Since November of 2006, I have participated in an annual event known as National Novel Writing Month. It is a contest against time and oneself sponsored by the Office of Letters and Light in which participants try to write 50,000 words of a brand new rough draft in the 30 days of November.
Some of you might think this sounds like a school assignment from hell, but there are those crazy people like myself who revel in the thrill of wild abandon and the challenge of such a preposterous undertaking. The most important rule of NaNoWriMo is to have fun; the mantra we go by is "You can edit crap, but you can't edit a blank page." The bigger, personal goal is to learn how to stifle the demon we like to call "our inner editor." So many people speak of writing a novel someday, but they don't start or they never finish because they fear their writing will not be perfect on the first go around. But that's ok. There is something entirely liberating in creating one's own universe, painting with broad, messy strokes like a kindergartener, and just enjoying the creative exuberance of it all. And I must say, having that progress bar inch over the 50K mark and knowing you have completed a couple hundred pages of an actual manuscript is one of the best feelings in the world.
Sometimes, though, no matter how hard we try, the inner editor haunts us and stifles our creative flow. Unfortunately for me, after my mad dash for the finish line in November, I tend to fall back into my daily routine, saying I'll take a short break from writing to rest up in what turns out to be a six month sabbatical. However, I have learned over the past two years that anything one wants to accomplish, one can if one sticks to it regularly.
And so, at the end of each post, you will be able to see my progress on my Works in Progress (abbreviated to WIP's). This will give you an idea of how long it takes to complete a novel, and as humans are social creatures and writing is quite a solitary task, having an audience and fans to cheer you on is a great motivational factor.
The bar you see below is my WIP from 2006- my first NaNo ever. I swore my new year's resolution would be to finish the rough draft of this book by the year's end, but if things keep going as well as they have been, I may even reach that goal by the end of this summer. What is The Shards of the Storm? Well, I'll let you know in my next post...
Some of you might think this sounds like a school assignment from hell, but there are those crazy people like myself who revel in the thrill of wild abandon and the challenge of such a preposterous undertaking. The most important rule of NaNoWriMo is to have fun; the mantra we go by is "You can edit crap, but you can't edit a blank page." The bigger, personal goal is to learn how to stifle the demon we like to call "our inner editor." So many people speak of writing a novel someday, but they don't start or they never finish because they fear their writing will not be perfect on the first go around. But that's ok. There is something entirely liberating in creating one's own universe, painting with broad, messy strokes like a kindergartener, and just enjoying the creative exuberance of it all. And I must say, having that progress bar inch over the 50K mark and knowing you have completed a couple hundred pages of an actual manuscript is one of the best feelings in the world.
Sometimes, though, no matter how hard we try, the inner editor haunts us and stifles our creative flow. Unfortunately for me, after my mad dash for the finish line in November, I tend to fall back into my daily routine, saying I'll take a short break from writing to rest up in what turns out to be a six month sabbatical. However, I have learned over the past two years that anything one wants to accomplish, one can if one sticks to it regularly.
And so, at the end of each post, you will be able to see my progress on my Works in Progress (abbreviated to WIP's). This will give you an idea of how long it takes to complete a novel, and as humans are social creatures and writing is quite a solitary task, having an audience and fans to cheer you on is a great motivational factor.
The bar you see below is my WIP from 2006- my first NaNo ever. I swore my new year's resolution would be to finish the rough draft of this book by the year's end, but if things keep going as well as they have been, I may even reach that goal by the end of this summer. What is The Shards of the Storm? Well, I'll let you know in my next post...
uhm sweetness! and yes! it was a thoreau quote. one of my favs/ haha. Man, an you are totally right about many not being able to crush the inner editor. Thats me! haha. I havent touched my book since summer of last year, and that is the reason why. Though i do hope to finish it some day, and i will work on it bits ans pieces at a time. After all, i paid an artist to design the cover. I better finish!
ReplyDeleteHahah indeed, indeed. I'm laughing because I actually remembered something from school, and we didn't do it very recently in English either, but hey, I've always been good at that subject. If you asked me how to do a math problem, well... O_o
ReplyDeleteI have had a similar problem, but I told myself I'm *going* to finish this.