Yes, it’s NaNoWriMo time again! Social media is abuzz with preptober plans. New planners have been purchased and personalized, and people around the world are deciding which ideas to turn into novels this November.
I’ve expressed my disdain for certain aspects of this yearly exercise in word vomit before, though there are certainly things about it I like. I like the idea of community, and it can be a great tool for starting and sticking to a writing routine. Setting a goal is great, but a target word count will inevitably lead to a lot of filler words. Remember when you were a kid and you had to write a 500-word essay? Suddenly, “don’t” became “do not,” and “I’m” became “I am.” You get the idea. We can find all sorts of ways to add fluff to a paragraph to reach an arbitrary word count so we can say we “won” NaNoWriMo. In the past, you could buy a T-shirt proclaiming your victory before the event even began. The literary equivalent of “everyone gets a trophy,” I guess.
Sadly, it needs to be pointed out, yet again, that what is hastily written during the month of November will not (see what I did there?) be ready for submission or self-publishing on December 1st. The cult of instant gratification, however, doesn’t like to hear this. I’m saying it anyway and I insist you put down your washi tape and your reward stickers and pay heed.
By all means, participate in NaNoWriMo if you enjoy it and it motivates you to write. However, I would ask, yet again, that you respect the writing craft enough to recognize that your rushed first draft is just that–a first draft. It still needs work. A lot of work.
Imagine walking into a room for the first time, then quickly walking out. What can you tell me about the room? Maybe the color of the paint and whether it was a living room or bedroom.
Walk into the room again and stay a little longer. What else do you see? Maybe that the couch is blue and there are two chairs.
Walk into the room a third time and stay for ten minutes. Now you can see that the blue couch has a paisley pattern. The matching chairs are leather recliners. The coffee and end tables are clean, but there is a layer of dust on the mantel. There is an ashtray on one table, but it hasn’t been used. An oxygen tank rests beside it. The carpet is frayed at the threshold. The room has a musty smell.
Now consider that manuscript you’re going to put together next month. That first 50,000 words is your first trip into our imaginary room. It’s your imagination’s first glance at the story. Each trip inside your manuscript is going to reveal more details to you–the things that are there and the things that are missing or out of place, with all the little details that tell us about the people who live there–their habits, their struggles, their past…the things that give a story depth and let the reader feel as if they’ve entered the room themselves and stood beside your characters.
The pre-NaNoWriMo hype and anticipation certainly inspire me to get back to my neglected manuscript, and I really do love watching how other people handle the writing process. NaNoWriMo can and should be a great and helpful experience, but please don’t be a member of the My Poop Doesn’t Stink Club. Recognize that the event isn’t meant to produce a truly finished manuscript. There are weeks, months, and maybe even years (depending on your situation) of editing and rewriting to do before it’s clean enough to see the light of day. I don’t say that to discourage you or dampen your enthusiasm. I say it because it’s true. Writing is a wonderful art form that is far more technical and time consuming than many others. You do your craft and your fellow writers (especially the self-published) great harm when you rush your work to market. There is a lot of stinky poop floating around out there and the odor taints all of us.
I hope November finds you inspired and writing. I hope you put together a great first draft, finish an outline, develop your characters, or just develop good writing habits. Don’t spend all month counting beans. The goal shouldn’t be to “win” NaNoWriMo. The goal should be consistent creativity. Don’t cheat yourself of the joy of toiling to create something wonderful just so you can wear the T-shirt.
Happy writing.
Storyteller 
Recent Comments