Nano

[Varian P]

A person can flesh out a novel in a month, write 40,000 words of BS, but never write something worth while.

Supposedly Kerouac wrote "On the Road" in three weeks.

 

[Liar]

Well, why waste 40,000 words that no one will ever see?

Waste? It's not a waste. If an athlete does a daily five mile practice run...is that a waste of steps, just because it is not in a race?

Everytime I have forced myself to be prolific under pressure (even if the output is crap), I have gained a little bit more ability to be productive in general. After the first NaNo I was in (I wrote a stage script that later got sold, by the way.) I found it a little easier to get a decent output when writing other stuff too. Second time around, I learned new ways to avoid procrastination, and to combine higher ambition writing with being prolific.

It's practice. Call it a waste if you like, but my abilities as a writer have been greatly improved because of it.

 

[Varian P]

Personally, I have loads of experience taking an eternity to write a novel (two years and, in the case of certain chapters, 10+ revisions later, I'm still at it with novel #1), short stories, even individual passages.

However, I've never made myself write a story from start to finish in a finite period of time. I believe doing so is worth trying once. Even if I don't end up with something that might be revised into a novel as fabulous as, say, "Lolita" or "The Master and Margarita," or even something by Stephen King or Anne Rice, I'll have tried what for me is a new approach to writing.

Also, NaNo provides me with a nice, 30-day excuse, not to hurriedly throw together a hodge podge of words and ideas, but to put writing at the top of my priority list, instead of doing what I usually do: write when I have "free" time left once my other obligations have been met.

-Varian

 

[Amy Sweet]

Well, why waste 40,000 words that no one will ever see? It doesn't seem like consistent output. It seems inconsistent.

Self-discipline to write an outline and to continue writing outlines and be a really great treatment person, that's what I see in Nano. But if you never revisit that story, never fix it, edit and primp it as I have seen for three years being on Lit? Is that discipline as an author? I support you all, writing is as a Nano,writing an outline, but I'm sure the purpose of it is greater. Publishing in the end I think, or trying, at least.

Lots of people write with a different end in mind than publication. A lot of published authors say that they have there first book somewhere in a dusty closet- that they thought it was great at one time, but now they know it's crap. Writing a complete novel is a learning experience- you learn about writing, you learn about pacing, you learn about yourself. Sometimes you learn that your really proud of having done it but you don't neccessarily want to spend any more time on that particular peice of writing. Perhaps it served it's purpose. Perhaps you have other projects you'd rather persue. Maybe you learned that your not really a novelist at all, but your still so proud of having written one when so few people do (although everyone plans to 'some day') that you just leave it up on lit.

Nano, to me is a lot more about challenging yourself and learning something about yourself than it is about getting published or writing great fiction or whatever. And who's to judge what's great? My halloween story, Fate, got low ratings but a wonderful review from doctor_M, which is a thousand times better in my eyes. Because the doc doesn't bullshit, he'll tell you what's wrong with your stuff.

People write for different reasons, and just because we don't get paid (or published), doesn't make it a waste of time. Folks work hard on their tennis serve and there golf swing and there jump shots- lots of folks who will never get paid for playing those sports and will certainly never be on TV for them. Not everybody who joins nana has a goal to be a published novelist, but even those who do may consider there nano novel just another step in that direction.

Even if our novels never get past first draft, we have still gone beyond your average Joe. And if our ultimate goal is something more, we may get there in time. Everybody's life has it's own timetable. Like learning to walk, some kids are ready to let go of the furnature sooner than others.

Nano is the furnature.

 

[Amy Sweet]

Personally, I have loads of experience taking an eternity to write a novel (two years and, in the case of certain chapters, 10+ revisions later, I'm still at it with novel #1), short stories, even individual passages.

However, I've never made myself write a story from start to finish in a finite period of time. I believe doing so is worth trying once. Even if I don't end up with something that might be revised into a novel as fabulous as, say, "Lolita" or "The Master and Margarita," or even something by Stephen King or Anne Rice, I'll have tried what for me is a new approach to writing.

Also, NaNo provides me with a nice, 30-day excuse, not to hurriedly throw together a hodge podge of words and ideas, but to put writing at the top of my priority list, instead of doing what I usually do: write when I have "free" time left once my other obligations have been met.

-Varian

So wonderfully put.

 

[CharleyH]

Supposedly Kerouac wrote "On the Road" in three weeks.

All of you have missed the point of the first post, which just makes y'all sweetly defensive.

 

[CharleyH]

Waste? It's not a waste. If an athlete does a daily five mile practice run...is that a waste of steps, just because it is not in a race?

Everytime I have forced myself to be prolific under pressure (even if the output is crap), I have gained a little bit more ability to be productive in general. After the first NaNo I was in (I wrote a stage script that later got sold, by the way.) I found it a little easier to get a decent output when writing other stuff too. Second time around, I learned new ways to avoid procrastination, and to combine higher ambition writing with being prolific.

