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Kamikaze Novel Writing
spotmonk writes "November is National Novel Writing Month, and the beginning of this year's nanowrimo program will be starting on Nov 1st. Participants will write a novel of a minimum of 50,000 words in a month's time. Described as valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft, nanowrimo takes a kamikaze approach to writing a novel - you may not get the best novel out of it, but at least you've written a novel. Sign-ups last till the end of the month."
The night was moist.
...that Windows was written exactly the same way.
ROMANES EUNT DOMUS
...how the screenplay for The Phantom Menace was written.
Goatse, the novel.
The opening chapter is a real killer....
Monstar L
yournovel.com
...a very good crowd has turned out to watch local boy Thomas Hardy write his new novel 'The Return Of The Native,' on this very pleasant July morning...
Reminds me of the "I'm sorry this letter is so long... I didn't have time to write a shorter one." quote.
In middle school we had an assignment to write an 8-page paper. After we handed it in, our next assignment was to make the same paper 5 pages.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
If any of the novels turn out to be good, we'll have found another Asimov (he wrote hundreds of books, so must have been able to write this fast).
See what I've been reading.
I have participated in Nanowrimo for the past three years. There are a lot of people who think about writing something but never set any structured goals in order to get it done. You can take it as serious as you like or loaf all month. It won't make you a great writer but you might find out that you can produce a lot more than you thought. 50,000 words is a hard goal for many and reaching it can be quite rewarding.
There are municipal liaisons that cover areas throughout the country and organize writing groups. I am one in eastern Ohio and what I do is try to keep track of the people in my local area, provide a little encouragement and pass out a couple freebies that the Nanowrimo staff sends out each year. All in all it can be an interesting experience if you are into writing.
It's just a way to make us write something, no matter how horrible, in order to have a story that we can edit and improve on after November's over.
!sig
Last year, you could sign up on the last day of November if you wanted to. If you could write a 50,000 word novel in less than 24 hours, more power to you.
!sig
Pshaw - I'll stick to the original, classic Three Day Novel Writing Contest, started by Pulp Press way back in 1977, and now located here. And yes, entries are judged on quality, not quantity.
Three Squirrels
So, as soon as you've finished your manuscript do you dive head-first into your word processor, destroying your work and blowing yourself up in the process?
AT&ROFLMAO
The 3-Day Novel Contest has run every Labour Day Weekend {CDN} for 27 years and has garnered a reputation as the cheeky and uncompromising rebel of literary forms. The world's most notorious literary marathon demands that would-be novelists produce a masterwork in a mere 72 hours.
more info
back in the day we didnt have no old school
There are hack writers and there are blocked writers, but there are no hack blocked writers... :-)
Many good writers have the skills to write well, it's the writing fast which confounds them.
My wife is a writer and she summarizes succinctly: "It's easier to fix crap than air".
Nanowrimo does many would-be writers a service: permission to write lots of crap and then spend the next 11 months fixing it.
I'm finally going to get that story together next month. It might not be 50,000 words, but it'll be better than nothing.
My father is a blogger.
I can appreciate the motivational aspic of telling someone to "get off your butt and do something". The act of trying can get people past the initial hurdle - but isn't 50k words a huge undertaking? That alone seem daunting. (Clearly I am no novelist). (In fact I hardly have a grasp on the English language)
Also this kills me..."valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft " that is a quote right from the Bush and Kerry handbook.
Instead of raising your voice, try strengthening your argument.
...Is that they never write sequels.
Can I ask you a question then? What about this contest did you like enough to participate (twice, in fact)?
I'm just curious, because I used to enjoy writing, but I generally wrote short poems and a few short stories, years ago. These days, I sometimes briefly consider the idea of writing a book - but the task seems too daunting and time-consuming. The idea of spewing out 50,000 words or so in only 30 days' time and producing something I'm not embarassed to have my name attached to doesn't sound like a concept I like at all.
I always found short stories more "manageable", since you basically just have to come up with a good idea, a few interesting characters, and be descriptive about what happens, related to that "core concept" you had in your head. A novel, on the other hand, seems like it requires much more structure. Your characters are going to be described as they sequentially go through a big series of events. (Maybe even a good part of their life!)
