Anyone doing NaNoWriMo this year?

[Javakoala]

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is in full swing. If you have no idea what this is, it is an event every November in which people sign up to write a novel at least 50,000 words in length in 30 days.

I've signed up for a few years but I usually manage about 2000 words and tank. This year, I figured I'd write what I know, which is stupid, cliched horror. And I'm doing good so far, but it really helps that work has been painfully slow and I have tons of time to kill. I won't go into detail but this is the information on my Novel Info page:


Synopsis: Baby, Imma Dig You <not final>

Horrible things happen. Geeks are beaten. Riot grrls riot. Living dead girls party. Police are confused. Satanists rejoice. Just another day in small town America.


So, light a candle for me and say a prayer. There's still 24 more days to go.

Anyone else torturing themselves with this event?

[SPazzo]

Nope, I've never even heard of it.  I usually enter the 3-day novel contest that runs over the labour day weekend, though.

[Psycho Circus]

I write waaay too much already! 

[Wortcov]

I do, only got to just over 300 words so far.

[Javakoala]

I write waaay too much already! 

And yet you have time to look so fashionable. I envy you, you b***h.   

[Mofo Rising]

Kind of reminds me of the 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge.

The challenge is to write and draw a 24 page comic book in 24 hours. Like the NaNoWriMo, the goal is less perfectionism than just doing the work and getting it out there.

While these events have a certain game quality to them, I think they are pretty valuable exercises, especially if you are serious about writing. There is of course a very strong value in making your writing the best it can be, but there is also not little to be said about just writing. Write and then write some more.

Basically, if you want to be good at something, do it every day.

A possibly apocryphal story, noted chess weirdo Bobbie Fischer was in a group of people who were making small talk. At some point in the conversation Fischer said, "Yes, but what has this to do with chess?"

Fischer is the very model of an extremist, but he has a point. These are exercises that force you to do what you should already be doing.

Note: I'm not a serious writer, but it still follows for what I do, chemistry.