I Do Not Get NaNoWriMo

[inverarity]

I'm feeling curmudgeonly. (Probably why I've been having a harder time lately biting my tongue. I need a little more zen so I can go back to posting nothing that's not related to writing.)

Okay, so I'm going to be curmudgeonly about writing.

It's that time of the year again... every freaking LJ community and message board on the Internet is about to be filled with hysterical ranting about sleep deprivation and word counts and runaway plot bunnies and idiotic squeeing over NaNoWriMo.

Someone explain to me what the appeal is of churning out 50K words of crap in a month?

Sorry if I am harshing your squee, for those of you who are participating in NaNoWriMo, but (1) 50K words isn't all that much, and (2) "quantity not quality" is a phrase that should never be used with regard to writing. I've seen people proudly talking about how they're inflating their word counts with tricks reminiscent of a high school freshman trying to pad two paragraphs about the American Revolution into a 10-page essay the night before it's due.

Umm, not that I ever did that or anything...

Comments

[mudbloodproud.livejournal.com]

I did this last year, and while I can say probably the last 10,000 words from my sleep deprived brain ended up being deleted when I turned to revision, the ultimate goal is to have a novel at least half way written if not finished by the end of the month.

Personally, I am now in revisions of what I wrote last year with only about 15,000 to 25,000 more words to go before I have a sellable novel out of my NaNo story.

It is fun, plain and simple. For those who take it seriously and write according to the guidelines and honestly, it can be a very rewarding month. I know I felt very accomplished on December 1st knowing I completed my goal.

Now, to get that goal published. Soon...

[ebilgatoloco.livejournal.com]

I tried it a couple of years ago. I can't remember. I never get past 1000 words because the pressure is just too much. Granted, it's all on myself but still.

I know that some fanfic writers [from teh H/D variety] use it to finish their fics so that's another way to think of it, I suppose.

And sure you didn't. >.>

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Thank God we agree on something. I am actually quite a fast writer once I get going, and I could in theory manage to produce that much, but why set that as a goal?

[hermoinejean7.livejournal.com]

Well. From my disastrous NaNo experience last year(in which I actually managed to get through 50000 words of utter crap, while ruining my wrist and causing great(probably irreparable) damage to my mental facilities), I found that people do the NaNo because it's fun to get together and participate in Write-a-thons. I can probably see where you're coming from, but seriously, we're speaking about tons of people who have just procrastinated for a really long time; perhaps they get motivated by the fact that there are dozens of other people writing crap(or really good novels, you never know) along with them. Also, it's an opportunity to meet tons of other writers- I know I met a few really awesome people last year when I joined AIM write-a-thons. I think I enjoyed the experience(and the fact that I could gloat over my typing skills). I don't think I'll be doing it again(because I realised last year that it took me quite a lot of strength to force myself to not edit and just write, and I don't think it's possible for me to do that again), but I do think it has a certain appeal.

=)

[spiderpig12.livejournal.com]

Hi. New here, but I've been lurking for information about AQatDR.

NaNoWriMo is not for you. NaNoWriMo is for those people who keep saying "One day, I'd like to write a novel." but never get around to it. It's for the people who can't write more than a page because their Inner Editor tells them that it's crap and no matter what they do, it can't be improved. Of course, some people do it for the bragging rights.

NaNoWriMo is the reason I'm finally able to write without the crippling insecurity. It's also great fun.

I see why you don't understand it. You've already written 2 novels with a third on the way. But I've never managed more than 12 pages of fiction before NaNoWriMo.

And one last thing: By the end of the month, you haven't written 50000 words of crap. Maybe 45000, but you find little gems in there. You surprise yourself.