NaNoWriMo 2008 or: How two Dollymix guest editors learned to stop procrastinating and love the word count
Bit of a Dollymix special for Christmas Eve-Eve.
This post comes to you from two Dollymix guest editors; me (hi, I'm Robyn, nice to meet you), and Laura Kidd (musician, digital videomaker, photographer, dog-lover, vegan, geek).
You see, both Laura and I lost our NaNoWriMo virginity this year.
Yes, despite having incredibly busy lives and almost no free time, we each took that long running jump off a cliff that is attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days in November.
And how did we do? How did we cope? Did we do any laundry during November?
Follow us over the jump where we engage in a bit of luvvie backslapping compare NaNoWriMo war stories.....
Just before she graced the halls of Dollymix, Laura wrote 33,685 words of a book with the working title "The Animal Inside".
I'm not entirely sure how, given how busy she is!
The Animal Inside features protagonist Josiah Tempest in a modern fantasy-tinged story which will leave you looking at the world a little differently.
When she gets it finished, that is...
I wrote 52,000 words of (but didn't finish) my NaNo-novel, "Darling", about a slightly clueless girl called George who skips town when her life explodes and starts again elsewhere only to have it explode again.
Along the way she gets a clue, some lovin' and a Chinese festival dragon. In my mind it's somewhere between Marian Keyes and Nick Hornby. In my mind.
Why did you do NaNoWriMo this year?
Laura: I found out about it just a little too late last year and decided then that I absolutely must get involved in 2008. I knew it would be the best way for a busy person like me to get started writing a novel.
Robyn: I was in a self-confidence rut with my novel - endlessly rewriting and perfecting the first chapter but not getting any further. I thought the mad rush of NaNoWriMo might propel me into the meat of the story. Also I was working full-time, freelancing most nights and going on holiday in November, so signing up for something that would demand so much time and energy seemed appropriately perverse.
Did you have any misgivings beforehand? What were they?
Laura: I didn't think I'd be able to come up with a story idea I liked enough to write so many words. That's actually what had prevented me from starting a novel before I heard of NaNoWriMo, so I was pleasantly surprised when the whole world of the novel came to me after a nap, about two days before it all kicked off.
Robyn: I had no idea how I'd manage 2,000 words a day. Normally I'd stare with creeping dread at the blank page, type the word "The", delete it, then skulk off dejectedly to make coffee. On this basis, 2,000 words would take me approximately a lifetime.
Did you write every single day of November? How did you motivate yourself to keep writing?
Laura: No I didn't. I foolishly took about a week off halfway through because I was crazy busy with work. I suppose I wasn't feeling the urgency of the challenge very keenly at that point and being stuck at just under 10,000 words at the time I think my subconscious was trying to get me to give up the foolishness! Even towards the end I couldn't write every day because I was away on a trip and had videos to finish editing for clients.
Robyn: I took five days off while I was ill, but otherwise I kept up my word count. I even wrote while on holiday - luckily I went with a thoughtful friend who physically stopped me from drinking or adventuring until I'd completed my 2k quota every day. I wrote on my Asus Ee PC which doesn't have an internet connection - that really helped me to focus.
What did you give up in November (if anything) to do NaNoWriMo?
Laura: Hoovering. I didn't miss it but I don't think my boyfriend was impressed.
Robyn: My social life. My legs got very hairy, I averaged about four hours' sleep a night, spent the month in "emergency pants" because I never did any laundry, and my hair was a nightmare. In hindsight, not socialising was a kindness to my friends.
What was the hardest part of NaNoWriMo?
Laura: Sitting down to write. Once I was in my chair with my laptop I clattered out about 2500 words an hour but it took hours some days to get round to doing it. Procrastination is a strange beast.
Robyn: Actually starting NaNoWriMo - it was like pulling teeth. I hadn't got the hang of "turning off your inner editor" and agonised over every word. I wound up deleting my first 4,000 words then kicked myself when I learned I could have added them to my word count.
What surprised you during NaNoWriMo?
Laura: My writing speed. I'm happy to admit a great proportion of what I spewed out on to the screen was utter drivel, but that's what a first draft is for!
