NaNoWriMo

A post about National Novel Writing Month would've been timelier a week or so ago. But this blog was focused on something else. 

I'm of two minds about NaNoWriMo. In the first corner is the sick, contrarian part of my brain, the part that balks at anything smacking of booster-ish trendiness. The cutesy portmanteau is enough to readjust the relative position of my eyebrows. And I'm not sure what writer needs Internet-based camaraderie to get them to write. Also, if you're going to pick one month in which to write a novel, wouldn't a thirty-one day month serve you that much better?

While finishing one book that no one wanted doesn't entitle to me to a lot of elitism on the subject, I can say that books are generally not written in a month. A person may be able to write 50K words in thirty days' time (and good on them for doing so), but then there's the editing. And the re-writing. And then the next few rounds of editing after that. It's neither pithy nor romantic to say so, but these are the forgotten elements of writing. The site says--apparently seriously--that the program values "enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft." I blacked out when I first read that one. Woke up a couple of days later, wearing blood stains on an otherwise clean, white smock that I had never seen before. Since I've lost so much time, I'll keep this short: enthusiasm is good, perseverance is great, but it's the painstaking craft that stitches them together.

On the other hand, I really do appreciate anything that encourages people to write more (or any). Writing has usually been a rewarding experience for me and it's something I recommend to anyone who thinks they have might have something to say. There's nothing better for organizing one's thoughts than writing them down. The subject of writing is the closest I've come to proselytizing for anything, if only because advocating for the healing powers of alcohol remains a touchy subject in many circles. And though I'm not sure if everyone has a book in them, as is often claimed, you never know who does until they try. Meeting NaNoWriMo's goal leaves a writer with 50K words at the end of the month, words she can expand upon, or perhaps cut down for a short story. Or even re-purpose altogether to something else that can begin anew in December. That's the test of a writer: knowing how and when to continue or start over and seeing it through regardless. If NaNoWriMo can give people the impetus to start exorcising a long simmering dream, letting my intrinsic distaste for pithy methodology stand in the way seems, well, douchey.

Don't write because this particular month happens to make for some neat alliteration with which to advertise the project. Don't do it because other people are doing it. And don't stop on November 30th (likewise, come next year, if you think up a great idea for a book on October 26th, start then). Write because you have a story you want to tell. If you start with the hope of writing a novel and find that you have a much better short story in the works, run with that: the quality of your output means a hell of a lot more than the quantity. And if your project isn't working out and it's November 25th and you don't have time to start over, start over anyway; nothing is more arbitrary when it comes to writing than start and end times.

Essentially, if you're going to write, write.