I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that everyone reading this post knows what NaNoWriMo is. I don’t know how you could not if you go on the Internet more than once a month, because it is EVERYWHERE. You can’t avoid it if you want to and, really, I want to, not because I hate NaNoWriMo, just because I’m tired of reading about it. If you’ve managed to miss the hoopla, check it out here.
Since its tiny, quiet launch in 1999, National Novel Writing Month has turned into a worldwide phenomenon that has gleaned an estimated ten zillion participants annually and spawned online communities, local events, and additional “months” like January and February (NaNoWriMo’s official “What now?” months). Few issues in the world of writing save the Hachette/Amazon feud and the use of the present tense in fiction give rise to so much discord. Some writers spew venom at the event; others drool honey on it. Few are middle ground. Except perhaps myself.
I did NaNoWriMo once, three years ago, and haven’t since. I have to say I see both sides of the issue—the argument that no one really writes a novel in a month, that NaNoWriMo is the anti-novel writing event of the year, that novels take time. And the claim that at the very least NaNoWriMo gets you writing, and is worth it just for that.
Since I don’t have a strong opinion either way, I’m going to refrain from adding to the din. Instead, I’m going to share a few of the best posts about NaNoWriMo, pro and con. Check them out and come to your own conclusion.
“Writing a lot of crap doesn’t sound like a particularly fruitful way to spend an entire month, even if it is November,” wrote Laura Miller in Salon Magazine a few years ago. She called the event “a waste of time and money” and “a self-aggrandizing frenzy” and quotes one agent as saying, “Worst queries I ever received as an agent always started with ‘I’ve just finished writing my NaNoWriMo novel and …’”
And yet some NaNoWriMo novels get published, although I’m willing to bet the authors spent a lot of time revising after the NaNoWriMo deadline. (Chuck Wendig wisely points out that it appears less than .04% of NaNoWriMo participants have ever published a novel from it.)
Robert Smedley agrees with Miller’s negative view of NaNoWriMo. It does get people writing, he says, “But not with the right mindset to be creative.” He argues that the event stresses quantity over quality and fosters bad writing habits. “Good writing takes its time to form and evolve, and isn’t bound by a set word count,” he points out. “So perhaps we need a National Good Writing Month – a NaGoWriMo – instead?”
Yet, NaNoWriMo has a lot of supporters—and they are passionate.
“You want to help out fellow authors?” writes Armand Rosamilia. “Shut up and do your own $%&# quietly and let the rest of us doing NaNoWriMo have a fun month of writing and community.”
In a similar, if less strident, vein, Jonathan Allen calls NaNoWriMo “an annual celebration of creativity.” He says it teaches discipline and “increases the number of books available to read” although that last point seems a bit dubious to me and, anyway, a dearth of books hardly seems to be a serious problem these days.
In 25 Things You should Know about NaNoWriMo, Chuck Wendig writes that “NaNoWriMo gets one lesson right: writing can at times be like a sprint and you can’t hover over every day’s worth of writing, picking ticks and mites from its hair — you will always find more ticks, more mites.” Yet he also has some pretty negative things to say about it, too. December, he says, should be designated “Edit Your #$%& Month.”
And, finally, here is Robert Chazz Chute’s “I wasn’t going to do NaNoWriMo, but…” Top Ten List. Ten pretty good reasons to like NaNoWriMo
So, what are your thoughts about NaNoWriMo? Have you ever tried it? Is it a waste, like Laura Miller says, or, as Armand Rosamilia puts it, “a fun month of writing”?
I use the month of Novemerber, and NaNo, to try out new ideas. I have a book in the final stages, but I want to get started on a new series. I’ll write like mad this month, then set that project aside for when the other things I’m working are comlete, or in a different phase. At that time I’ll look again. It gives me a break from editing and revision, and it gives me permission, with cheerleaders, to lay down the bones of a story. I’ve gotten a refresher and then I can set it aside for when the time is right to jump in again. I never expect there’s a finished project form it, whether I get to the 50,000 word mark or no.
Thanks for your insights, Valerie. It sounds like you’ve found a great way to use NaNoWriMo taking your own approach. Maybe that’s the secret–every writer needs to figure out a way to make it work for her as an individual writer.
This is my fourth year of trying Nanowrimo. I have finished once. to me it is in the challenge. 50.000words is a lot of words no matter how you look at it. The whole exercise is about stretching out and attempting to do more. I have an opportunity to use my creative licence and at the end, whether I finished or not there is a thrill in knowing I challenged myself. at I there is a certain thrill in knowing I did it, I finished but more comes from learning that I persisted.
I would advise any beginning writer to take the challenge at least one knowing that the story is definitely not going to be one of your best. The challenge then becomes taking what you have written and turning it into something you can be proud of.
Excellent points, Judy. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I haven’t tried it before, but I guess in my own way I’m partaking in a more laid-back version of it. I’ve written about 60,000 words already, so now I’m just fleshing things out and doing my best NOT to perfect every line like I usually do. It really frees my writing and makes me more eager to write. I have a family, a social life and a job so I’m just aiming for an average of one hour of writing per day.
The bones of Rainbow Rowell’s ‘Fangirl’ were created from Nanowrimo, so it can’t be all bad!
It’s great that you have 60,000 words of a novel written! It doesn’t matter whether it took years or weeks–what matters is that you’ve done it. More than one writing career has been built on one hour a day.
P.S. That made it sound like I’ve written 60,000 words this month. I haven’t – it’s actually been years, on and off! It’s just my approach that changed since around the time Nanowrimo was getting into gear!
I did Camp Nanowrimo in June and am doing the regular version this month. I much preferred the camp because you could set your word count goal (I set mine for 10,000 words and reached it). They also had “cabins” where you had a small group of people to talk to and encourage you. I have trouble finding a strong sense of community with the November one. I have a positive viewpoint of nano in general, but I’ve been having so much trouble trying to reach a goal that may not be realistic for me and makes me feel like crap. I wish there was a year-long camp-nano so I could take more time and still have a community.
I know exactly what you mean about community. Our work is so solitary! Having community can add so much to our writing lives.
Within our local (geographically speaking) community, the library has established a mini NaNoWriMo group. I love the camps and November because they make me focus on my writing instead of just side-lining it, like I do the rest of the year. Although I completed the first challenge of 50,000 and will only make 30,000 this time, I am completing works that have been waiting in the wings for years. The event serves to focus and the local group gives year round support. Of course, massive editting is then needed but at least the core of the novel is done.
For those who don’t want to do NaNoWriMo – don’t! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your experience, Sharon! It sounds great, having a small NaNoWriMo group at a local library!