Also, it's not as easy as it seems, especially when you miss days due to unforeseen circumstances.
!sig
There's this oddly manic and excitable and optimistic feel to the atmosphere on the NaNo forums. I can write 50k words in 30 days on my own, but then I wouldn't have the support and encouragement of hundreds of other writers going through the same thing.
And instead of wondering "will this be good" or "will this go over well with readers", we can just let go and write what we want to write. Several NaNoers have regained their love of writing after rediscovering how fun it can be.
A lot of us won't be publishing our stories, or even considering it. We're just in it for the laughs.
!sig
There's another month for getting it right. NaNoWriMo is for getting it written.
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You are what you think.
And when you're done with your novel you can publish it on Lulu. I think Lulu is a fantastic idea, and I hope they don't go out of business.
Education is the silver bullet.
Take part in the ICFP programming contest. It's exactly about that. And the time you have there is 72 hours.
Don't drink and sudo
It's kind of like parenthood: QUANTITY TIME is far, far better than QUALITY TIME.
A lot of people tell themselves that they're good parents, but never spend any time with their kids.
A lot of people tell themselves that they could write a great novel, but have never actually done it. I think this is a great idea, and if it weren't for the fact that November is the Absolute Worst Month at my job, I would be participating for sure. As it stands, I'm still thinking about participating.
Go pee on someone else's parade, orpx.
Education is the silver bullet.
...we send you over to the west country on Dorset.
Commentator: Hello, and welcome to Dorchester, where a very good crowd has turned out to watch local boy Thomas Hardy write his new novel "The Return Of The Native", on this very pleasant July morning. This will be his eleventh novel and the fifth of the very popular Wessex novels, and here he comes! Here comes Hardy, walking out towards his desk. He looks confident, he looks relaxed, very much the man in form, as he acknowledges this very good natured bank holliday crowd. And the crowd goes quiet now, as Hardy settles himself down at the desk, body straight, shoulders relaxed, pen held lightly but firmly in the right hand. He dips the pen...in the ink, and he's off! It's the first word, but it's not a word - oh, no! - it's a doodle. Way up on the top of the lefthand margin is a piece of meaningless scribble - and he's signed his name underneath it! Oh dear, what a disapointing start. But his off again - and here he goes - the first word of Thomas Hardy's new novel, at ten thirtyfive on this very lovely morning, it's three letters, it's the definite article, and it's "The!"
(continues)
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
To get to the point where you can write something that is well thought out, compelling and interesting to others, you need to write something half-assed, boring and uninteresting to others so that you can learn and grow. By not writing, you can't find out and learn.
Thats why your first quote of "if you can't do something right then don't do it at all" doesn't apply here. (I'm not even sure where it would apply)
Its very rare where someone trys something (writing, drawing, singing, programming, rocketry, etc) for the very first time and there is no room for improvment.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
>> On the other hand, if 'right' means writing 50k words in such a way that it tells a well thought out, compelling, and interesting story to not only the author but to the reader as well, then that is much more of an undertaking.
... and they don't write a freling thing. In that case, you're left with ideas in your head, and maybe a stack of notebooks from 'universe building' sessions at coffee shops ... and no fiction.
... but to get a participant writing SOMETHING. Even if it's complete dreck. That's the same advice that published authors and writing seminar teachers give -- get in the habit of writng *something* every day. 100% guarantee that most of it will be crap. However, there will be gems hidden in the crap, that you pull out and polish.
... maybe even print it out doublesided and let it sit on the shelf so they can point to it and say "See? My novel!"
... instead of a bunch of ideas that "aren't quite right", and writer's block inspired dents in the monitor from when you've driven your skull into it repeatedly.
Quite a few people (me included) spend so much time angsting over getting the plotline "just right" and all the various interconnecting subplots to "mesh perfectly" and/or throwing away plot ideas because they're not the gold-plated shining storyline
The goal with NANO is not to shoot for mediocrity
The mediocre participants can reach the 50K mark at the end of November, call their novel finished
The real authors in the crowd will know they've written dreck that will need serious re-writes. If they lack motivation to do *that*, 'NANOEDMO' (editing month) is a few months later. There's a good chance that 90% of the mediocre crap they churned out in November will be thrown out-- leaving 10% to recraft into a new story.
