One of the things that makes NaNoWriMo fun is taking the pressure off writing. Yes, there is pressure to write 50,000 words but some of the pressure is alleviated by focusing on quantity instead of quality. It’s difficult to tie up one’s inner editor who wants to correct all spelling and grammar mistakes immediately. Lots of writers never reach the end of their stories or novels because they won’t allow themselves. They allow the inner editor to take control of the work too soon or they let the characters do their own thing allowing the characters to avoid reaching their journey’s end.Â
Some professional writers scoff at the thought of NaNoWriMo. “How dare someone call themselves a novelist when they only put in one month’s effort?” That thought is a little misguided. Yes, the person is a novelist but only in first draft form. Due to my college art class which required assignments be completed with charcoal or latex paint, I appreciate the effort it takes to create drawings and paintings. Wouldn’t it make sense for a reader who has been through the first draft writing process to appreciate the final product even more than before? Very few writers get a nearly finished manuscript when writing a first draft. Not all of the NaNoWriMo participants will be able to cross the finish line. Life gets in the way, it’s easier to procrastinate, or the desire to take on such a crazy task leaves the person. To carve out that much time takes planning and dedication.
The other thought is “Why waste time writing 50,000 words of crap?” Not all of it is crap. But remember when you first began making up stories about your stuffed animals or people you know? Nothing was “right” or “wrong”; everything just happened. For people who haven’t written in a long time this is a way to reignite the wonder of telling a story. Everyone has a story inside that’s waiting to be told.
Other published novelists are on board with NaNoWriMo. Sara Gruen has used it to complete the first draft of three of her novels – and at least one of them made it to the top of The New York Times Best Seller List. Last year NaNoWriMo organizers were able to line up pep talks from published authors.  The pep talks came from Julianna Baggott, Neil Gaiman, Sue Grafton, Sara Gruen, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Deanna Raybourn and Tom Robbins. They are archived on the NaNoWriMo site if you wish to read them.Â
This year NaNoWriMo participants offered their suggestions on who to receive pep talks from. The list of pep talk authors for 2008 was published today! Piers Anthony, Kelley Armstrong, Gayle Brandeis, Meg Cabot, Janet Fitch, Brian Jacques, Katherine Paterson, Philip Pullman, and Jonathon Stroud will have emails winging their way to our email inboxes.
Good luck to all the participants. Remember… your first words don’t have to be perfect and they don’t have to be the beginning of the novel; they just have to be written.
I say yea for NaNoWriMo. If you can finish a 50K novel, you are a novelist. This may be a first draft, but it is still a novelist. Other authors write first drafts over a longer period, and that is not any better than doing it in one month.
I’m a NaNoWriMo fan – can’t you tell? 🙂 I’ve had it said to me, and read somewhere, that as long as you write, you’re a writer. Even if no one reads your work but you… that can’t change it.