That said, I personally do most of my drafting with pen/pencil and paper. And, once in a while, I break out a manual typewriter I acquired not too long ago.

My friend Edwina (whose first book was published last month) mentioned her first job was cleaning – and for those of us who have ever had to clean someone else’s toilet for a living , you will never forget it. All the crazy jobs writers have had to make a buck on their way to getting published makes for interesting reading further down the track.

As you mentioned with the laser show, whenever I find myself somewhere new or different I try and and absorb every dimension of it – like a literary sponge – to store away for another day, another story. And it is amazing the things which come through in your stories.

I am always most influenced around Christmas for some reason. This year’s Christmas story includes inspiration from a Tweet outburst by a Melbourne writer about the stupidity of the paperwork involved in her daughter busking Christmas carols, memories of Christmas in the canefields, a friend who goes by a name other than the one she as given as a child, Pearl Jam, a friend’s take on the seven swans a-swimming prompt and most importantly – in respect to this post, washing up after having had coleslaw on camp when I was 12.

The most awful of experience can always be turned around into something profound or funny – that is the literary magic wand we all carry.

I know NaNo is dear to you.

But I’m going to stick to my guns that NNWM isn’t a good tool for novel writing.

You and Iapetus999 both said that you did a LOT of preparing, starting over a month in advance of Nov 1. Which kind of makes my point. You didn’t start on Nov 1. Your Novel Writing was well underway by then. But on Nov 1 you started your draft.

You and other who do this are adapting NNWM (not the goal but the process). Remember that one of the big marketing tools for NNWM is a book called “No Plot, No Problem.

But then if you’re starting well before Nov 1, procrastination really isn’t your problem anyway.

But even taking all that in, I’m not saying its a bad thing for you…nor am I even saying it’s a bad thing in general.

But I’ve now participated 4 times, and twice I’ve watched from the sidelines. I’ve won 4 times and the drafts have all been garbage. And the 2 times I’ve watched I’ve taken stock of what many of my friends have done with NNWM, and I think there are a great many people who use NNWM for something that it shouldn’t be used for.

Browsing the NNWM boards I found hundreds of writers who joined in just because everyone else was doing it. When I posted on this blog that I wouldn’t participate I received 14 emails from readers who were proud of me for not joining in.

I’m used to being in the minority (I’m pretty sure just counting the writers on this blog I’m outnumbered 5 1o 1 ). And there are thousands of blog posts talking about how wonderful and useful NNWM is. There are even blogs that suggest that it is a writer’s responsibility to do NNWM every year. NNWM is in no danger from me and my dissenting opinion.

But I hope by putting my thoughts down on paper (or e-paper) that some of the people who are frustrated because they didn’t finish, may take stock and decide that they didn’t fail…NNWM just isn’t the tool to help them.

Dale

P.S. Plus this is the most comments I’ve had on a post in over a year.

I just didn’t want anyone to think they somehow “failed” with whatever outcome they produced by participating in the challenge. It’s really all about personal goals and expectations.

I don’t mean to be all preachy, but NaNoWriMo is very dear to my heart.

“But it’s not a very useful tool to write a novel.”

I’m not sure how you (and by you, I mean naysayers in general) can assert that statement when the very premise of NaNoWriMo is to push oneself into producing something out of nothing. When the whole point of the exercise is to force oneself into being productive and to work past the procrastination traps and produce a first draft – good or bad, it’s concrete as opposed to an idea pinging back and forth in someone’s mind. (And that idea? May very well be reduced to dust, but at least one knows what direction NOT to take it the second go-around).

To generalize the process (whatever that may be to an individual), to belittle the determination (which I’m not saying you are, but when reading between the lines of your post, sound a little like you are), through all odds, and to actually produce a whopping 50,000 words in 30 days, whether that’s crap or not, it’s crap they didn’t have going into the challenge, dilutes an individual’s personal accomplishment and in some respects, usurps the victory.

I ran across this thread on the NaNoWriMo site today and I’d like to post a few of the excerpts here because to me, this is the EPITOME of the NaNoWriMo challenge:

Despite taking seven college courses all coming to an end at the same time, despite being up until three in the morning to study and finish projects for finals, despite having a cat who loves to distract me, trying to write the damn thing by hand and on an iPod Touch, despite computer complications and planning for a vast marketing campaign, starting from scratch and despite being 33,000 words behind, I still friggin’ made it with a day to spare! And still going even if Nanowrimo is over!

Despite working overtime at a demanding job, despite almost breaking up with my boyfriend because I no longer had a free moment to spare, despite family and friends not understanding why I was doing this if not for a cash prize, and despite doubting myself at every other hundred words…. I DID IT!!! : D For the first time ever, I HAVE WON NANOWRIMO!

Despite being thirteen years old, having no idea what to write about until the afternoon of November 1st, going to high school and dealing with all the stuff that comes with going to high school, my hamster dying during the last week and never having written anything above 5,000 words before, I wrote a novel in a month x

Despite normal life as a wife and mother of an 8 y/o, who has basketball practices and games, and not being to write anything coherent while sleepy, and Tuesday night bowling league, and a busy church schedule with adult choir practices and youth choir practices, and not being able to write at work, and Thanksgiving, and a death in the family, and christmas parade float meetings, and going out of town once for two days and another time for one day, AND BEING BEHIND FROM DAY ONE, ANYWHERE BETWEEN 2000-7900 WORDS, I still did it!

THAT my friends, is what NaNoWriMo is all about. Hope, dreams, aspirations, goals, victory, accomplishment, perseverance, obstacles, determination … etc. and if one walks away with the first draft of a novel (and many do!), well, bonus!

It’s different for everyone.

Those people are excited about writing. They exercised their imaginations. They learned a little something about how language and syntax meld into a story … how can anyone claim that that’s a waste of time, on any level?

And Jennifer, to imply that one must follow certain guidelines, i.e. outline the story chapter-by-chapter or it will be “… a complete mess and not worth diving back into” is naive, at best. Perhaps that works for you, but please don’t assume by not following your preferred method of writing that it’s a complete waste of time for others. There are all sorts of writing styles, all sorts of methods and there is not one that is better than the other. There are many successful authors that don’t outline, Stephen King comes immediately to mind.

And to those that never write again after the challenge? That’s totally fine. For 30 short days, you dared to do something many people never have the courage to try and that’s worth being proud of.

Annnnd, I will shut up now.