I’ll admit that two weeks ago there were more than few times when I imagined printing out the fruit of a month’s worth of hard labor, collating pages that, when arranged and stacked high, contained around 50,000 words of prose fiction – a finished novel. Now, half way into the National Novel Writing Month project, I haven’t even written a quarter of the words required. Judging from the feedback, other writers in FrontRow’s NaNoWriMo support group are making remarkable progress, and others, like me, are sluggish. The problem is I have given up hope, which basically means I’ve given up.
These words of encouragement dropped in my in box this morning from NaNoWriMo’s Chris Baty:
The most common refrain at the Struggler’s Party, though, is that we’re just feeling Blah. Our stories are Blah, our writing is Blah. We’ve spent the last two weeks mining our creative depths, and many of us have emerged with too few diamonds and way too many lumps of coal.
Blah indeed. Throw the coal into the fire. So fellow NaNoWriMo – how goes it? Who’s all but given up? And who has an idea about how to turn around the negative inertia?
Profile: Phil Collins' Separate Lives: Music And Remembering The Alamo
Why Phil Collins Remembers The Alamo Better Than You Do
Nazis, Zombies, Cowboys, Robots And Airships: Trey Garrison Signs Two Book Deal With Harper Collins
Catching Up With Ben Fountain, Whose New Novel Comes Out Tomorrow
7 comments
I actually gave up.
I agree with Dick, I’m giving up. Can I join next year? (and maybe cheat a little and start writing in September? lol)
I, too, enisioned a beautiful stack of carefully typed pages ready to be read by the masses but now feel that hope of this novel actually coming together is all but lost. So glad I’m not alone in this! If anyone has any ideas on how to turn this ship around, PLEASE share!
I only have 10,000 words and I’m not giving up! I know what I’m writing is crap, but it is a good exercise and I know I can take some the ideas that have come from this month and use them in the future. Don’t give up! We’re not under contract or anything. So you only write 25,000 words or 10,000 words. That’s probably a lot more than you would have written, and it could be a jumping off point for something new. Maybe you’ll have one jewel of a paragraph or sentence or an introduction of a minor character that might make a completely different idea for another novel — one that doesn’t have to be written in one month. Hang in there!
What was it that the little choo-choo said as he struggled up the mountain?
I assume that the other members of this group have responsibilities other than writing a 50,000-word novel in just 30 days. But I, being a 71-year-old widower, have not a single responsibility that I don’t want to have. So I’m free to drift off into Mikey’s World and write down what I see there.
In fact, I have written my way right out of this NaNoWriMo project. I’m over the 50,000-world limit. Now at 53,467 words with more words to write. I expect the story to run to from 60,000 to 65,000 words. Close to the 70,000-word “limit” for chicks’ lit.
So, I write long. And, I’ll miss qualifying for the right to drink Allison’s booze and meet the other members of the group. Which would be a lot of fun. But I’m having more fun doing what I’m doing.
Kate, I wish I had some advice for you, but I don’t. I frankly don’t believe that we writing-afflicted people ever “learn” how to write. We are just doomed with our affliction. I DO have a suggestion, however. Quit viewing your writing as a “ship”. Take the one or two hours you spend writing and view it as going to a good movie, or a play or a concert. View it in your mind’s eye as a fun thing to do. Don’t make it a job. Don’t edit as you go, or judge your work at the end of a day. Just grab what’s in that little insane part of your brain and let your fingertips to the rest.
And, Lauren…you little choo-choo…you go girl!
i too have given up. have been concentrating on final rewrites for my 30 days x 6 years first novel — seemed silly to start something new when I’m so close to wrapping this puppy up!
congrats to all of you who are still going . . . cheer cheer cheer!
I just signed up for the national deal–”The National Novel Writing Month.”
Got an email that included tips which might be helpful to all. These tips are as follows:
1) It’s okay to not know what you’re doing. Really. You’ve read a lot of novels, so you’re completely up to the challenge of writing one. If you feel more comfortable outlining your story ahead of time, do so. But it’s also fine to just wing it. Write every day, and a book-worthy story will appear, even if you’re not sure what that story might be right now.
2) Do not edit as you go. Editing is for December. Think of November as an experiment in pure output. Even if it’s hard at first, leave ugly prose and poorly written passages on the page to be cleaned up later. Your inner editor will be very grumpy about this, but your inner editor is a nitpicky jerk who foolishly believes that it is possible to write a brilliant first draft if you write it slowly enough. It isn’t. Every book you’ve ever loved started out as a beautifully flawed first draft. In November, embrace imperfection and see where it takes you.
3) Tell everyone you know that you’re writing a novel in November. This will pay big dividends in Week Two, when the only thing keeping you from quitting is the fear of looking pathetic in front of all the people who’ve had to hear about your novel for the past month. Seriously. Email them now about your awesome new book. The looming specter of personal humiliation is a very reliable muse.
3.5) There will be times you’ll want to quit during November. This is okay. Everyone who wins NaNoWriMo wanted to quit at some point in November. Stick it out. See it through. Week Two can be hard. Week Three is much better. Week Four will make you want to yodel.
And we’re talking the good kind of yodeling here.