Almost two years ago, fueled by little more than a faint story idea and my own volatile cocktail of mania, I started writing what would become 600 Hours of Edward. I finished the first draft in 25 days.
I know what you’re doing: You’re looking at the calendar and saying, “That SOB did National Novel Writing Month!”
Indeed, I did. It wasn’t the first time. But it was the first time I completed the challenge of writing at least 50,000 words in 30 days. (I actually wrote 79,175 words in 25 days. Actually, it was 17 days, because I took eight days off. But, really, who’s counting?)
In the hindsight of two years, I can now say with confidence that I couldn’t have written Edward in any other way. And now that I have a second, more conventionally written novel to my credit, the forthcoming The Summer Son, I can also say with confidence that I’ll never do NaNoWriMo again, at least not in the way that it’s intended (i.e., as a spawning ground for a fresh work of fiction).
To find out why, as well as some tips for tackling the NaNoWriMo challenge if you’re so inclined, check out my guest gig at Jim Thomsen’s Reading Kitsap blog.
Here’s the kicker:
Having written one novel under the auspices of NaNoWriMo and one in a more traditional way (three-month first draft, followed by nine months of revisions), I have to tell you that I’ll probably never again do the NaNoWriMo thing. Word count is a pretty flimsy construct in the first place; when someone asks me how long a story should be, my answer is: As many words as it needs, and not one more. To then squeeze those 50,000 words out under intense pressure no doubt leads to some irretrievably poor writing. If it’s the challenge you want, that’s one thing. But if you’re aiming for a writing career, you should ask yourself some hard questions about what you want from a month’s work. It’s entirely possible that NaNoWriMo won’t offer what you’re seeking.
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 25, 2010 at 8:59 am
Robert Gotcher
Interesting, Craig. At about word 24,432 I can say that I’m thoroughly enjoying 600 Hours of Edward. Great job, my friend. I look forward to getting your next book.
November 9, 2010 at 11:28 am
Jamie D.
NaNo has been insanely good for me and my writing – I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am without the yearly practice of “writing with wild abandon”. Sure, I have 5 trunk novels from it that won’t ever be published, but I’m releasing last year’s novel this coming January, and this year’s is the second in a series I’m writing for release later next year. Will I “win” with 50k words in a month? Maybe, maybe not – I’m more interested in having a “clean” draft now. That’s no longer the point for me though – NaNo is tradition, and a great way to be social in a way that writers rarely are.
I learn something about myself and my writing process every single time I participate in NaNo. That alone makes it worth it to me, whether I follow the original “rules” or not. 🙂
November 9, 2010 at 11:38 am
craiglancaster
Thanks, Jamie. I’m glad it works so well for you. I know a lot of people who use it for rewrites, a jump-start on a new project, etc. All worthy things.