Cat's Corner

It seems as if every writer I know, as well as quite a few that I don't, has posted an article on their website at some point in the last month in regards to their feelings on NaNoWriMo. It's a bit late in the game, since the event officially ended last night -- or this morning if you will -- at midnight, but I figured I might as well throw my two cents worth in as well.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, the month of November. It's an on-line writing event that was originally created to get all of those wannabe novelists out there to stop saying they are going to write a novel "someday" and start saying they are going to write a novel today instead, because most of us know darn well that "someday" in regards to our list of things to accomplish before we die never actually comes without a little motivation. NaNoWriMo was created by Chris Baty for the purpose of providing that motivation for aspiring novelists everywhere.

Participants are challenged to write a novel no shorter than 50,000 words during the month of November. Although I often hear NaNoWriMo referred to as a contest, I don't know that I would necessarily call it so, since the only prize you win is the satisfaction of having completed the novel itself and knowing that you reached a goal you set for yourself instead of continuing to wait for "someday" to come along. For that reason, I tend to think of it as more of a community-based event. Word counts are updated on the honor system, and all participants who cross the 50,000 word finish line before midnight on the last day of the month are declared winners.

The atmosphere of the contest is a very comfortable and laid-back one which is just the environment to help many anxious first-time novelists relax enough to get to work. NaNo writers are encouraged not to worry too much about editing during the event itself, and not to obsess over whether or not their writing is Pulitzer prize-winning material, but to simply get that story out of their head and down into written form. Editing can always be done at a later date. There is also an on-site forum where participants can go when they aren't actually hard at work on their word counts and ask for pointers on their writing, commiserate with other writers, take part in word count challenges, and more.

Now, I've heard opinions from all over the spectrum from other writers in regards to NaNoWriMo. Many can't stand it. The most common complaint I've heard about it is that the very idea of writing without worrying about quality or editing is an insult to writers everywhere who actually take their work seriously. I've also heard the argument that writers who enjoy the supportive community aspect of the event are weaklings who lack the necessary self-confidence and dedication to tackle writing their novels on their own. I've even read statements from other writers that they don't believe any would-be novelist who would participate in an informal event like NaNoWriMo could possibly take their writing seriously at all, and that they participate simply to be able to call themselves writers. Then there are the people on the other end of the spectrum who praise NaNoWriMo and think it's a wonderful motivational exercise that can be just the push many writers need to kick their writing habit into proper gear.

I would have to say that I myself am one of the latter camp. I've been a very creatively-oriented person from some of my earliest days, and one of the creative avenues I enjoy the most is writing. Over the years I've written many stories, poems, and personal opinion pieces, but what I'd always had in my head as the ultimate goal I'd like to accomplish writing-wise was novel writing. However, I was always the perfect example of the type of person I think NaNoWriMo works really well for. I have always worked hard at my writing, and I definitely took my writing seriously and had every intention in the world of making good on my promises to myself to start writing longer works. However, there always seemed to be something more pressing and more important that I needed to see to first, so writing a novel stayed on my Someday List year after year after year.

Then I discovered NaNoWriMo in 2006. I originally wasn't that interested in the idea. Like many people who consider themselves "serious writers" who want to get somewhere with their work at some point, I didn't see the point of entering a writing contest that didn't involve directly competing with anyone else, or winning a real prize of any sort. I only signed up at all after much coaxing and badgering from a few writing friends who practically swear by NaNo to get them to shut up and stop hounding me about it. After all, I had always wanted to write that novel, and I was finally at a point in my life where I felt I had time for it, so I figured "why not". The worst that could happen is it turned out to be a waste of time and I could just write a real novel some other time when I was really ready.

I was actually very pleasantly surprised. I wound up using the NaNoWriMo event to churn out the first draft of a novel that I'd actually had in my head for a long time, and came out of it with a first draft I was extremely proud of. I am currently in the process of editing this same novel into something that I feel will be a truly enjoyable read, and I fully intend to do the same with the fruits of NaNo 2007. The laid-back approach to writing that NaNoWriMo personifies really helped me get past my tendency to over censor myself to the point of never really getting anywhere with what I was doing. After all, no one's first draft is perfect, right? That's what the editing process is all about. I was also surprised at how "not hard" writing a novel really was when you actually make it a point to sit down with your idea and get to work instead of just thinking about getting to work. It really is just a matter of deciding you're going to make it a priority and get it done, and if you truly do love to write and you really do want to write that novel, there's really no reason not to make it a priority.

Since participating in that first NaNo last year, my attitude toward writing has definitely changed for the better. My problem was never a lack of dedication when it came to my writing, or in not wanting to get that novel under my belt badly enough. My problem was wanting all circumstances to be just so when I sat down to write it, and my mistake was in thinking that those perfect circumstances would actually present themselves one day. I now understand that there are no perfect circumstances. There is no perfect time. There are always going to be other things on your plate, but real writers make time for their writing anyway because it's important to them. NaNo was just the push I needed to get my butt in gear and become active in turning writing into the habit that it always should have been. I fail to see how that could ever be a bad thing.

I personally plan on participating in and "winning" NaNoWriMo every year from now on, even though I now feel perfectly capable of sitting down and writing a novel any time I choose regardless of how busy I might be with other areas of my life. I love the feeling of doing something creative for its own sake right alongside an entire community of people who share my passion for writing. I love being able to talk about writing with other writers during the process, as well as offer encouragement or pointers to other aspiring novelists who could use them. I especially love knowing that setting aside some free time every November for NaNoWriMo guarantees me at least one novel-length first draft per year, and I could certainly do a lot worse than that. I guess you could officially call me a convert, and a proud one at that. Why not try it yourself next year? You just might surprise yourself, too.