Ever since I found out about NaNoWriMo 2 years ago, I have at least attempted to participate. Two years having attempted, and two years of not completing the goal. But am I discouraged? Hell no.
A lot of people wonder why anyone would try to write a novel in 30 days. To them, I say:
Why not?
Why would I tell myself that I can't do something, when I'm already trying to do something extremely difficult (namely: become a published author)?
The point of NaNoWriMo is not to pump out a bestselling novel ready for publishing in 30 days. The entire point is to force yourself to write, to turn off your inner editor and allow yourself to write garbage just to get your messy and fuzzy ideas out of your head and onto paper/word processor.
There can never be a final published draft without first a rough draft. And let me tell you, rough drafts are ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS crap. They are disorganized, they are unrefined, they are messy. Stephen King starts each of his novels with a rough draft that sucks, as does J.K. Rowling, as does Michael Chrichton , and every single other published and non-published author out there.
So yeah, your (and my) NaNo novel is going to suck like nothing else. But that's where beauty is made, in taking the beautiful ideas that you have strewn and barfed all over the page, and making them organized, beautiful, and maybe a little bit crazy but at least somewhat logical.
That's the point.
Peace, love, and WRITE ON B*TCHES!
Great post! I've had a very hard time trying to shut up my inner editor and just write the story. Hopefully your pep talk will work! ;)
ReplyDeleteAs I've been telling myself as I pretend I didn't just type any typos into my manuscript... Editing is for December! Word vomit is for November! Hop to it, girl, I want to read your story!
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