Thinky Thoughts on NaNo

[lorelaisquared]

I wrote this as a response to earlgreytea68's reflection on NaNo and realized that I should post it here as well...

Comments

[rumpelsnorcack]

Cue long comment on my experiences, hehe.

I think it's fascinating how people see the NaNo experience. For me, I remember my first one and the sheer joy I felt at being allowed to write every day. I didn't have to feel guilty about sitting down to the computer and ignoring the hundreds of other things I 'should' be doing. Washing not folded? It can wait, because I have to write. Lawn not mowed? Leave it -- it's time to write.

The difference, maybe, was that I had hardly written at all prior to that first NaNo. The characters I wrote had been living in my head for over a year just waiting to get out and it was sheer brilliance to put them on the page. Even though I was behind for almost the whole month and thought I wouldn't finish it, I loved the whole thing.

What I got from that experience was the knowledge that I loved to write and that I could happily write every day for the rest of my life. Did I get words in every day? No. But I didn't feel the need to, because I knew that on average I could write that sort of volume and still enjoy it. I also learned that being able to talk to other people about writing while I did it was heaps of fun.

Also, I discovered for me (last year when I changed my approach to NaNo) that writing fanfic for NaNo, while I love it, doesn't give me the amount of love I get when I do an original. Spending such an intense month with my own characters is so much more fun than spending it with someone else's.

I also edit as I write. I found what worked for me in my first year of NaNo was to make my 'reward' for finishing my word count for the day be to edit what I'd done. I always edit longer in a first pass so it always gave me several hundred more words. That works for me, and while it always needs more work afterwards, my writing always does anyway.

It's obviously such an individual thing how we each write. I love NaNo. I came very close to not doing it this year because I have so much else I have to do, but as November approached I got miserable at the idea of not doing it. And as anxious as I was that I had no idea what I was going to write as I went into the month (I had 3 different ideas all clamouring to be 'the one') and that I hadn't had time to prepare for it in any meaningful way, I still found this year's to be one of the best as far as enjoyment goes. Hooray for individuality, I say! It's so interesting to see everyone's reactions to the NaNo (and other writing) processes.