Some post-November thoughts...
Friends, Wrimos, countrymen (and not-so-countrymen), lend me your ears!
So. November’s over, and we’re all several thousand words richer. This year was quite the adventure for learan and I, and I hope it was for you all as well - in a good way, of course. Whether you wrote 5,000 words or 100,000 (or more! You know who you crazy folks are!), you now know a little more about your characters, yourself, and the world around you. For those of you who were joining in the fun for the very first time, congratulations! I hope you had a great time, and that we’ll see you again next year. For those who’ve been around a bit longer, keep up the good work! I hope you discovered something new and wonderful that you might not have noticed before.
In the wake of this month of frenzied madness, everyone has advice to share with their fellow Wrimos, and especially to those who are thinking of playing along next year. So here’s what a first-year ML and relative newbie to NaNo overall (three years is a drop in the pond compared to a lot of you!) has to say to those who are considering picking up the pen (or chisel) or sitting down at the computer (or typewriter) next year.
1. Don’t expect greatness. Remember that what you’re writing is a first draft. You’re carving a path through uncharted forest, and you’ll run into plenty of unexpected roots and stones that you’ll have to negotiate around. Sometimes you’ll have to double back on yourself and try a slightly different route, and we all know how frustrating that is. But the point is to keep going. Don’t worry about clearing the parts of the trail that you didn’t use - you can go back and do that once you hit December and the edge of the forest.
2. Don’t rule greatness out. Just because this is a first draft, that doesn’t mean there won’t be moments of brilliance, heartbreak, or hilarity. If even one line on a page is something that you love, that you’d keep, that you’d be proud to call your own, then you’ve achieved a victory. And I can guarantee you that there’s at least one of those in the plenitude of words you slammed together this month. If you didn’t notice it at the time, go back and read a little of what you wrote - it’s there, I promise you.
3. Everyone gets discouraged. Writing is, by its very nature, a highly personal activity. And when you hit the inevitable wall, and have no idea what your characters are doing or why, or where to go from here, it’s easy to forget that you’re not the only one. But you’re not. Even the most determined of Wrimos get mired down in the proverbial muck on occasion, so just remember that there are a lot of people out there who can sympathize.
4. Don’t be afraid to do something wacky. “Off the wall” takes on a whole new meaning when you use that wall of writer’s-block to bounce back with something entirely unexpected. (My personal favourites when I’m stuck are talking cats and tentacle-monsters.) There’s no such thing as a story too serious for bizarre diversions - call it a dream sequence and chop it out entirely when you come back to edit your creation later on. The point is that unexpected things break the tension and give you time to come up with something more appropriate to the story while you’re writing them. Think of them as placeholders, if you will. Though they’ll occasionally surprise you by being even more fun than what you’d planned to write.
5. Join the community. There are 170,000 of us around the world, my fellow Wrimos. 170,000. Some of those people probably live near you. You might already be friends, or they might just be friends you’ve yet to meet. I’ve lived in Edmonton my whole life, and some of the most awesome Edmontonians out there are people I had no idea existed until three years ago. (Or last year. Or this year. Every year is a new opportunity to meet cool people.) Encouragement makes a lot of difference, as anyone who’s seen both sides of the coin will tell you. I spent way too many years writing all by myself, sharing with only one or two people, and I fizzled out on it. When I started to write as part of a community, it kicked all that stifled creativity back into gear, and there’s no feeling in the world like it. Some of you know exactly the sort of excitement I mean. So come to events, even if they’re only virtual ones, and get to know your fellow Wrimos. You’ll not only meet some great people, some great people will get the chance to meet you.
6. Give yourself permission to dance. 50,000 words is a lot to write in a month, it’s true. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have time to have some fun in there as well. Sometimes the best thing you can do when you’re frustrated with a scene is to get up and do something else for a little while. Exercise, bake some cookies, play with your kids/pets/friends, or join in a game of laser tag with your fellow Wrimos. It helps a lot more than you might think.
Well, that’s what I’ve got. I’m already looking forward to next year and all the new things I’ll have the opportunity to learn when I get there. But I wanted to stop for a minute and say this while it was all still fresh and shiny, to try to put into words the things I’ve learned from all the Wrimos I’ve been lucky enough to meet and get to know over the past three years. So thank you all! But there’s a side of extra-special thanks to all of our awesome EdmoWrimos. I was frankly terrified of ML-ing for such a large and enthusiastic region, I’ll admit. But you guys made it a wonderful experience that I’m excited about repeating. We are such an amazing region because of you, and the way that we all inspire each other. So especially thank you.
