Once more unto the breach, or, NaNo NaNo
Back in 2002, I did the National Novel Writing Month contest, where you set a goal of writing a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. I succeeded, after trying it in 2001 and failing, and ended up with something around 50,002 words. (Seriously, as soon as I saw 50K in sight, I thought, "Let's just wrap up this sucker.") I operated on a principle shared by my friend DJ: "Let it suck." And truly, most of it sucked. But, after seven years and several rewrites and a workshop, it became a 7,000-word story that didn't suck. So, even though, I'm still working on the third draft of the first novel, I've decided to do it again.
Because I have another idea.
Actually, I have two ideas. And as we were running errands this afternoon, it occurred to me that combining the two ideas will help solve problems in each of them. Or it might just make a big old confusing pile of narrative junk, but that's the thing I like about NaNoWriMo. The focus is all about getting it on the page. It may be a mess when it lands there, but that's when you sift through it to see if you came up with anything worth keeping.
So, is anyone else doing it?
About Jeffrey
Jeffrey Ricker is a writer, editor, and graphic designer. His first novel, Detours, is available from Bold Strokes Books. His writing has appeared in the literary magazine Collective Fallout and the anthologies Paws and Reflect, Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction...
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Jeffrey
I always like the way you tackle your writing with such vigour, tenacity and humour.
The ability to multi-task in the way you describe is essential to the serious writer and, I suspect, it's what keeps us sane. (And that's not debatable!) It enables us to resolve life issues for which the creative piece is only a kind of cipher.
Good luck with this year's Nano!
Thanks, Rosy!
I think the multitasking aspect is as crucial as the ability to focus. Devote yourself wholeheartedly to the piece at hand, and when it's no longer working for you, shift gears and work on a different project. I intend to keep working on the third draft of the first novel while I'm working on the new one, and alternate between them depending on which one is driving me crazy. I also have a short story in early stages to further keep things lively.
I agree about the creative piece as cipher for life issues. I've become more and more conscious of that dynamic at work in my writing over the past couple years, and have come to embrace it.