Between the solemn tone of All Saints/All Souls and the passing of Brittany Maynard, the past few days have called forth some deep responses. Not to distract from these serious themes, but perhaps in the spirit of ars longa, vita brevis, I note that National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) is now underway. I’d like to invite a discussion, dear reader: are you, or have you in the past, written a November novel? What was the experience like for you? Grab a cup of tea and let’s talk it over in the comments while we avoid making our daily word count together. When you’re almost ready to buckle down again, read Dave Eggers’ 2010 pep talk over at the NaNoWriMo site (strong language alert):
Knowing there are thousands of others out there trying to do the same, who are using this ridiculous deadline as cattle-prod and shame deterrent, means [redacted strong language], you better do it now because you know how to write, and you have fingers, and you have this one life, and during this one life, you should put your words down, and make your voice heard, and then let others hear your voice.
Then get to work. Like I’m going to do, after I fold this [redacted strong language] laundry.
[image: “A Girl Writing; The Pet Goldfinch,” Henriette Browne, 1870-74]
Rosemary says
Oh, I used to participate every year! It was glorious. The three years I won were especially fun (and I learned that 50,000 words does not a novel make!) I haven’t done NaNoWriMo for the past five or six years though. I considered it this year but there was too much going on at the beginning of the month to get a good start … perhaps I’ll still jump on the train a bit belatedly. 🙂
Karen Ullo says
I’m a tortoise, not a hare. NaNoWriMo scares me. But my friend wrote this http://superstitionreview.asu.edu/blog/2013/11/02/guest-blog-post-t-a-noonan-3-2964/ about her experience.
Bernardo says
I’ve thought about doing it as a “cheater,” using it as a spur to finish my memoir. But then I look at how much I struggle to just keep up with what I have to do as it is, and I despair about the word count. Every day I contemplate it, but haven’t dared yet. Are you doing it for the novel you’ve shown me before? I *very* much want that work finished. It’s going to be an amazing book.
Katy says
Berni, yes, it’s my goal to finish that novel this month once and for all! It’s like the fig tree in the parable: if it isn’t going to bear any fruit, it’s time to cut it down; why should it exhaust the soil, etc. Thanks for the kind words about it.
Rosemary and Karen, thanks for sharing! If you do jump in, I hope it goes well. 🙂
Brendan Hodge says
I did NaNoWriMo once. I hit the 50k word goal but the novel itself wasn’t done. I wrapped up the first draft over the course of the following month.
I found that it was a helpful spur to writing, and that it’s possible to write relatively well at that speed if you’ve thought about it a bit first. What I found especially helpful but as a discipline for quality and accountability, and also as a way of getting feedback, was publishing the NaNoWriMo as a serialized novel online as I went along. I did this once:
http://darwincatholic.blogspot.com/2012/09/if-you-can-get-it-finished-novel-table.html
And now I’m sort of doing it again:
http://www.thegreatwaranovel.com/
My wife (and co-blogger) has done it twice:
http://darwincatholic.blogspot.com/2011/12/profiles-in-string-whole-enchilada.html
http://darwincatholic.blogspot.com/2014/08/stillwater-index.html
All four dealing with Catholic themes to one extent or another.
Amanda Lauer says
I am doing NaNoWriMo this year. The impetus for me to do this was the release of my first novel, A World Such as Heaven Intended, through Full Quiver Publishing last month. One of the first people who purchased the book sent me an e-mail asking when the sequel was coming out. Considering it took six years for this book to see the light of day, that question struck fear into my heart! So I decided to start another novel, however, this one will be a YA story set in the 1970s that deals with bullying. The story is somewhat autobiographical so it’s much easier to write than historic fiction which requires a good deal of research. My publisher has already expressed interest in looking at it, so as difficult as it will be to fit one more thing onto my plate this month, this is a priority. Once the creative juices are flowing I intend to start book number two in my Civil War trilogy.
LarryD says
I’m participating this year for the fourth time, after a one year absence. I’ve written using both the Outline/Plan method and the Pantsing method (writing by the seat of one’s pants). This year is a combination of the two. I just passed 10,000 words today, so my pace is okay, not great. Have to pick up the pace – which I can do, as I’ve done it in the past.
What’s interesting to me is that as of late I’ve been focusing on short stories and novellas. Getting into ‘novel mode’ is a little bit of a challenge – filling out the story without it being unnecessary padding. Challenging, but fun!
Lisa Nicholas says
I’m using NaNoWriMo this year to power me through (the first 50K words of) draft 4 of my first novel, a futuristic adventure of Catholics in space, to be the first of a series. I first signed up for NaNoWriMo two years ago, when I was in the process of conceiving this novel, but wrote nothing that month, other than some notes (character files, future history, and the like). A couple of NaNoWriMo camps, spring and summer, helped me get through earlier drafts. I used to hate deadline pressure, but now I find the NaNoWriMo challenges invaluable to keep me going, through a process which has proven much lengthier than I anticipated. With a little luck, and a lot of diligence, my WIP should be ready for publication by Easter, and that will be thanks, in part, to NaNoWriMo.
Carlos Carrasco says
I’m participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time this year, writing a Catholic sci-fi/dystopian tale tentatively entitled “The Crucible.” . I’m at 12k words so far and it’s feeling half way done. I may have a novella on my hands.
Any other writer posting their work to amazon’s Wite-On?