But at least they have the 10% out there to work with
_________________
This mind intentionally left blank.
There's a similar exercise for writers with a more visually artistic bent: 24-Hour Comics. There are a few rules, but the gist of it is that one creator produces a complete 24-page comicbook in 24 consecutive hours. That includes coming up with the idea, writing the story, laying it out, finishing the art, and lettering it. You can do one any day you like, but 23 April 2005 is going to be the next "official" 24 Hour Comics Day in which probably hundreds of cartoonists around the world will each attempt it over the same weekend. The first organised event was this past April, and I plan to participate next year.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
No one said you had to stop writing after the 30-day limit. The idea here is just to get people off of their asses and onto the word processor, notepad, napkin, whatever. Originally, the thing didn't have a deadline - it was added because of the ability of the author to come up with unique and creative solutions to problems when burdened in such a manner. Basically, Hacker Logic applied to writing. I don't see why the Slashdot community seems to be so viciously against this; haven't you ever produced a piece of code in a limited amount of time? Does time, in that sense, automatically yield bad results? Well?
It's kind of like parenthood: QUANTITY TIME is far, far better than QUALITY TIME.
Are you serious? Yes, I guess you are. You filibuster the kid into being hopeless with massive ammounts of 'quanitity' time. Rather than providing the quality time that can help them reach their own level of qualitive quantity, without being badgered by an over-opinionated, lost, parent, BUT HEY THEY ARE SPENDING MASSIVE AMMOUNTS OF POINTLESS TIME WITH THEM.
Alot of people tell themselves they can write a great novel. Then they write one, and it's not so great. And it's not so great because they cannot express themselves in the way they should. Little do they know, their idea is the greatest idea ever, with only infinity as it's limit. But they are severly limited by outside sources, aka people who want to waste time with QUANITITY, rather than quality.
Your job sounds like alot of quantity time, rather than spending your 'quality' time, writing november's competition.
Point is, I only Pee on parades, parading the inevitably pointless stupid time wasting projects humans spend their time on that in the long run only cause MORE HARM.
I'm a published novelist (Star Dragon, Tor, and my second one will be out in early 2006). I sold the second one, Spider Star, under contract and had a deadline to meet. I spent several months working on background and other research, started writing the draft last February, and finished in July. Because of teaching, I'd only hit about 50k words by the end of May and wrote about 50k words in the following six weeks. It's a harsh effort. Burnout is possible. Revisions will be super necessary, and extensive. If you haven't spent a lot of time doing research in advance, you're likely to make big mistakes somewhere. There are some fast-writing professionals out there. You've heard the stories, many true, about cranking out a book in a week. They don't put their own names on those. Those writers still say they need a few months, WORKING FULL TIME, to write a good book. I'm just a little worried that people will write bad books, get burned out, and fail at their dreams by this approach. The sense of community can help, but this smacks more of a stunt than a serious professional effort. If you need stunts to write, maybe you're not a writer. If it's just a fun thing to try, fine, but think hard about your goals and the relationship with your writing before attempting this.
Professor of Astronomy, Author of Spider Star & Star Dragon (Tor)
Wow, I didn't realize what an asshole you are, or I wouldn't have bothered responding to you.
Parents need to spend time with their kids. A parent who uses the logic, "Well, we went fishing last year" is an idiot. Parents should be making time to be near their kids, so they can be around when the kid needs them. A child doesn't know how to ask for help - it takes an observant parent to notice when a child has problems. Maybe you were talking about teenagers. A 5-year-old doesn't resent their parent's time, as long as they're given their own room and time and space as well.
The vast majority of aspiring authors never write a single novel. So, I disagree with your assertion that "they write one, and it's not so great."
This is a voluntary, fun idea for people who probably have NOT already written that first idea as you describe.
You've never had a deadline at work? Your job must be pretty menial - the kind that robots will be doing some day.
It doesn't cause harm to encourage people to be creative. Someone who thinks this way clearly has no creativity.
I think you need a Time Out.
