My Problem With NaNo, Let Me Sho U It
So I have sorted out what my trouble is with NaNo and has been since 2005.
Well, okay, I'm not entirely sure about 2005, because a large part of that was that November 2005 was the month I met Nigel, and I became preoccupied with the beginning of a relationship and having sex on a regular basis.
But apart from that, my trouble is and has been that, after winning in 2004, I began trying to take NaNo seriously.
This is a fatal mistake.
While it is all well and good that I want to take on these big ambitious projects--the Lilith Davis Chronicles, the Pernfic, YA novels involving half-sirens and/or lesbian separatist werewolves--they are best attempted at other times and at a slower pace.
November is for silliness.
I realized I was taking NaNo far too seriously this year when tresca_cho's suggestion to add ninjas and stir seemed like a bad idea. It's NaNo! Of course I should add ninjas!
But, you see, it is the Pernfic, and I have specific goals for the Pernfic, and there are no ninjas on Pern.
I am up my own ass about it this year. That's why it isn't working.
The year I won, I padded my word count with comic relief pirates, gratuitous gay sex, and a song about rum 75% of whose lyrics were "rum". I also set the thing in a fictional world of my own devising, which saved me a lot of research, although my seamanship book was invaluable. This year I can't find my Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, which was a body blow to my writing effort, and I am trying too hard to write the thing in Anne McCaffrey's voice, which is a stupid idea in the first place. Also I am trying to write something actually serious, which never works for me. Possibly all my enormous unfinished projects need to be revamped and made more silly.
The Pernfic will be finished eventually (with added silliness and flirting). It will not happen this month. I am abandoning NaNo this year, on the grounds that I am not in the right headspace for it. Next year I'm going to come back strong with Discworld-meets-Hornblower--and maybe even a ninja or two.
Well, okay, I'm not entirely sure about 2005, because a large part of that was that November 2005 was the month I met Nigel, and I became preoccupied with the beginning of a relationship and having sex on a regular basis.
But apart from that, my trouble is and has been that, after winning in 2004, I began trying to take NaNo seriously.
This is a fatal mistake.
While it is all well and good that I want to take on these big ambitious projects--the Lilith Davis Chronicles, the Pernfic, YA novels involving half-sirens and/or lesbian separatist werewolves--they are best attempted at other times and at a slower pace.
November is for silliness.
I realized I was taking NaNo far too seriously this year when tresca_cho's suggestion to add ninjas and stir seemed like a bad idea. It's NaNo! Of course I should add ninjas!
But, you see, it is the Pernfic, and I have specific goals for the Pernfic, and there are no ninjas on Pern.
I am up my own ass about it this year. That's why it isn't working.
The year I won, I padded my word count with comic relief pirates, gratuitous gay sex, and a song about rum 75% of whose lyrics were "rum". I also set the thing in a fictional world of my own devising, which saved me a lot of research, although my seamanship book was invaluable. This year I can't find my Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, which was a body blow to my writing effort, and I am trying too hard to write the thing in Anne McCaffrey's voice, which is a stupid idea in the first place. Also I am trying to write something actually serious, which never works for me. Possibly all my enormous unfinished projects need to be revamped and made more silly.
The Pernfic will be finished eventually (with added silliness and flirting). It will not happen this month. I am abandoning NaNo this year, on the grounds that I am not in the right headspace for it. Next year I'm going to come back strong with Discworld-meets-Hornblower--and maybe even a ninja or two.