Meghan ([info]megmccarron) wrote,
@ 2005-11-02 12:00:00
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Three Razors to deal with these days: Occum’s, the scooter, and the slim phone.
NaNoWriMo annoys me for reasons I can't totally explain, and I suspect has something to do with snobbery, as much as it has something to with my (I think) more valid annoyance with the "No Plot? No Problem!" dictum and the Mo's popularization of wordcount bars. I can write 3,000 words of crap no problem. But then I have to delete them all. Because I had no plot. And that was a problem.

Anyway, but I've decided that NaNoWriMo has one very excellent use: giving post-college types something creative and structured and awesome to do that they definitely didn't have time for in college. In short: I like Dave's novel. And am willing to forgive NaNoWriMo, as it is why he is writing it.

I've been thinking, while reading other Wesleyan blogs that mine is hopelessly geeky. But then again, it is mostly about my life and/or science fiction. And it is an Live Journal. I don't know why I'm surprised.

The traffic seems to be getting worse. It also seems to be more like a part of LA's weather than anything else. Good time to get out of town, and remember what it's like to be cold, instead of simply moving at 15 mph at 8AM.

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[info]wayiseeitbarry
2005-11-02 08:28 pm UTC (link)
omygodthisissoembarrasing...
I agree with you about NaNoWriMo, and I have the overwhelming urge to gut everything I've written, but I press on. It's a thing to do instead of socializing while you're underemployed though.
There are some developments involving cell phones in today's bits...

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[info]megmccarron
2005-11-02 08:30 pm UTC (link)
Dave! I said I liked it! That means you should KEEP WRITING IT! You are exempt from NaNoWriMo lameness! Don't worry about it, etc.

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[info]wayiseeitbarry
2005-11-02 09:38 pm UTC (link)
thanks... I'm skittish is all.

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[info]legerdemain
2005-11-02 09:34 pm UTC (link)
I don't know that it would be criminally overstating matters to say you could well be the Robert Ashley of the novel. I don't know that it wouldn't, either, but I'm gonna put it out there.

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[info]jennreese
2005-11-02 09:42 pm UTC (link)
I have no problem with NaNo. I've never participated (being a very slow writer), but I'm glad it exists and I'm glad people do it.

In some ways, it's just a tool. For some people, it kick-starts their creative energies. It helps others get past their internal critics. It helps some get past word count barriers. It offers a community of supporters, free of charge. It offers a deadline, milestones, a visual representation of progress, a reward. For some people it's just damn fun. It's like a marathon or a peace march. It's a great spectacle, and a quiet one, and silly thing, and an important one.

Are the novels and words produced by NaNo good ones? I don't really care. So much of life is the journey, not the destination, and this seems like a really good ride. A creative ride. I think it's nifty.

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[info]megmccarron
2005-11-02 10:04 pm UTC (link)
I think it annoys me b/c on a personal level I'm thinking, oh sweet christ, that is the number one guarunteed way for me to produce my worst writing possible. This is obviously not true for everyone. And terrible writing, perhaps better than no writing. It remains to be determined.

I think also as someone who writes just as much out of compulsion as out of any sort of quest for art, I get very crumudgeony about the whole 'writing is good for you!' 'writing is an accomplishment!' pep. I mean, writing's great. But do writers strike you as the most happy, fulfilled lot of people? Do you really know what you're getting into?

At the same point, all I seem to be doing lately is encouraging my friends to write more, and how great it would be for them, and how I want to read their stuff. So mostly this is just me being irrational and grumpy.

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It's always nagged at me too.
[info]goblinmerc
2005-11-02 11:31 pm UTC (link)
Not that I'm losing sleep over it. But this bothers me from their FAQ:
__
Can anyone participate in NaNoWriMo?
No. People looking to write classy, complex novels should not participate. People who take their writing very seriously should also go elsewhere. Everyone else, though, is warmly welcomed.

_
But earlier they talk about "art for art's sake". So which is it?

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Re: It's always nagged at me too.
(Anonymous)
2005-11-15 01:42 am UTC (link)
Oh, meh. The FAQ is almost entirely tongue-in-cheek and shouldn't be taken that seriously. For writers who do function that way, I'd say that a classy, complex novel (at least, the first draft thereof) is a totally doable NaNoWriMo project.

All my novel-length pieces of fiction were first drafted during NaNoWriMo. All of them are intended to be revised up to publishable quality. One of them has already been submitted for publication. What I wonder is, without NaNoWriMo providing the kick-in-the-ass, how long would it have taken me to even write ONE novel, let alone four?

Whether you get crap or a viable rough draft really depends on with what spirit you go into it, I think. I always go in with the latter in mind, and what others do with their November doesn't bother me a bit. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it isn't my place to be bothered by what others do with their November.

Many thanks to our bloggy hostess who has graciously presented her thoughts as an invitation to further comment, rather than as a sermon. NaNoWriMo is a topic that brings out the dogmatic side of some people, so, er, thanks for not going in that direction.
--
Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little (not an LJ user, sorry)

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[info]joannemerriam
2005-11-03 01:19 pm UTC (link)
I am doing my own adapted version of NaNoWriMo this month, which resembles NaNoWriMo only in that it's November and I'm writing. I'm having to battle the tendency to obsess about word counts (if I started with 10,000 words and I now have 9,000, that's still progress) and NNWM is not helping.

I can see where it could be useful to people who just need a kickstart. I'm not against it. It's just not a productive way for me to work.

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