The Silence of The Keys

Good advice. (Photo credit: rightee)

Now that NaNoWriMo has ground to a halt—congratulations to those who finished, better luck next year to those who didn’t, and how about that local sports team to those who gave the whole damn thing a miss—keyboards everywhere are going still. Pens remain capped. Cliffhanger scenes continue to hang and villains go unpunished.

That’s because, all across the country and the continent and the globe, people have stopped writing.

This is the sad truth of NaNo, even for ‘winners’. A lot of people hit that 50,000 word mark and call it a day. Or a month, or whatever. Whether or not the story is finished. And that’s fine if all you wanted to do was hit the space bar 50,000 times. Hell, build up your finger strength and you could probably knock that out in a day.*

“Oh, but I’ll come back to it,” you say. “Maybe after the holidays. Or next year. Or in the spring.” And you think that when you come back, you’ll be able to fix the huge mess that this story is before continuing on to the end. You know. When you get around to it. But you’ll totally finish it. You swear.

I can smell the lies on you.

Half a story is no damn use to anyone. It’s like starting to cook a meal, getting all the ingredients together, getting some of them in the pot, and then turning off the stove and walking away. “Oh, I started a meal once. But, you know, stuff happened and I never finished it. But I’ll go back to it one day, I swear.”

You will not. Because, much like the aborted attempt at cooking, by the time you get around to lifting the lid, the story will have decayed. You’ll be lucky if there aren’t rats in there big enough to eat your face. You’ll take one look at that mess and give up. Again. Because you’ve lost the desire. It’s not as important any more.

Finish what you start. If it’s a mess, let it be a mess until it’s done. Then you can fix it, or look upon it as a learning experience, or do what you will.

But if your story is not yet finished, then neither are you.

*After saying this, I had to do a little experiment to see if it was true. Assume four keystrokes per second (my average) times 60 seconds. 240 strikes per minute. 50,000 divided by 240 is 208.3332 minutes. Divided by 60 minutes is 3.47222 hours. See? Easy.

4 Reasons To Do NaNoWriMo

Monkeys and vodka: essential creative equipment. (Photo credit: roberthuffstutter)

Welcome back. The debate, as continued from Wednesday, is this: NaNoWriMo—do it or skip it? Wednesday’s post was Four Reasons You Should Skip It, but let it never be said I didn’t give you all the facts. So here’s the sequel: Four Reasons You Should Do NaNoWriMo.

1. You never finish anything. Do you have a hard drive filled with half-completed manuscripts? Do all your novels fall stillborn from your word processor, trailing chapters and half-realized character abortions? Do you obsessively edit and re-edit the first few chapters, waiting to get them perfect before moving on? Then NaNo can help. It teaches you to let go of unattainable perfection and work at getting to know her way-more-approachable sister: completion. You can always go back and edit later. Perfection can wait. Completion? Not so much.

2. You get discouraged during long projects. I’m not always a group person*, preferring a Fortress of Solitude, but if you get ground down by the slog, a group can pick you up. When I was learning to run, I joined a local group of beginner runners for a once-a-week jog. It kept me training and it provided encouragement. Your local NaNo groups can work the same way. Whether you meet in meat-space or on the forums, having other people who are going through the exact same shit you are can provide a much-needed boost just when you need it. Just remember to return the favour when someone else stumbles.

3. You want to learn daily dedication or the weekend marathon: The basic maintenance word count to complete NaNo is 1,667 words per day. That will get you there in thirty days without time off. You ever wanted to develop a habit of writing every single day? This is a great way to try the training wheels of accountability without anything actually riding on it, like a pay cheque. Or, alternatively, maybe you’d like to try writing only on the weekends. That means you’ll have to hit 6,250 words per day. Want to find out if you’ve got the guts for that kind of marathon session? Welcome to NaNo. I usually aim for 3,000 words a day, five days a week, and finish early. But I hammered out that schedule by doing NaNo for a couple of years and tinkering with different routines. This one works, so it stuck. November could be a great time for you to try a new writing routine.

4. You want to know what’s it’s like to be a coked-out monkey in the zone. The short time frame and mandatory word count mean that you have to focus for that month. I’m not going to lie, you may neglect some things. Your hobbies. Your family. Your attention to daily hygiene. But the intensity of doing something with that kind of single-minded focus is incredible. All my best work has come from very short, very intense bursts, where I was so deeply immersed in what I was writing that there was no room for other ideas. Fuck you, Siren, I’m totally committed to this word marriage. Last year’s NaNo novel was pretty goddamn good. I got so into it that it ended up being over 90,000 goddamn words. In thirty days. Admittedly, I drank so much coffee I may have had a small heart attack and not noticed. But, still: worth it.
You don’t have to take it to my extreme**, but if you’re a project slut, then this can be a way to hone your focus. Try a thirty day whirlwind romance with your story. Devote yourself to it. And marvel at the crazy, wonderful, completely fucked up stuff you make together.

That’s my two cents. Four cents. Actually, counting the last post, more like eight cents. I have given you all the advice on this issue I have. Now, it’s time to make your own decision.

So, what are you going to do: saddle up or sit out?

*That guy who just sarcastically said, “You don’t say”: I heard you. And now I know where you are.
**In fact, I recommend against it, unless you’ve got a reinforced stomach.

Related articles

• 4 Reasons To Skip NaNoWriMo (bareknucklewriter.com)

4 Reasons To Skip NaNoWriMo

Pictured: another option for November. (Photo credit: code_martial)

It’s coming again: NaNoWriMo.* I’ve done it four of the last five years, and I’m going to do it this year. I’m already in the planning phase, getting all my characters and outlines and reference materials sorted.** Others don’t bother with that part, preferring to just wing it. To each their own, and my own includes colour-coded tabs and a box of index cards.

