I’m not going to lie. I just finished NaNoWriMo and this is mostly a mindless ramble.
It’s at the end of November, which for many writers means the end of NaNoWriMo (or as my friend will say nanorama!) I've done pretty good this year, kept mostly on track with 3-5k jumps occasionally during the weekends. Overall it's been a good Nano year.
Every year I always consider writing a weekly or daily blog about my progress with Nano. Unfortunately, I just don't think it would be very interesting. It would turn into ‘today I made my word count.’ And ‘today I didn't’. Don't worry, I've tried. It's never good.
So I guess what I want to reflect is over my years of doing Nano and what it means to me as a yearly exercise. I first started Nano almost ten years ago. It took me two years before I managed to get to 50k words. By that point I had already written completed works at about that length (granted not in that time frame). Since then, barring some personal crises (i.e. college) I've been able to finish Nano every year. I don't mean this as some boast. I've been doing this for almost ten years. Heck yes, I should be able to pound out 50k.
The difference is now, as I've become a published author and hope to continue publishing, I write so much all year round. I've done 2 short stories in one month. I've re edited a 40k novel into a 70k novel in two months. I once rewrote almost forty pages in two weeks. Every day I sit down to write and edit and make blog posts or compose emails or browse tumblr.
In the past couple of years, 90% of what I write is for publishing (whether or not all of it gets published is another matter) Just about everything is written with a publisher/publication in mind. Clear goals, set deadlines, work.
I'm not complaining. I enjoy having a structured writing experience. Publisher's guidelines or editor comments are like prompts to me. I use them with other half baked ideas I have and make it work not only for the market, but also to my own taste.
Nano is a strange time in my usual writing schedule. Yes, I often use it to pound out bulk words that I can later use for publishing. However it is also a time for me to write fanfiction, or to write using bad writing habits that I constantly have to be aware of the rest of the year. Even the words that I think could become a short story or novel for publication often drive away from clear cut romance or fantasy or adventure. It turns into mush, muddled ideas, dropped characters, dropped tenses. By mid month I write without thinking of grammar or purpose. And at the end? Well, it’s a mess.
Out of the ten or so Nanos that i have completed, I have published zero. This year I am feeling really good about my strategy of writing a few Christmas short stories, but time will really tell if I will find a use for them later. It has made me realize that Nano shouldn't be some crazy bulk writing in my yearly count of words.
Nano is a purge. I usually write about two novels a year. One of them usually during the summer and maybe into the fall. The other is, at least in part, written during Nano. My summer novel may take years of editing, but it's brought me Tokyo Love, Amemus, The Warrior the Healer and the Thief, and Cursus Honorum. Nano has brought me fanfiction, a structurally flawed fantasy series, and so many terrible romance novel ideas.
It’s like, I finish a big project during most of the year, then I vomit words for a month. Reconsider my life choices for another month.
Then I’ll write some fluffy romantic short stories for the rest of the winter to make myself feel better and then get started on my next big idea come spring.
This is how I have been for about 4 years. I'm still young and undoubtedly will change my habits in the future. The only thing that will not change is how much I need that Nano word vomit once a year.
