NaNoWriMo - The (Almost) Halfway Point

Perhaps against my better judgment, I am participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. As I might have guessed when I signed up, I am more than 50% behind pace to complete the 50,000 words in my latest novel, REGRETS ONLY. With each day that passes, it becomes less and less likely that I will catch up by November 30. The folks at NaNoWriMo even provide a helpful graph so I can visually see my meager little word counts straining to keep up with the 1,667 per day line.

It's hard work, it's frustrating, and it's almost ridiculous given the busy, sleep-deprived state of my life right now. And it's exactly what I thought would happen.

So why bother?

One thing I have learned about myself over the years is that I work better with (a) structure and (b) dramatic goals. The combination of adrenalin and a very tall measuring stick seems to work well for me as a motivator. At the beginning of the writing process, motivation is the most important tool. At this stage of the process, motivation trumps talent and experience by a long shot. It doesn't matter what an awesome writer I am unless I write.

Lots of people want to write a book - whether it's a novel like mine, a self-help book, a kids' book, cookbook, whatever... In my experience, many people are held back by the idea that they have to be "ready" before they start writing. If they can't envision the final product perfectly, or can't figure out where they would get the thousands of hours required to complete the project, they don't start.

Does it take thousands of hours to write a novel? Well, yes. But it only takes one to get started. Then you find another hour somewhere and keep going. The luxury of many consecutive, uninterrupted hours that can be dedicated to writing is a rare gift. More often, people write books by stringing together lunch breaks, jotting down notes while holding a sleeping baby (I happen to be holding a sleeping baby right now, in fact), and tuning out the background noise on the bus.

To make that kind of schedule work, to dedicate yourself to filling spare moments with words, means you have to leave perfectionism and self-criticism at the door. Otherwise, you'll get bogged down and self-destruct before you even get started. That's why the quantity-over-quality endeavors like NaNoWriMo are so useful. Don't edit. Don't critique. Just write.

I've been amazed, even with my paltry 9500 words, how Suzanne's story and the characters who inhabit it are evolving and moving differently than I expected, simply because I've allowed them the freedom to do so. And I'm going to keep at it, even if I don't make the 50K goal, even if I have to go back and rewrite every word that hits the page in November. Because everything starts somewhere.

In the meantime, cheers to my fellow NaNoWriMo writers, and to everyone following a dream during life's stolen moments.