When Laini Taylor blogged in late February about having a "March Mini Nano," I had to google "Nano" to find out what she was talking about. :)
"Nano," I learned, is part of the abbreviation "Nano WriMo," or National Novel Writing Month. The month is usually November, and the goal is usually to push out an entire novel in thirty days.
The idea is a heady one, isn't it? To just drive and drive and drive yourself and your story to the very end. I loved the idea. So when Laini said she would try a March Nano--try to finish her first draft by the end of the month--I jumped in.
I didn't finish, that's clear. :) I'm fairly sure I'll need all of May to finish this first draft (and then I'll need June to do a little research, and July to take a break from the story before August's major cuts and trims. . .)
But what I wanted to throw out tonight is that I'm losing faith in the Nano Effect. Pushing out a novel--requiring constant movement of plot to the bitter end--is significantly affecting my word choice, my sentence craft, my writing.
Maybe this is too much of a reveal, but I think it's interesting.
On the first day of the March Nano, my writing went like this:
"Shelly chose to disappear. She pulled in her breath and with it, all of her. Her cells and her peach skin and her brown hair and her long limbs all rushed into the wind tunnel of her inhale."
By the end of the first month, I had written only 14,000 words--not even half of what I needed--but the writing still had some sense of how I like to work words:
"Carla built space between her and Patrick like an architect, like an artist. Frank Lloyd Wright, sculpting air and distance, silence and mystery, like a master would form wood and glass."
Maybe not great, but it has character. It has at least the shadow of style. But as I moved past my characters' little moments and really chugged along during this second month, the narrative nearly disappeared. I'm writing stuff like:
"The sky was purple." Because I don't feel I have time to think of a new way to describe twilight, but if I write the sky was purple, I can go back and rewrite.
"She was a sparrow." I have no idea what a sparrow is like, and I don't know how to apply that to a character, and I don't have time to research it. So I'll write a horrible sentence like this so hopefully I remember to go back and create a lyrical metaphor.
"He grabbed her leg and pinned her in a *find pin name . . . She elbowed him in the throat *what's that called?" I'm barely even finishing the bad sentences, sometimes. I just throw in a note to myself to look it up later and maybe even rewrite the sentence so it's higher than a 3rd grade reading level.
"*something freaked them out" That was where I left last night. I couldn't even write a sentence! My mind feels so word-weary I can just spit out notes to myself!
This is what I mean by the Nano Effect. Is this rush and push and mad-race just forcing me past the lovely words and descriptive images? And will I really be able to salvage this when I go back to rewrite? And is the rush worth it? Could I produce a better first draft if I gave myself more time to enjoy the crafting of each sentence?
My brain is exhausted. What do you think? Push through? Is my second wind coming? :) Looking forward to hearing from you writers. I am always so encouraged and refreshed when you share your week's journey with me.
p.s. My goal was 6000; I wrote 2600. I'm so proud I got even that much! :) I'll keep trying through May; I hope so much you will write along with me. My goal for next week is 4500.
Let's Have an ALA After-Party!
8 years ago
I was worried when you hadn't updated all week. I thought, "Oh no, did Jes get sick?" That's how my mind works. My husband really "trips out" on me. For example, Lily got a bit sick on the hike this morning. I gave her french fries yesterday, the likely culprit of the mess. Instead of thinking that, though, I think "Oh no, she has giardia. The cats drink out of her water bowl sometimes so now they are going to get it. I know we have metronidazole at home, but not enough for everyone. I wonder if I forgot to sanitize my hands after our hike yesterday? Because if all three cats get it, plus Lily gets it, I know that I will get it. Although, Sandi's pets all had it and she didn't get it. I'm not teaching next week, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if I did get it..." And so went my head the entire hour long hike this morning. Um, yeah. Welcome to my life. But I'm waaay off topic here. Was that an overshare? (singsongy) Sorry!
ReplyDeleteMy writing was stronger at the beginning as well. I think, though, that this is less about Nano and more about the story getting old. I go through periods of time where I am writing "the sky was purple" and then I wrote something like this yesterday "Jenna stepped on it as she moved sideways and it popped like a ripe cherry tomato, spurting a thick, purple liquid that smoked as it hit the ground." While that still needs work, it's much closer to where I want it to be. I have scenes that I feel like I am phoning in and then I have a scene that contains lines like the one above, dripping with description, showing not telling. It's almost like being very ill - moments of not knowing what the heck is coming out of your mouth because you are so drugged up and then moments of complete lucidity. This would not be one of the latter moments. It's far too late in the day for that.
I say plow through. You may surprise yourself, as I have done. If you hit your goal next week without doing the kind of writing you love, forget the Nano. If you don't hit your goal next week, but have some great writing - even better! Goals are set to keep us writing. We don't always have to reach them. I set mine at 4000 this week and only got 3900 out (yes, I was a little bitter over that extra 100 words). I did get a lovely 6 mile, 1,400 elevation gain hike in yesterday with dear hubby and diggity dog. Followed it with a more mellow hike this morning about 2.5 miles with lots of up and down hills. Writing? Zero the past two days. That's okay. I'll hop right back on tomorrow and Friday. I even wrote this week on a twenty minute break while teaching at a school. I didn't bring a book with me to read. I pulled out my schedule and wrote on the back of that (in purple - hence the purple in my story). Some of my best writing came in a crowded teacher's lounge!
