Saturday, November 8

NaNoWriMo Top Five

Listening to: The Flobots, "Handlebars"...again. Really like this song.

Top Five Reasons Why I Will Never Do NaNo Again

  1. After one week--seven days, yo--and 14k words...my brain, it is dead. The funeral is tomorrow. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Society for People Who Join Ridiculous Writing Endeavors.
  2. I can no longer speak coherently. I frequently say one word when I mean another. For instance, last night I tried to tell someone I was a doormat, and accidentally called myself a welcome mat.
  3. My story? I have no idea where it's going. Usually, when I get to this point, I can spend a few days away from it and let things work themselves out in my head. But noooo...I have to be doing NaNo, which requires me to force it all out as I write. I don't like this. I don't like this at all.
  4. I find myself trying to plan for NaNo in the midst of long-planned social engagements. Like, "Okay, so I'm going to Pittsburgh with Keely on Thursday...I wonder if she would mind driving at least one way, so I can write." This somewhat defeats the purpose of planning social engagements--you know, the things I do to get away from the keyboard.
  5. I am no longer capable of typing a single word without a type.* I used to be such a great typist, and such a good speller. All gone now. Thanks, NaNo!
Top Five Reasons Why I Will Be Starting Another 50,000 Words on November 1, 2009

  1. The typos? They rawk. They make me laugh. Hey, if I can get some comedic relief from something, I'm all over it. No matter how many brain cells it destroys.
  2. The more I write, the more I want to write. Not just my NaNovel, either. Blogging, journaling, even twitter. I am a fountain of words. Most of them may suck, but hey. That's the price.
  3. It's a lot less lonely than writing by myself.
  4. I have a short memory. I'll probably forget the hellishness by...oh, December 2.
  5. 14,000 words? In one week? Awesome!

*This was totally unintentional, I swear. I didn't even notice it until I finished and was reviewing what I'd written. I'm leaving it in for its awesomeness.

7 comments:

  1. Hilarious!

    I've never done NaNo myself, but I did write 65k in 6 weeks back in June and July. An amazing, insane experience.

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  2. Hilarious points, I loved your reasons not to do it again but love the reasons to do it again even better! All so true but so worth it!! Good job on your progress so far, keep it up!

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  3. Thanks guys! Yeah, it's definitely an endeavor all its own.

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  4. So are you in? Out? Can't decide?

    I wish they had thought of NaNo before I had my daughter. Now, I don't even attempt such a thing. My best writing spree was 85,000 words in about four months, when I wrote my very rough first draft of Starcaster.

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  5. I'm gonna wait and see at the end of the month. If I'm still alive, that is. If I'm not, it's pretty much moot.

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  6. 14K in a week? Awesome job. Keep up the good work, even if it's driving you a little batty. =o)

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  7. Thanks, b.e.! By Nov. 30, I fully intend to be A. Unable to speak in coherent sentences; B. Bald from pulling my hair out; C. Fingerless as a result of so much typing; or D. All of the above.

    But hey--50k? So worth it.

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If you don't feel that you are possibly on the edge of humiliating yourself, of losing control of the whole thing, then possibly what you are doing isn't very vital. If you don't feel like you are writing somewhat over your head, why do it? If you don't have some doubt of your authority to tell this story, then you are not trying to tell enough. --John Irving