See you all soon! :)
-- Harper Grey, Sensei of Clan Commandment, ML for Alberta::Edmonton
So. November’s over, and we’re all several thousand words richer. This year was quite the adventure for learan and I, and I hope it was for you all as well - in a good way, of course. Whether you wrote 5,000 words or 100,000 (or more! You know who you crazy folks are!), you now know a little more about your characters, yourself, and the world around you. For those of you who were joining in the fun for the very first time, congratulations! I hope you had a great time, and that we’ll see you again next year. For those who’ve been around a bit longer, keep up the good work! I hope you discovered something new and wonderful that you might not have noticed before.
In the wake of this month of frenzied madness, everyone has advice to share with their fellow Wrimos, and especially to those who are thinking of playing along next year. So here’s what a first-year ML and relative newbie to NaNo overall (three years is a drop in the pond compared to a lot of you!) has to say to those who are considering picking up the pen (or chisel) or sitting down at the computer (or typewriter) next year.
1. Don’t expect greatness. Remember that what you’re writing is a first draft. You’re carving a path through uncharted forest, and you’ll run into plenty of unexpected roots and stones that you’ll have to negotiate around. Sometimes you’ll have to double back on yourself and try a slightly different route, and we all know how frustrating that is. But the point is to keep going. Don’t worry about clearing the parts of the trail that you didn’t use - you can go back and do that once you hit December and the edge of the forest.
2. Don’t rule greatness out. Just because this is a first draft, that doesn’t mean there won’t be moments of brilliance, heartbreak, or hilarity. If even one line on a page is something that you love, that you’d keep, that you’d be proud to call your own, then you’ve achieved a victory. And I can guarantee you that there’s at least one of those in the plenitude of words you slammed together this month. If you didn’t notice it at the time, go back and read a little of what you wrote - it’s there, I promise you.
3. Everyone gets discouraged. Writing is, by its very nature, a highly personal activity. And when you hit the inevitable wall, and have no idea what your characters are doing or why, or where to go from here, it’s easy to forget that you’re not the only one. But you’re not. Even the most determined of Wrimos get mired down in the proverbial muck on occasion, so just remember that there are a lot of people out there who can sympathize.
4. Don’t be afraid to do something wacky. “Off the wall” takes on a whole new meaning when you use that wall of writer’s-block to bounce back with something entirely unexpected. (My personal favourites when I’m stuck are talking cats and tentacle-monsters.) There’s no such thing as a story too serious for bizarre diversions - call it a dream sequence and chop it out entirely when you come back to edit your creation later on. The point is that unexpected things break the tension and give you time to come up with something more appropriate to the story while you’re writing them. Think of them as placeholders, if you will. Though they’ll occasionally surprise you by being even more fun than what you’d planned to write.
5. Join the community. There are 170,000 of us around the world, my fellow Wrimos. 170,000. Some of those people probably live near you. You might already be friends, or they might just be friends you’ve yet to meet. I’ve lived in Edmonton my whole life, and some of the most awesome Edmontonians out there are people I had no idea existed until three years ago. (Or last year. Or this year. Every year is a new opportunity to meet cool people.) Encouragement makes a lot of difference, as anyone who’s seen both sides of the coin will tell you. I spent way too many years writing all by myself, sharing with only one or two people, and I fizzled out on it. When I started to write as part of a community, it kicked all that stifled creativity back into gear, and there’s no feeling in the world like it. Some of you know exactly the sort of excitement I mean. So come to events, even if they’re only virtual ones, and get to know your fellow Wrimos. You’ll not only meet some great people, some great people will get the chance to meet you.
6. Give yourself permission to dance. 50,000 words is a lot to write in a month, it’s true. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have time to have some fun in there as well. Sometimes the best thing you can do when you’re frustrated with a scene is to get up and do something else for a little while. Exercise, bake some cookies, play with your kids/pets/friends, or join in a game of laser tag with your fellow Wrimos. It helps a lot more than you might think.
Well, that’s what I’ve got. I’m already looking forward to next year and all the new things I’ll have the opportunity to learn when I get there. But I wanted to stop for a minute and say this while it was all still fresh and shiny, to try to put into words the things I’ve learned from all the Wrimos I’ve been lucky enough to meet and get to know over the past three years. So thank you all! But there’s a side of extra-special thanks to all of our awesome EdmoWrimos. I was frankly terrified of ML-ing for such a large and enthusiastic region, I’ll admit. But you guys made it a wonderful experience that I’m excited about repeating. We are such an amazing region because of you, and the way that we all inspire each other. So especially thank you.
See you all soon! :)
-- Harper Grey, Sensei of Clan Commandment, ML for Alberta::Edmonton