"Something freaked them out" isn't such a bad way to end - the endless possibilities to that! Sometimes, I write with the thesaurus open. That way if I am struggling for description, I can refer to that - type in an old, worn out word and come up with a fresh new one! I love the thesaurus online. Best invention ever!
Happy writing, Jes! Progress, not perfection right now!
Jennie, you couldn't be sweeter. :) I guess I was sick--heart-sick, right? Watching my story dissolve into a gooey blob of boring verbs and lame description. Your proscription is spot on: if I hit the goal with loveless writing, pitch the NaNo. Laini mentioned something about a Nano killing a story of hers once. I would love to know what happened. I always love a good murder mystery . . . ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your empathy and encouragement. Truly. It's so good to know you can face the same struggles, but then write something as strong as that image of Jenna stepping on . . . whatever that was. :)
As for writing about your story on the back of your schedule--that's just more testimony to how in love you are with your story. And that's inspirational! My hubby (The DM is my hubby, Jason! I'm sure there are privacy rules somewhere saying I shouldn't share that!:), he writes notes about his stories on any scrap of paper he can find. You two seem very similar in this: he is ALWAYS thinking about his story. He loves his characters, loves the adventure, has worlds and governments and lores all wound carefully in his head, ready to unwind on the keyboard. I wish whatever you two have would rub off on me. I stand in awe of it.
You are right--progress for now, so on I go to find out what freaked out a gang of kids and how they're going to respond to it.
Man, I wish you lived closer. ;)
My apologies to all --especially Jessica -- for not posting sooner. I'm not bailing out or making excuses, but I simply have chosen to spend much of my time doing other things this past week.
ReplyDeleteSpringtime brings many outdoor projects, and there is still job hunting to do, a little girl to play with, and a home to try showing some pride in. There have been some days lately when I've said to myself, "hmmm... did I brush my teeth today?" Sometimes I seriously cannot remember.
Too much info, I'm sure.
I did write a little Tuesday night, but I don't know what my word count was. Maybe a quarter of a paragraph. It was a start for Chapter 15, and hopefully I'll have more to present to all of you next Wednesday.
Jess is very kind about my writing process, and though most of what she says is true, I don't tend to write when I am feeling down or when I have a multitude of other thoughts waging war within my skull. If I have had a hard day or I'm exhausted, I don't tend to spend my time very productively. This is a sad fact since writing is one of the few things that makes me completely happy these days. I shall have to work something out if the weaving of my tale is to continue.
Certainly in the coming weeks, opportunities to create will be few, but the more pressing question is: will I simply choose to collapse from weariness or distract myself to quiet the chattering monkeys in my mind, or will I sit down at the keyboard when I get the chance and let that be my escape?
I'll keep you posted!
My grandpa (dad's dad) used to write stories and poems on anything he could get his hands on. I have a poem he wrote on a paper bag!
ReplyDeleteI completely get not using your time wisely when you are tired at the end of the day. If I sign on to the internet when I'm tired, forget it. I look up and have lost four hours going from website to website, none of which have a thing to do with my writing. Although, I may have started at a writing website originally to keep me from feeling guilty. I think I might have actually blogged about that once. Now I want to go back and see. I made myself come home and write last week when I was tired. I think it was more out of stress knowing I would be hiking for days with my husband to celebrate our anniversary so I wouldn't get any writing in. It actually worked out quite well and I plan to try it again over the next few weeks. I actually get stressed out when I'm away from my story for a few days. If I don't have time to write, the gods help everyone around me, man or beast. Okay, I'm not THAT bad. But I do feel edgy and have been known to snap when I'm not being as anal about rolling up socks for the sock drawer. When I'm just tossing them all in willy nilly, my husband knows I need my writing time. He's not a creative person, the man who stole my heart. He's not into fairies or elves or magic. But God love him, he tries his best to understand. Or at least he pretends to.
Anyways, I'm pushing towards the end. I had meant to reach it by the end of May. Can we still consider it the NaNo when we're going into our third month? I'm not sure.
I wish I did live closer, Jes! Of course, we'd probably be fast friends and spend more time hanging out chatting than actually writing so maybe it's blessing to live so far away. ;-) I can't distract you from the west coast. I can simply be your cheerleader!
G-O, let me hear you say GO
(GO)
Let's write, unite,
Let me hear say WRITE
(WRITE)
Okay, that is going to sound totally lame if you don't know that cheer. If you were a cheerleader in high school, too, though...it's still going to be pretty lame. It's the thought that counts, though.
Here's to hoping Jason gets his writing time in and Jes - I can't wait to see what freaked out that gang of kids!!
Happy Writing!
It is Monday...May 3rd. I have not looked at my story in a week and half. I do apologize. Like the DM, however, I offer no excuses. I do find it interesting that we all had weaker weeks at the same time. I do have some freedom at the moment, however, so I will stop trying to write something clever in this context and open up my computer file containing another world. ;) Stay tuned for Wednesday's update.
ReplyDelete