Ah, Kevin Costner ... we all learn the Field of Dreams lesson one way or another. For me, it was about writing when I don't feel like writing. I've never been a write-every-day kind of person, preferring to let my ideas percolate (a.k.a. the pre-writing stage) before pouring them out in a frenzied, caffeinated rush of words. It works, but it wasn't going to work for 50,000 words in four weeks. So, I went back to the ol' butt-in-chair method, and most days, it paid off. Some days better than others, but that will always be the nature of the creative beast.
Worrying that it sucks is part of the process ... but so is getting over that.
I was on fire for the first two weeks, hammering out words every day, even getting ahead of schedule. Then stuff happened, like being extra busy at work and realizing that I actually need sleep to function now that I'm no longer in college. And that blip in productivity opened the door for Doubt: What if my plot makes no sense? What if no one cares about my characters? What if it sucks? What if I suck?
But I had a goal this month, and time was ticking. Since I'd told too many people about about NaNoWriMo to just give up, that left only one option: Tell Doubt to shut #%&* up, then keep writing. Doubt doesn't shut up easily, but now it's whimpering in the corner, telling me my manuscript might suck, but mostly drowned out by the I-Have-a-First-Draft party and the Almost-Anything-is-Possible-in-Editing after party. Whether you're writing your draft in a month, a year or a decade, you only get to those parties (and the even more exciting ones that come when the book is really done) once Doubt is kicked to the backseat.
There are kittens for everything.
Maybe you've heard of Write or Die? It's a website (now also an app) that works a bit like a shock collar -- you stop working and you get zapped, the virtual voltage ranging from a gentle pop-up reminder, to your writing unwriting itself. It's an entertaining concept, but as a dog trainer, I've always been a positive reinforcement kind of gal. So now I give you Written? Kitten! where you get cute kitten pictures when you meet your word goal. Which only goes to prove the undisputed law of the internet: Cats rule the web.
So, am I a NaNoWriMo die-hard now? Yes and no. Writing a book is an accomplishment, whether it gets published or gets shoved into the bottom of the bottomest drawer in your house. Really, a lot more people talk about writing than actually do it. So I love that there's a month where so many people are all about writing.
But the word frenzy of NaNoWriMo is not a process that will always work for everyone, even for a first draft. I happened to be in the right place with the right book this November. I might not be next year.
And there's the bigger picture: NaNoWriMo is kind of like crash dieting. It may get the job done if you're trying to fit into a bridesmaid dress, but it's not a lifestyle. You can also lose weight eating nothing but Ben & Jerry's but that doesn't mean you'll be healthy, just like this writing thing is about more than just word count. If your goal is to get published, you need to keep your WriMo momentum going and hop on the editing treadmill come December.
Tonight, I'm eating my celebratory 50,000 word cake. Tomorrow, it's back to salads and revisions.
