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NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

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Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#31

Post by starkparker »

aoanla wrote: post #7

I'm glad that NaNoWriMo continues to work for people, but I think it's important to note that it doesn't work for everyone - and it's ok if it doesn't work for you. I attempted it twice in consecutive years about a decade and a half ago, and not only failed to complete anything, but was also driven into a worse depression because of it. I had to avoid people talking about it in November for years afterwards or I'd st…

It being November is especially hard on US people with any kids or large active families, dealing with big Thanksgiving plans.

No matter how well you plan, you really only get two meaningful weeks before the wall hits you. "Just set a reasonable word count to hit every day!" Then each day you miss days because your side dish plans went sideways or your flights get rescheduled, making the goal steeper every other day.

"Use your travel time to write more!" Almost impossible with young kids without sticking a spouse or relative with watching them, and the resentment of even asking if you can ignore kids to write lasts a hell of a lot longer than November.

"You can catch up after Thanksgiving!" Not after anti-vax Aunt J gives your family the gift of some great new viral disease that hits in the last week.

There are writing sprints in other months that never seem to have the community of NaNo, and all your single or childless writer friends burn it all out during NaNo. The community is a big part of what makes it fun, otherwise it's just an arbitrary chore goal.

Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#32

Post by edent »

bowsamic wrote: post #23
cfr2023 wrote: post #18

NaNoWriMo, though a net positive force in the world, strikes me as a creative exercise for non-creatives. Truly not a bad thing, no offense intended. Trying to create regularly will help you become more creative. However, if you're already someone that is able to maintain a writing schedule and hit daily targets of hundreds of words, and can see your dream works emerge through the simple act of scheduling... I'm gent…

The problem is that most people just fundamentally don't want to make art. NaNoWriMo is in many ways just an excuse to force themselves to do so "because they know they should".

For me, it was not because I "should" but because I wanted to see if I could.

Was it actually possible for me to write ~1,600 words every day and have them form a coherent story?

I wasn't aiming for great art. I was following the start-up credo of "If you’re not embarrassed by the first version, you’ve launched too late."

Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#33

Post by em-bee »

bowsamic wrote: post #21
aoanla wrote: post #7

I'm glad that NaNoWriMo continues to work for people, but I think it's important to note that it doesn't work for everyone - and it's ok if it doesn't work for you. I attempted it twice in consecutive years about a decade and a half ago, and not only failed to complete anything, but was also driven into a worse depression because of it. I had to avoid people talking about it in November for years afterwards or I'd st…

Writing this much seems to take significant mental energy, so if you are already prone to depression you need to be extremely prepared. It's also true depending on your intentions for all creative things, particularly if you have low self confidence. For example you might feel bad about yourself because you don't do enough art so you enter some kind of art competition, but then you immediately feel shitty about yours…

not sure if this fits here, but just today the thought occurred to me that depression may be related to expectations i have of myself but also what others expect of me. by avoiding pressure from others and not expecting to much myself but without considering that a failure, or by not blaming myself if things don't work out, in other words, avoiding things that would lower my self confidence, may be a way to avoid depression.

i have never tried NaNoWriMo, but if i did, i'd look at my situation and realize that i would not get much done, but for me that would not be a failure, because i wouldn't even go in with the expectation that i should be able to change that. on other words, i would not even have the hope that it would go well. instead it would be the realization that without participating i'd write nothing. by participating i'd write something, and so i may consider that a (small) success.

Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#34

Post by drakonka »

I am not participating in it exactly, but I'm finishing up my next novel draft right now and it is still really satisfying to work alongside all the NaNo-ers. Coincidentally this can also be a nice time to get that writing or editing software you might be interested in, since many of them run sales around NaNoWriMo.

Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#35

Post by mkerrigan »

It's interesting to read the criticisms of NaNoWriMo because they don't really change. I have completed it for 15 years in a row, then on year 16 I sort of hit a wall and this year I am deliberately not doing it. But my friend and I have been doing it since high school. The point is usually not about doing it to become published but rather to have fun. I'm not sure if I would have been able to do it without going to some of the in-person write-ins. I even know someone who met their husband at a in-person write-in.

Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#37

Post by semanticist »

octokatt wrote: post #22
ActionHank wrote: post #10

Do they have a policy on AI, I feel like they are not prepared for the coming flood.

They do: https://nanowrimo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/191758964889... I remember there being a group out there that had the same competition but trying to tweak a good LLM to write a novel in a month, but I couldn't find it again and it was before the ChatGPT heyday.

You might be thinking of NaNoGenMo: https://nanogenmo.github.io

Which I think largely pre-dates the availability of LLMs and is/was more aimed at traditional procedural generation techniques, although I imagine LLMs get used a lot these days.

Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#38

Post by tunesmith »

I'm in a small writing club and all four of us are trying it. I successfully finished it two years ago with a series of ten interlocking short stories that (surprise!) tell a complete story as a novel by the end.

One thing I notice is that a lot of people use it as a project to just get words out, regardless of quality. They talk about vomit-drafts, and/or just sitting down to write to see where it takes them, to see what the characters will do. I don't think that mindset is very compatible with story forms that requires mystery or twists or foreshadowing. My story this month has that so it's been difficult. I'm at 11,000 words now and we're late enough in the month that it's telling me I have to write more than 2,000 words/day to finish. Soon I'll be past the point of no return, where it will be practically impossible to catch up; I think the most I've ever written in a day is 5,000 words.

Ah well, it was still good motivation, and I'm signed on enough to my concept that I'll probably finish it even if I'm not done on 11/30.

Re: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

#39

Post by eludwig »

Writing (and illustrating) an amateur novel is the most creative fun I've ever had. Highly recommended if you have a mind to try. (trained artist, but software developer by day)

I wrote one[1] about 5 years ago. It's amateur and too long, but it's my great American novel, for better or worse! It actually took 4 years, but so much fun! The most annoying part was getting it into a viable ePub. I ended up using Sigil, as it was the easiest to use at the time.

[1] https://darladarling.com (free ePub)

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