Comments on: NaNoNonMo

By: walt

walt — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:10:20 +0000

Extremely patronizing and insulting? Well, so much for charitable reading…

I wasn’t projecting a thing, and I’m pretty confident of myself as a nonfiction writer. I was saying I’m not a fiction writer, and having a little fun with an idea that seems inclined to have fun with itself.

Nice little dig about self-publishing, though. So much for Cites & Insights… I stand admonished. Fortunately, I somehow did manage to get a dozen books and a few hundred columns published through regular channels.

By: joshua m. neff

joshua m. neff — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:09:20 +0000

As someone who has done NaNoWriMo and is doing it again this year, but doesn’t care about writing “publishable” fiction (and never really has) (unless you count self-publishing, in which case anything is “publishable”), I find this post to be extremely patronizing and insulting. Thanks for projecting your own writing anxieties & feelings on inadequacy on me and other NaNoWriMo participants.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:20:16 +0000

I can’t even promise myself at this point, but thanks for the suggestion/challenge, Walt.

I haven’t had much of any kind of output lately–for many reasons–but I think I need something to motivate me a bit and also to aspire to. 5000 words is nothing for me. Interesting? I’ll see what I can do ….

By: Seth Finkelstein

Seth Finkelstein — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:14:47 +0000

“See, they just werenâ€™t very good …”

Most first stories aren’t. Also, publishable fiction isn’t necessarily “good” fiction. There’s plenty of genre short stories that have mediocre characterization.

By: walt

walt — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:44:56 +0000

Great comment. It’s clear that NaNoWriMo is positive for a great many people. And it’s clear that some of us need some encouragement to get on our butts and start writing.

In case my original comment could be misread: I have nothing against fiction. I love good fiction. Any time I’m traveling (or when I go out to lunch at home), you can usually tell by the science fiction magazine or novel (not necessarily SF) I’m reading… I’m just not likely to actually create fiction–a limitation on my part, similar to the unlikelihood that I’ll create great music or films (despite my love of both).

By: Brett Bonfield

Brett Bonfield — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:13:17 +0000

I was a NaNoWriMo winner in years three and five. That is, I was one of the people who set out to write a novel, told everyone I was planning to do it, and hit save on the last day of November with a brand new 50,000-word manuscript on my hard drive. November 30, 2001 and 2003 were two of the happiest days of my life, and unquestionably the happiest that was more about me than about my wife or family or close friends. I’ve wanted to write novels since I was six, but it took me until I had reached my thirties to actually write one. There’s no way I would have done it without NaNoWriMo’s ability to mix of encouragement with an all-pervasive self-deprecating attitude that makes the overwhelming seems possible.

If anyone reading this is thinking about trying to write a novel, give NaNoWriMo a shot. It was even worth it the two years I tried to write a novel but didn’t get to 50,000 words. For one thing, it made me appreciate how hard I’d worked in the years I succeeded in reaching my goal. And it also helped me appreciate just how hard it is to take the next step of preparing a manuscript for an agent or publisher. I spent years trying to get my first NaNoWriMo novel to the point where I would want strangers to read it. It may yet get there, though I doubt it. Which, on one level, is disappointing, but on another level it really doesn’t matter. I know what it feels like to have written a novel. I know what it feels like to have my wife read it and tell me I should quit my day job to work on it. I know what it feels like to spend years editing it. For me, if I hadn’t had those experiences, if NaNoWriMo hadn’t lit a fire under me, I’d always have wondered “What if?” If you’re the same way, try NaNoWriMo. You have nothing to lose but your excuses.