NaNo has been a very important part of my life over the past four years. It is such an accomplishment to write 50,000 words in 30 days. There have been several people who are nay-sayers about NaNo, they don't understand WHY writers would need to do NaNo and what the point is. In fact, here are the two most asked questions and my answers:
Q: "What is the point of NaNo?"
A: "It's to prove to ourselves as writers that writing 50,000 words in 30 days isn't such a big feat after all."
Q: "So...what do you win when you get to 50,000 words?"
A: "The satisfaction that you wrote 50,000 words in 30 days."
And their response to both of the above answers: "I don't get it. You don't have to prove to yourself that you can write, you just write! And uh, if you don't get any prize for winning then what's the point?"
How sad their life must be without challenges to better what they love to do in life. The better question is, why does NaNo only happen once a year?
There are other off-shoots of NaNo across the web, including a year long word count goal where you write somewhere around 360,000 words in a year. Though with that one, you can write a couple novels, you don't have to stick to the same novel.
The nay-sayers will never understand because they don't understand the thrill you get once you're finished with your novel. The surge of energy, excitement and sense of accomplishment. 50,000 words in a month is almost unheard of by any normal author! Come on, people, don't you see the challenge?!
Forget the nay-sayers and enjoy the challenge of NaNo! Write those 50,000 words, jump for joy when you finish and shove your novel in those nay-sayers faces! Hah!
Yay! Ha! That's all that needs to be said.
ReplyDeleteIt's the hardest part of any creative endeavor, overcoming the opposition. Your friends and family might think you're wasting your time and even biased against recognizing your talent.
ReplyDeleteI think NaNoWriMo is an amazing tool that helps reset our productivity levels. Just knowing that other people can do it and hold meaningful lives at the same time, helps me raise my expectations for myself.
That's worthwhile.
I have found that I don't really care if people don't understand why I am doing the nanowrimo. I'm having more issues with my own questioning of why I am doing it. lol I keep thinking, "all the advice indicates that you should take the first draft and cull at least half the words from it." So I'm going to start with 50,000 words and only end up with 25,000. What about all the details that I will have left out of the story by the end of November and want to put in? Do I do that before or after I cut half the words? Such pondering is really anti-creative.
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