve never got why artists insist on suffering for their art.
I feel you should go with your feelings. Writing is an expression of one’s soul. It isn’t a job. so what if you don’t fufill the quota? Sod the expectations of other people about quantity, about work. Is it not quality that matters …not quantity? Your poems are the best part of your writing by far. I feel you know this in your heart. Do you count the words in your poems? If so … why?
Who created this NaNo thing? Why did they make limits? It’s like a fuckin job. Why don’t you just write what you want to write? Bugger everyone else’s expectations. Hold your own line first mate .. the line that says I write when I want to write… in the way I want to write. Sod the word count.
Many years ago I was an evil super villain who posted a meme (Thursday 13) which you used to visit. Today I’m back after having waited & waited & waited for a domain name to become available for me to re-start my diabolical plans for taking over the world (one blog at a time). I am also trying to build up a blogging social network without all of the rubbish on facebook et al. There was once such a blog but the author closed it down. I shall revive it on my own blog and continue in my quest for World Domination Bwahahahaha http://scouser.net/scouser-sent-me to say hi.
I come to this discussion rather late, but timely for me. I’ve been mulling a lot over taking writing (or anything, for that matter) too seriously, and how unhappy it makes us, and how NaNo (2010) freed me up completely from that. Yes there was a frantic-as-fuck component, but it always dissolved into mad cackling as I pushed myself over every self-imposed edge. And then I sat down, serious-ish, over the next year and reworked it into a fine novel which- for the first time in my writing career- was light and fun. Now that novel is being ‘seriously’ considered by a large agency.
So there, wet blankets.