Published by deborah.woehr on 25 Nov 2006 at 10:02 am
Why Most Writers Fail at NaNoWriMo
Over the past month, I’ve been lurking/commenting on the blogs of writers who are participating in this year’s NaNoWriMo contest. I’ve particpated in the last two contests, but this year I passed on NaNoWriMo due to time constraints and a lack of ideas. I hope to participate next year.
I’ve yet to reach the 50,000 mark, and I’ll tell you why. I read the word “contest” and get all jazzed because I love games. Then I get nervous over the possibility of failure. I drew up an outline the first year and managed to write about 25,000 words before the deadline, most of it on a blog I’d created for this contest.
Despite the favorable comments from readers, my inner critic screamed, “It’s not good enough! Look at this plot hole. This character isn’t behaving the way I expected him/her to behave.” The list goes on and on. I’m my own worst enemy.
Last year, I read several posts from writers who said that NaNoWriMo caused major writers blocks not only with their contest projects but with their WIPs. As a result, they had to take a break from writing for several weeks. They put too much pressure on themselves to the point where they were crippled.
This year, I’m seeing some backlash against NaNoWriMo. Eric Rosenfield Wet Asphalt says, “NaNoWriMo trivializes novel writing.”
Yes, it does. That’s what it was meant to do. I remember reading the guidelines on the NaNoWri website. They don’t care if we write masterpieces. All they care about is the word count.
But we do care. We’ve been conditioned from the very beginning by how-to books as well as the writing and publishing communities to strive for the best writing we can produce. Many of us can’t shed this conditioning and fold halfway through the month because we enter this contest with high expectations and standards.
I feel that the real challenge of NaNoWriMo is allowing ourselves to have fun by breaking the rules (self-imposed or industry-imposed) of writing. What are your thoughts?
zorak163 on 25 Nov 2006 at 9:09 pm #
I completely agree with you and I had an awesome time breaking the rules over the past 25 days.
Karen Lee Field on 26 Nov 2006 at 1:01 am #
The first “full strength” NaNo I did, I did complete, but the manuscript was utter rubbish. I never touched it again and if I did decide to do something with it, I would have to rewrite every word.
This year, I’m doing a Mini-NaNo (25,000 words) and I’m doing heaps better. I’ve discovered I don’t like writing every day, and won’t during “normal times”, but the manuscript is almost completed and I’m proud of that fact. And…this time it’s not utter rubbish. Bonus!
NaNo shouldn’t be taken seriously. I think it’s great to join forces to write, that’s inspiring. But submitting rubbish is a waste of time in my eyes. The manuscript should be a reasonable first draft at least. But that just my opinion.
Lee on 26 Nov 2006 at 2:30 am #
I think nano is an excellent idea (even though I’m yet to participate).
And providing you don’t take it too seriously it could be a really exercise to get you churning words out on a regular basis.
I haven’t participated so far because i always seem to have a book on the go and am unwilling to put that aside for a ‘fun’ exercise. I hope to have a go one year though.
deborah.woehr on 26 Nov 2006 at 8:43 am #
Zorak: Awesome!
Karen: Sometimes shortening the goal makes it easier to manage. The best part about NaNo is the community support. Regarding the quality of the manuscripts I write, I share your opinion. I don’t mind if the rough draft is crappy as long as I can edit it into something saleable.
Lee: Yes, it’s a great exercise to help flex your mental muscles.
Like you, I’m trying to finish a WIP and couldn’t set it aside this year. Good luck with your books!
Buffy on 26 Nov 2006 at 11:46 am #
I think NaNoWrMo is an excellent idea. I just wish it wouldn’t fall in November. My life is insane from October until January.
deborah.woehr on 26 Nov 2006 at 11:50 am #
I wish it didn’t fall in November, either, Buffy. This would make a great project for January or February, well after the Holidays.
Maureen on 26 Nov 2006 at 2:16 pm #
It’s a first draft. It’s not meant to be perfect and submittable.
Release the inner writer!
Lee Pletzers on 28 Nov 2006 at 1:16 am #
I also did not join in this year, not last year or the year b4 that. 2003 was a year I had some time.
fred charles on 28 Nov 2006 at 11:06 am #
I agree with you. My problem is that while I can ignore things like grammar and spelling while sailing along, I can’t write something that I think is either boring or filled with plot holes. I don’t see the point. I don’t like the feeling of writing something that is going nowhere.
fred charles on 28 Nov 2006 at 11:09 am #
First, congrats on your book. I’m glad to hear that you are almost finished.
As far as how to publish goes, I would probably try the traditional route first and then self publish as a last resort. That’s just me. Nothing wrong with self-publishing but after all the work that you’ve done, you should at least try to sell it to a publisher. If it doesn’t pan out, then you always can do it yourself.
When I’m done editing my book and I’m shopping it around, I will busy myself by writing the sequel to keep myself occupied.
deborah.woehr on 28 Nov 2006 at 5:38 pm #
Lee: Time has become a scarce commodity for me, too.
Fred: I agree with you about the feeling of writing something that is going nowhere.
As for the publishing route, I have a traditional publisher in mind, although it’s in the UK. I don’t know if any US publishers will take my ghost story, since vampires and serial killers are still the big sellers on the market. Perhaps my next book should cater to that.
Good luck with your book’s publication. It’s always good to have another book in the works while you’re shopping the current one around.
Yzabel on 22 Dec 2006 at 10:15 pm #
A little late, because I haven’t seriously touched a blog since November, but…
I agree that all the ‘filling’ in NaNo is sort of dumb. As much as I like the idea of NaNo as a booster to make people write and not sit on their thumbs thinking they’ll write a novel someday, the whole word-padding isn’t my cup of tea. Either you have an idea for a story, or you don’t write; typing words just for the sake of typing words is a waste of time in my book.
I’ve taken part in twice now, and for two reasons: I want to have fun with other people in the madness, and I want it to be an opportunity at a first draft that I can at least edit later on–it’s better than no draft at all. Of course, I realized that it was preposterous from me to do NaNo this year, with my job, studies *and* exams in December instead of January, but I still ended up with a few chapters (and the beginning of a story I want to go on writing during the holidays now), instead of… nothing at all. It can’t be that bad, and I had fun writing anyway.
deborah.woehr on 22 Dec 2006 at 11:09 pm #
I had a full plate this year as well. I hope you did well on those exams.