So, when I think of trying to crank out 50,000 words in a single month, I wonder why on Earth I would ever attempt such a thing. It cannot be done (maybe if I were still unemployed - thankfully that's not the case). I would just be setting myself up for failure and why would I do that to myself? (I am merciless when I don't meet the goals I set for myself.)
Considering how much I hate the first draft of that novel it took me a year to write, I can only imagine the crap I can pull out of my butt in a single month. The amount of re-writing required would be enormous and, again, I don't know why I would want to do that to myself.
That being said I do kind of want to participate, if only because half the people I follow online are writers and they're all getting geared up for this. So here's the deal. I currently have two novels going (sort of). One is in the final editing stages, while the other is in the research stages. So, in the spirit of National Novel Writing Month, I will commit to spending at least one hour per day working on one of these stories. As far as a final goal for the month, I want to be finished with the research book I'm currently using and move onto a new one. I have been working through this book for much too long and, if nothing else, I can use this month to motivate myself to finish it and move on. As far as the novel that is currently in the editing stages, it's a one-chapter-at-a-time deal with an online writing circle, so there's no way that's going to be done by the end of the month.
That's all for me folks! See you in a month!
I don't think the point is to expect you'll pull out a finished novel in a month. I think the point is just to write, and keep writing, and to do it without second guessing yourself, backtracking, or self-editing (plenty of time to do that in December). 50,000 words in a month is doable, I have friends who do it every year. Are they good words? It doesn't matter. NaNoWriMo is about writing 50,000 words just to see that you can, so that the next 50,000 words you've got are possible.
ReplyDeleteMath says if you type 50WPM (a fairly conservative number, I think), that's only about 16-17 hours of writing. Assuming, y'know, that the words come out of your noggin as fast as you type. I suspect if I did it every few pages would just be "BUTTSBUTTSBUTTS" while I tried to come up with actual words. Good luck!
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