Thoughts on NaNoWriMo
Nov. 30th, 2003 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
willowispI've been watching a lot of people on my friends list posting word counts and such. I think it's a neat idea, and I know I could never do it myself; not enough self-discipline. I also have a problem with novel-length works; every time I've tried to write them I seem to run out of ideas in the short story range or soon thereafter. Thus I have the utmost respect for someone who can finish a novel, especially in the space of a month.
One thing I've noticed recently though is that everything seems to be geared around word count. Now, I understand that for something of this scale there has to be some subjective means of measuring. Still, several people have mentioned being done with their story, as in a conclusion and all, but they're short on words. They talk about writing extra scenes and ask for ideas, and since they already have the thing done, it's not going to add anything to the story, really. I'm not so sure that's something which should be encouraged; I know I really hate reading something which has been added as an afterthought or to pad word-count, and I can usually spot such passages from a chapter away.
I probably should go look at whatever official page(s) NaNoWriMo has up; perhaps their word limit is what strictly qualifies for a novel in the publishing world. Maybe after November is over they have people edit and remove any extraneous word-padding. If those are true, I have less trouble with the concept. If it is, however, a case of measuring the story by means of word count alone, I don't know that that's the best idea; people need to learn to write so that what they write makes sense, conveys the meaning, and ties up loose ends. Word counts hearken back to the bad old days of English essays wherein a brilliant analysis received a lower grade then a mediocre summary because the former was half a page short of the required page count.
One thing I've noticed recently though is that everything seems to be geared around word count. Now, I understand that for something of this scale there has to be some subjective means of measuring. Still, several people have mentioned being done with their story, as in a conclusion and all, but they're short on words. They talk about writing extra scenes and ask for ideas, and since they already have the thing done, it's not going to add anything to the story, really. I'm not so sure that's something which should be encouraged; I know I really hate reading something which has been added as an afterthought or to pad word-count, and I can usually spot such passages from a chapter away.
I probably should go look at whatever official page(s) NaNoWriMo has up; perhaps their word limit is what strictly qualifies for a novel in the publishing world. Maybe after November is over they have people edit and remove any extraneous word-padding. If those are true, I have less trouble with the concept. If it is, however, a case of measuring the story by means of word count alone, I don't know that that's the best idea; people need to learn to write so that what they write makes sense, conveys the meaning, and ties up loose ends. Word counts hearken back to the bad old days of English essays wherein a brilliant analysis received a lower grade then a mediocre summary because the former was half a page short of the required page count.
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Date: 2003-11-30 06:17 pm (UTC)1. The difference between writers and non-writers is: writers WRITE. They don't stop writing when the mood doesn't strike them to write, not when writing is what puts food on the table. Real writers have to deal with deadlines, unless they are independently weathly. Therefore, being able to sit down and churn out something is a necessary skill. Deciding not to write for a few months (or even years) because we don't have an idea or ten that we are quite in love with, or aren't in the mood, or whatever, is what turns people into non-writers. (Or "casual writers" instead of "professionial writers" I guess)
2. Focus on quantity and not quality forces you to write without looking back, without worrying about whether it feels awkward, etc. Sometimes writers get tied up thinking about what's the right order, does this feel right to the reader, etc., and the focus is too much on quality, so much so that there is no material really there or it comes out stilted.
3. 50k is actually short for a novel, more like a novella. I found it's a lot easier to write the first 50k words (or any selected 50k words) of a 100k word story, than it is to write a story complete and have it be exactly 50k. So, I am done for the month but not done with my novel. It's almost like it was *not* meant to be a finished work, but a *significant* fraction of the first draft.
Most stories have a beginning, middle, and end. Mine is half beginning, half middle, and no end :) Therefore, I'm not in the "wow my story is over and I need to come up with more material" camp, I'm a bit down the street from those people :) But, I do know what is meant by "fill in more details" - even if the world is well-imagined, the writer can forget to tell key details, just assuming that the reader knows them. It also adds value, realism, depth to the setting. If the story is done before 50k, it is probably heavy on plot and light on characterization and setting, and would make a good second book in the series :)