IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.
Welcome to mine!
Who's heard of a cowboy who doesn't like the outdoors? Or a swimmer who's afraid of water? What about a teacher who's scared of students?
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| Christopher Rusev on UnSplash.com |
I love my writerly friends. I love designing book covers and editing and brainstorming. I enjoy helping out my author friends and connecting with them. I adore writing as it's my only way of escapism in a home of homeschooled kids. I've been at it since I was in 4th grade (I'm 40 something), and have taken a creative class, and entered contests. It got serious in 2011 with my first published book. To this day, I have a few things out in the publishing industry--book covers, illustrations, and short stories. You can safely say that writing is in my blood. With this in mind, I feel like I'm blaspheming when I say this: I really don't like NaNo.
I tried it once and was excited to see that I can write 50k words within that timeframe. While I enjoyed challenging myself, the weight of pushing myself hard felt like a hard race against others and myself. I don't like boxing myself in. I'm a free-thinker when it comes to creativeness (you should have seen me in my high school art class when my classmates told me I was doing it all wrong when I started with the lips and not the eyes). I was like, "Excuse me? In my opinion, there should be no rules when it comes to making art, it's all heart!"
But I'm thinking that I could view NaNo differently--a time to bond with other writers, right?
What are your thoughts?
But I'm thinking that I could view NaNo differently--a time to bond with other writers, right?
What are your thoughts?
16 comments:
No rules for making art - no there's not!
NaNo isn't for everyone. I'm a lazy writer so it's a kick in the butt for me.
NaNo isn't for everyone. I did it once and found the experience fascinating. I may try it again and see what I think of it the second time around.
I've never even come close to attempting NaNo. I suspect it's because I'm lazy. Which isn't totally true. But I do fly by my pants. Being "older" it's a privilege we more mature writers gain. The choice to write when and where we want to is like a prize for surviving. Yes, you're right. I have no idea what I'm saying. That may be another side effect of being "mature". LOL
I did it once. I was surprised how easily my words flowed...but I put another writing project on hold for the month and that didn't make me happy. I don't think I'll be doing it again.
I gave NaNo up a few years back because I found myself so exhausted afterwards that I couldn't write for months. Not something I want to revisit. :-)
Anna from elements of emaginette
hehe. Thank you for your thoughts!
True. That would be fun! I hope you enjoy it next time as well.
Oh. Wow. I love how you said that. "The choice to write when and where we want to is like a prize for surviving." Very sound, indeed! Thank you! <3
Oh, I bet you had to switch gears to get back into the other mode to be able to pick it up again. I suppose we'd have to prepare for NaNo so nothing hangs over us during the experience.
Oh. That is not good. It's a marathon for the brain, that's what it is!
NaNo isn't for everyone. I've done it several times and find it works for me because I'm a fast drafter anyway, and I'm competitive so I like the challenge. But it doesn't always work because of the timing.
Nano is definitely not for everyone. I did it strictly for a few years but these days I can't commit to that kind of intense writing schedule. I became a "Nano rebel" and decided to just use the message boards to connect with other writers while writing whatever I wanted to (short stories, flash fiction, etc.) Nowadays, I prefer to join in with Camp NanoWrimo because you can set your own word count goal for that and it all feels much more laid-back.
Writing 50K words under a month isn't a struggle for me but I'm not competitive. I was one of those kids at school who was chosen last because it wasn't my thing to compete.
I feel that NaNo would be really good for networking as well! I don't appreciate the pressure of a challenge but can easily see myself rebelling as well! It's so good to see you, Anstice! <3
Nano doesn't always align well with my creative cycles. Nano worked well for me the first year, when I was coming at it from a dead stop. Now, I tend to work on various projects year-round, and it just doesn't make sense to stop what I AM working on to move on to something new, just because it's November. I mostly go to Nano for the social element and networking, now. The support structure really is good, and that can be fun all by itself.
(The machine ate my first try at a comment. I hope this isn't a duplicate.)
Karen--this comment isn't a a duplicate. I should at least try NaNo for the social end as well as networking. That's a great angle of approach! :)
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