Write a novel in a month? Easy.

This November is NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month.

Its about stopping the inner critic, mindlessly editing, procrastinating, perfectionistinising and JUST producing. I figured out I should aim to write 1,666.66* words a day so I can have a 50,00 word novel by the end of the month.

pen-paper.jpgI think this is a really great tool to help motivate people to write a novel when they wouldn’t have before (eg: me). But one thing really bothers me, and it’s these three little words that keep getting repeated and insinuated across the website - “quantity, not quality”. Really, WHAT is the point of writing a novel if it is crap? At least they could recommend that people go back and edit and re-work after they have spat out their 1st draft, but no. They fully support people producing hidiously ugly manuscripts which they will then rave about at dinner partys and when you try to be polite and feign interest in it they say “oh, you can read it if you like”. And THEN you are stuck with 50,000 words of un-edited absolute crap that just turns to drivel by the end because they were rushing to get it done on time! :z *vents* Honestly though, there are enough absolutly 100% horrible and boring books on the shelfs already, we don’t need to waste more trees people

So: I will be participating this year (as I can trust myself to produce something Wonderful). I finish my last two uni assignments on November 2nd so i will start a little bit behind everyone else. But I’m going to be a bit alternative about it (It is the way of the Rinky Dink). This November i am going to write “This is Not a Book” - a collection of odditys I have scribbled out of my system in the last few years. But i already have most of the content. I have files and files of stuff in my computer. Great storys and poems and weird collections of letters growing wild and weedy in dark unopened electronic folders. So instead of writing 1,666.66* words every day, I’m going to edit and polish 1,666.66* words. So By the end of November i will have a spiffy little manuscript! Horrah!

I’ll post some of the things I am most impressed with so you can laugh and say - ‘oh Rhys, Marry me please’ and I will say ‘I would If only you were shorter than me. But alas, the wedding photos would look horrible as you are a giant’ and you will scream ‘I’ll cut of my legs then! Is that what you want!?!’ But I will be gone! Alas!

PS: I WANT this book shelf! Too bad it costs $7,000.

7000.jpg

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Posted in Creative Writing, Life on October 30, 2007

3 Responses to “Write a novel in a month? Easy.”

  1. Janessa Says:

    If you do get that bookcase I AM MOVING IN WITH YOU.
    Even just because it’s pretty and I’d look at it a lot.
    But everyone knows trees are much better for reading in.

  2. Gem Says:

    i’m kinda thinking about doing novel writing month too… i really should, i have the idea all ready… hmmm… you’re motivating me :)

    also, that bookshelf is the sex. i think it needs more cushioning though. it would be awesome if it had a door on each side that was cushioned that you could open. like a car door. but that only came up to just below your shoulder so you didn’t feel shut in and claustrophobic once they were closed.

  3. Jack Payne Says:

    You can certainly write a 50,000-word novel in a month. I wrote my only novel, a 110,000-worder, in 6 weeks. In the 1970s I wrote 7 books in one year, with good amounts of time off between books.

    Nobody cares if you can’t dance. Just get up and dance.

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