This is Part Two.
-How do you feel? Are you stressed? Excited? Frustrated? Elated because you are typing out pure genius with every keystroke?
I am surprisingly relaxed. Something I discovered within the first few days of Nanowrimo is that all I really needed is a little bit of structure to give me a sense of commitment. I’m normally an organized person in other parts of my life; I simply didn’t make the time to write. It was always something I would do “later,” except that “later” inevitably was filled with other tasks and people.
Nano is scheduled into my day now; I have to accomplish my 1667 words in the same way that I have to get to work or have to prep dinner. Everyone is different, but for me personally, just the fact that I have this specific plan to accomplish the task in 30 days makes it feel much more like an obligation that I need to meet, and so I don’t push it off to another day. Already I feel the habit forming to continue writing long term.
It’s easy to stand at the edge of the pool, afraid to jump into the water - after all, how often do we see people talking more about writing than actually writing? - but once you make the leap, the water isn’t as cold or deep as I thought. And my thrashing about is awkward, but I’m hardly drowning.
-Describe your creative process. Did you make an outline for the piece? Is it all just in your head and you are translating the story in your brain to written format? Are you just typing away and trying to "let the story write itself"? What do you do if you get stuck? ARE you stuck? Basically, just talk about how you write.
I do not understand how anyone could be a “pantzer,” haha. I do not have a rigid outline, but I definitely have a general sense of where my story should go. Last Nanowrimo, I chickened out from lack of direction, so all this year, I cultivated a habit of writing down notes and ideas that flit through my head during the day, and by October I had plenty of material and some concepts that were starting to be linked with others into larger nets. This is particularly important because I’m writing a some-what fantasy novel and I don’t want it to be half-cocked, so I’ve spent considerable time thinking about the world(s) metaphysics, how things should work, and those implications.
So I have three giant mindmaps now (don’t know if you’re collecting specific information, but I am using www.mindmup.com, which after testing several programs meets my needs the best, and includes seamless integration with Google Drive, allowing me to work in the cloud). One contains the “stuff”: the metaphysics, plot devices, tools, world names, etc. One contains the characters; names, motivations, inner motivations, interrelations, appearances, etc. And then the last one contains the storyline, which means both a loose actual storyline, and also lots of notes and undeveloped ideas for themes, other scenes, etc that I didn’t want to forget about that might be introduced later. This mindmap is the messiest of all. After Nano I’ll likely clean it up again before I start any serious revising, but for now, I am leaving it alone so that I write.
It’s easy to spend hours moving things around in a mindmap to give yourself the feeling of accomplishment without actually moving closer to the goal, so as much as I feel that planning is essential to creating something of quality, it’s important not to become paralysed with developing everything so perfectly that you never actually write. I did that for years, but now I see that the process is much more organic. As I write, the world and characters take breath on the page and develop a life of their own, which helps me further refine ideas and make decisions.
-Describe any issues you have run into while writing. This could be anything from struggling to find research materials, having a job/classes that take up time, or just simply not having the energy to write that day.
As far as the writing goes, I honestly haven’t run into any issues yet. A few minutes of writer’s block, but that’s it. I work full-time, but the structuring of my free time has helped immensely, and the little bit of courage and confidence I’ve gained from pre-planning keeps me soldiering onward.
Make no mistake though, I realize that the struggles are coming. This first week was all introductions, descriptions, basic, easy stuff. Once the plot actually gets going, I’m going to have quite a mess on my hands. I foresee late nights, hand-wringing, plot holes, and dead ends. I have a lot of questions I don’t have answers for, lots of scenes unwritten, and I’m hoping inspiration will visit me at the right times to help me push forward. But my understanding, from reading other writers’ experiences, is that Inspiration is often a flagrant drunkard and a flaky friend. At some point this month, he will probably be pissing in a back alley when I need him the most.
I also have no idea how I’m going to handle all the events and holidays this month, which include two anniversaries, two birthdays, and Thanksgiving (I cook the meal for my family). I’ve been meeting my word count goals each day, but I have to hope for a few days with high word counts or I am going to fall behind.
Finally, though I have found time to write each day and have met my word counts each day (excluding the first day; I didn’t write Sunday but was caught up on my word count mid-week), I am surprised sometimes by the mental fatigue. When I finish writing, I am worn out, like I squeezed my brain dry in the effort, and I need time to recharge. I’m sure with time I will get used to it and become stronger, but for now, I’m aware that I will have to watch for fatigue and not let myself fall off the wagon. Sometimes I sit down on the couch after I finish and I comment to my boyfriend that I’m too tired to even concentrate on TV; I just want to stare into space.
-Do you think that the NaNoWriMo challenge is beneficial to you as a writer?
Yes, I do. I could make some criticisms about Nano I suppose, but they wouldn’t be helpful. In the end, Nano is about trying to accomplish 50,000 words in one month. The rest is details, and very personal details at that. Nano is helping me make my writing a priority, and that is the benefit. It encourages me to carve out dedicated writing time instead of pushing it to the back burner. And seeing the results, having daily, achievable goals, helps it feel manageable.
Nanowrimo is the C25K of writing. Bite sized pieces, structure. I just need to show up every day with my running shoes on, ready to work.
Especially since writing is often a solitary, introspective, lonely pursuit, generating excitement and finding like-minded groups of people to discuss craft with is not a bad thing. I’m enjoying my first Nanowrimo so far.
I hope I answered your questions in a useful way. (Please forgive any errors, incorrect language, or rambling parts - I didn’t look this over as carefully as perhaps I should.)
Reddit is sometimes a time sink for me and and I’m trying to make better use of my time, turning surfing time into writing time, writing with pen and paper on my bus commute and at lunch, and so I’m only checking reddit for a few minutes throughout the day.
Point being, feel free to reach out if you would like me to check in again (perhaps next Saturday again) or answer more questions - I’m happy to do so, but it might take me a little while to respond.
And thank you very much for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. This was a fun exercise, and I think I will enjoy going back and reading these thoughts in a few years. :)