Robyn: How many fantasy novels were being written! There were loads of people on the forums saying things like, "I need help, my main character's just escaped into a warrior dimension where he has to fight an army of vampires to acquire the omegahedron he needs to vanquish the werewolf overlord and ascend to the throne. But what weapon should he use????!!!!". And these posts got so many helpful replies. There was an amazing amount of camaraderie on the forums considering how writing is such a solitary endeavour.
Did you find support or inspiration in the NaNoWriMo forums, or from the pep talks from published authors?
Laura: The pep talks were brilliant: interesting, inspirational and perfectly timed. Just as I was despairing of ever writing a coherent or even beautiful sentence I received a message telling me that first drafts were usually awful, even for established authors. Does that make me a proper novelist? I didn't use the forums for anything but procrastination, so I banned myself from using them.
Robyn: I agree - until I read the pep talks I'd assumed that perfect prose just flowed from "real" writers' fingertips, but the concept of ubiquitous "shitty first drafts" was incredibly liberating. I also got some really great advice on the forums from NaNo veterans.
What did you learn about yourself, and about novel writing, during NaNoWriMo?
Laura: I learned that I can achieve crazy targets but that my brain will try and duck out of it if I don't monitor it closely, and that novel writing is harder than it seems but easier than you'd think.
Robyn: That this whole "if you build it, they will come" ethos actually works. Even if you sit down with a head full of nothing and start typing feeling really self-conscious, at some point the plot and prose will come strolling across the page. And the more you force yourself to do it, the quicker they'll come.
How did you feel when NaNoWriMo ended - and what next for you and your NaNo-novel?
Laura: I felt like I had loads of free time suddenly! I missed the discipline of writing regularly and have plans to reinstate that in some way in the New Year, but as I developed a terribly knotty back the day after it all ended my mind was focused on getting that sorted out and I didn't feel too bereft for long.
Robyn: To be honest, I was a bit upset. I speed-wrote 11k in 24 hours to hit the 50k mark and when I did, I was in mid-flow. Even though over the last 29 days I'd sacrificed sleep, decent hair and TV watching, I just wanted to keep writing.
I have some time off in January so I might try JaNoWriMo (January Novel Writing Month) at a slightly less clipping pace, with an eye to finishing my story in March. Then I'll put it away for a couple of months, start my rewrites and, at some point, attempt to get it published. Ha ha. Sorry, I just read that last sentence.
What tips would you give for wannabe novelists and NaNoWriMo participants?
Laura: Start as you mean to go on - writing regularly and removing the 'inner editor' by allowing yourself to write lots of rubbish is an amazingly freeing exercise and, for me, the best way to develop ideas. If you're doing NaNoWriMo make sure you hit the word target every single day and don't take more than two days off at a time throughout the month, or you'll find it really hard to complete the 50K.
Robyn: Don't start cold - before I started writing I knew who my characters were, and how the story began and ended, so the challenge was getting them all from point A to point B. I couldn't have done NaNoWriMo if I didn't already have an idea to work on.
If you get stuck, go on the forums and do one of the "dares" (one of your characters wakes up in jail, or something - the challenge is to get them out of it and weave it into your existing storyline) to shake things up a bit.
At the beginning of a writing session, take a moment to think what needs to happen in upcoming scenes to get to Plot Point X - it helps you focus. Try to write truthfully, not artfully (did your character gingerly turn the handle and step into the garden with great trepidation or did he open the door and walk outside?) - it helps to move the plot along.
Oh, and don't forget to donate! NaNoWriMo is free, but their writing programmes depend on donations.
Finally, don't worry if it's shit at first, keep writing. At some point the shit turns into gold. Or, in my case, gold-flecked shit.
Related links:
- The NaNoWriMo pep talks, including include letters of encouragement from Meg Cabot, Philip Pullman, Jonathan Stroud, Neil Gaiman and Sue Grafton
- NaNovember on Trashionista
- NaNoWriMo's writing programmes
- NaNoEdMo - National Novel Editing Month (March)
- JulNoWriMo - July Novel Writing Month
- AugNoWriMo - August Novel Writing Month
- NaNoPubYe - National Novel Publishing Year (Year-Round). Goal: Get that NaNoWriMo novel ready for publication!
Did you do NaNoWriMo this year? Tell us your story (obviously not the entire thing as there's a character limit in the comments field so, you know, précis)!
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