It's practice. Call it a waste if you like, but my abilities as a writer have been greatly improved because of it.

You have missed my original point but ok One can waste words as I do every day, as you do. Are my few words worth a shit? Is a story worth more of a shit because it has 40,000 words worth measured by a count? I have always said from the start ... NANO can make a great outline of a novel, but never a great novel

 

[carsonshepherd]

Supposedly Kerouac wrote "On the Road" in three weeks.

LOL. Charley said a "great" novel

 

[CharleyH]

LOL. Charley said a "great" novel

I seriously want to fuck you! Are you A dyke hag? or is that a dyke fag or maybe a mike dyke? Not sure, lol, but we will find a phrase, yet!

 

[carsonshepherd]

I seriously want to fuck you! Are you A dyke hag? or is that a dyke fag or maybe a mike dyke? Not sure, lol, but we will find a phrase, yet!

mike dyke *dies*

 

[CharleyH]

mike dyke *dies*

DEEEP BREATH! Ahhhhh, but what if a dead mike dyke dick? (WHATEVER that means) What is a fag or straight (ya right) dude who hangs with dykes wanting to be fucked by them? I have always wondered in my years. We definately need a name for them

 

[CharleyH]

Ok, aside from the very SEXY (GRR ) Carson ... whats up Sweet? Can't write; need sexy photos?

 

[Svenskaflicka]

DEEEP BREATH! Ahhhhh, but what if a dead mike dyke dick? (WHATEVER that means) What is a fag or straight (ya right) dude who hangs with dykes wanting to be fucked by them? I have always wondered in my years. We definately need a name for them

How about "delusional"?

 

[sweetnpetite]

I had hoped no one caught that. Why bother with Nano? If you could take your time and write something better? Why only try in Nano? Why not do it for the rest of your year?

I accidentally stubled on this article yesterday, which reminded me of your thread:

Since I've been offering Artist Retreat Day programs, I've been hearing a lot about the concept of "permission". Some artists who said yes to a retreat day shared that this was a much-needed structure to enable and empower them to FINALLY give themselves permission to take time for their creative work.

Others just couldn't say yes, just couldn't give themselves permission.

What does it mean to have permission to do something? My thesaurus tells me that other words related to permission are: consent, sanctioning and authorization.

Consent signifies agreement, validation that what you're doing meets with specific expectations, criteria and guidelines. It sounds solemn and like someone has faith in you. Sanction is an even more formal declaration of acceptance and faith.

Authorized to Create
Authorization — well, that implies that you're something special. That not just anyone is meant to be painting this painting, writing this song or designing that jewelry. You have been specially authorized to do it.

And why? Because you have the unique gifts that are necessary to bring that creative project into being. Who authorized you? The same power that granted you those gifts and skills — whether you choose to think of that as God, the universe, Spirit, or another name. As we read in the Science of Getting Rich, we're not given the desire to do something without also giving you the skill to carry it out.

Why is it so difficult to authorize ourselves, grant ourselves permission and consent, to sanction our own creative work? Sometimes we seek this permission from others, unconsciously (or consciously) hoping they'll deny it, so we won't really have to venture into the scary world of living up to our potential.

A lot of these words symbolize that external permission is needed. And sometimes it is.

Permission from Others
Whether you want to attend an artist retreat day, meet a deadline or just develop a new idea that came to you overnight, you'll sometimes need permission from the people you share your life with to take the time for your creative work.

It might mean delegating household work or child-care or rescheduling a date or planned event. All of you might also need a willingness to be flexible and to accept that sometimes things don't get done right away. It also means ensuring an environment of support for your work.

Will others give you permission? Of course you can't control what anyone else thinks, says or does, but consider this: our loved ones will take cues from us about how serious our creative work is to us. If we're constantly putting it on the back burner, putting our work down, and letting it be the first thing to go when things get stressful or busy, we're teaching others to treat it the same way.

If we don't take our creative work seriously, why should they?

Permission from Self — Artist at Work
I think what's even more important is the permission we give ourselves. There are so many reasons we deny ourselves permission to pursue our creative work. Fear tops the list. Fear of success, fear of failure, fear of what people will think of us, fear of being good, fear of being terrible, or fear we'll let someone else down, to name a few examples.

Sometimes we hold on to earlier instances when we were denied permission, denied access, not sanctioned or authorized, or when our work was criticized or belittled. Some of us have even been told, directly, NOT to pursue our creative work ("don't give up your day job", "find another path", "you have no business doing this work"), which hung a big UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS sign on the door of our creative hearts.

http://www.creativity-portal.com/bc/linda.dessau/permission.artist.html