Those of you new to the idea may be wondering, like I did back in ’07, if you should sign up and take the plunge. There’s lot of opinions on both sides, and some of them are pretty damn vehement. It can be hard to decide, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll write two posts: one detailing the reasons you should do it, and one the reasons you should skip it. Then you can decide for yourself.

*Flips coin* Okay, here it is: Four Reasons You Should Skip NaNoWriMo:

1. You crumble under pressure. There’s a big push to finish, with a daily word count to meet. And if you get a day or two behind, that word count piles up fucking fast. If that’s the sort of thing that would keep you up at nights or induce panic attacks, you might not be suited to this kind of race. And then there’s the timing to consider. November is a great month to write for me***, but your schedule might be different. If your month is already packed to the gills with holiday prep, then piling more on top might give you that coronary you always wanted just in time for Christmas.

2. You think it’ll make you finally feel like a real writer. You may need therapy, not NaNoWriMo. Hitting the space bar 50,000 times in 30 days does not make you a ‘real’ writer, whatever that means. It doesn’t make you anything other than someone who finished something that was a certain length in a certain time. And, you know, good for you. But this is not the Blue Fairy that makes you into a real boy. That doesn’t exist. Sorry. You have to do this because you really want to and because you love to write. Anything else, including the search for legitimacy, will likely lead to disappointment.
However, it can prepare you for what it feels like to be a working writer and have to meet serious deadlines. You’ll get a front row seat to the rush and the slog, the days when you fly and the days when you’d rather set the computer on fire than look at it again. Maybe it’ll help you decide if that’s something you want to do for a living, or if you’d rather keep it as a hobby.

3. You prefer to work slowly. Everyone works at their own pace and in their own way. Maybe you’re one of those writers who prefers to pick every word carefully, examine it, and then place it exactly where you want it. Maybe a good writing day for you is 100 words. Or less. But everything you make is exactly what you intended it to be right out of the gate. I envy you that; no goddamn rewriting. It might take longer to finish, but when you do, you know it’s what you want. Long as you’re finishing, there’s no wrong way to write a book. And for some, the breakneck pace of NaNoWriMo might be less productive, not more.

4. You just don’t want to. People get….shall we say, drawn in by the enthusiasm of NaNo participants sometimes. We’re a zealous lot. All bright enthusiasm and too-direct stares. Join us, we say. You’ll like it. And you might. But don’t get sucked in by the peer pressure. One, it means you just got bullied by a bunch of fucking writers, which is embarrassing for all of us. Two, it really will be an endless slog if you’re not jazzed for it. And that will probably taint whatever story you were working on to the point of ruining it. If you think you might like it, then sure. But if you know that’s not how you work, then remember those old commercials: just say no.

Feel free to disagree, vehemently or otherwise, in the comments. And don’t forget to check out Friday’s post: Four Reasons You Should Do NaNoWriMo.

*For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is a yearly event in which writers get together and pledge to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Stands for ‘National Novel Writing Month’.
**Mostly because I’m a huge nerd. I actually cleaned my desk Monday just to get it ready. And because it was getting to be an eyesore. But, hey, I found ten complete sets of dice in there.
*** Very good, actually, because it makes use of a month I otherwise loathe. November and February: worst months of the year.

Side Effects May Include…

If you write for more than four continuous hours, please call our helpline. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Congratulations, (client’s name)! You have decided to start Writing™. Writing™ is a process that, used every day, can help your creativity and productivity.* It should be taken regularly and continuously. Do not stop Writing™ before the course is completed, or you may have lessened results. Continue with the recommended word count every day until finished, or until your doctor advises you to stop.

However, in addition to the desired action, Writing™ may cause some side effects. These are often minor, but may include:

Increased Spaciness: You may become more inclined to stare into an indeterminate middle distance. Occasionally, you may see things there, such as ideas, plots, characters, or scenes. This is normal. Be sure to tell loved ones not to be alarmed, and warn them that, when speaking to you, they may need to repeat themselves. Several times.

Inexplicable Knowledge: One of the common effects of Writing™ is research. You may find yourself becoming a small expert on such topics as methamphetamine, thermodynamics, and cheetahs. Try not to alarm others by dropping it into random conversation. If this happens, do not panic. Just tell the listener that you did a research paper on the topic in high school that you, for some odd reason, remember verbatim. Or try to enjoy this side effect at trivia nights.

Nighttime Scribbling: This is nothing to be embarrassed about. Sometimes you will feel the urge to write long into the night. Or you may have ideas that need to be recorded when you wake from sleep. Prepare for this side effect by keeping a notepad near your bed, or by stocking up on large quantities of coffee.

Imaginary Friends: Your characters may become real to you. Sometimes they can seem more real than actual people. Do not be alarmed. This is a normal effect of Writing™. However, spouses/children/therapists/police officers may become worried. In order to calm them, make an extra effort not to speak to your characters in public places and/or places you may be observed by people not using Writing™. Examples include: in a movie theatre, at the doctor’s office, and during a parole hearing. Inside your own head, however, is fine.

God Complex: Sometimes people using Writing™ get confused about how much control they exert over the world. Warning signs include trying to make it rain when feeling sad and/or dramatic, walking in slow motion, or repeatedly entering a room in order to “get the opening right”. If this happens, remain calm. At the first opportunity, go back to your computer and find a world you can control. Warning: do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or attempt to Force-choke others while under this effect.

Each person will react differently to Writing™. Use with caution until you adjust, and carefully monitor any side effects. We wish you luck in your creative endeavour!

*Disclaimer: Writing™ works best as part of a balanced lifestyle that includes a healthy diet, exercise, and the occasional social interaction.