Education is the silver bullet.
It hardly seems like a difficult task to me, provided you've got the motivation to sink your soul into such a work.
What makes you think sinking your soul into something is easy? And why do you think writing is easy? Writing fiction is not the same thing as writing a slashdot post. If it is, you're probably not doing one of them right.
A lot of people think that writing is easy. After all, everyone can write down words and sentences. It's a highly skilled art form and it takes years to get good at it, the same way it takes years to get good at any highly skilled activity. I wrote hundreds of thousands of fiction before I tackled novels. I wrote many short stories, even sold a few. I collected at least a couple of hundred rejection slips. It isn't easy, and the competition is fierce.
Please, feel free to prove me wrong and write a decent to good novelette next month. There are rare writers who are good right away, and while there are already too many writers vying for the available publishing slots, there's always room for good writers.
Professor of Astronomy, Author of Spider Star & Star Dragon (Tor)
What they should be doing is practicing their craft on short stories, failing and learning there, before tackling an entire novel with any hope for success.
Short stories and novels are totally different fields. That's like saying you need to practice writing four-minute pop songs before you can learn to write a symphony. You learn to write novels by writing novels, not by writing short stories.
Slash has nothing to do with Slashdot.
All I can say is I learned more from writing 57,000 words in a month last year (actually, 94,000 in two months, since I didn't stop) than I learned in over ten years of writing short stories.
You don't learn much about scenes from writing short stories. You don't learn much about gradual character development, or long-term plot arcs, or pacing of subplots. Short stories can teach you basic skills of writing description and good sentences, but so can essays and writing exercises.
More importantly, they require different skills. They require a concise idea and usually a single plotline. They require a certain style of presenting and dealing with characters that doesn't apply to longer works.
Some people seem to be natural short story writers, some natural novelists. Some people can easily handle both. The problem is with the people who are natural novelists: excellent at long plots, large casts, and gradual character developments, but no good at handling the short-story format. They're told repeatedly that they have to do stories before they can do novels, and they end up never trying novels because they haven't had success with short stories. This is the sort of person who is an excellent candidate for NaNoWriMo.
What I discovered last year was that for me, novels are easy, breathtakingly easy, compared to short stories. I could write a single novel in the time it took me to develop one or two painful and difficult short stories. And it was fun and fascinating, and the writing got markedly better as I went on. (Though it wasn't much to brag about before the second edit.) Apparently, I'm not much of a concise-idea person, but I do well with a long, complicated plot structure.
If short stories helped you, then great. But don't assume that it works the same way for everyone. Many people spend years hearing the myth that you must learn short stories first, and never get a chance to develop their real skills with novels.
Slash has nothing to do with Slashdot.
Well...you know, if you do nothing but write - you don't eat, drink, or sleep, then you'll probably die by the time you get to 50,000 words, just like the Kamakaze pilots during WWII.
It'd probably make the end of the book kind of interesting, what with the psychosis that you get from sleep depravation.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
But then, 95% of fiction on store shelves these days is utter crap. It's written by morons whose idea of prose style is dominated by extensive TV watching, whose plots are recycled from LoTR, Star Wars, or possibly Speed Racer. And maybe all three. You do NOT learn good writing techniques in crap-cramming marathons. You only learn to rush your thinking and self-judgement, not to think well and write well. As Harlan Ellison said in another context, these people are merely going to be 'creative typists'.
In the coding context, a tight dreadline may force your focus to be tight, but it does not guarantee good code nor learning quality. It just leads to code-spew. All I ever see from the majority of pressured coders at work is half-assed broken limping code done in death marches. Discipline and thought and a little pride in standards of quality are way better working standards than treating production like some video game you're trying to beat the clock on.
The night was saltry.
I just see a lot of beginners tackling novels before they have the skills to do it, and getting so wrapped up in their baby that it's devestating when they can't sell it.
That's the beauty of NaNoWriMo. It's so ridiculous, so high-spirited, so much pure fun, that no one expects their novels to be great literary works of art. They're not paralyzed by the fear that they'll write 50,000 words of crap, because they expect to write 50,000 words of crap. Instead of spending years struggling to write the Great American Novel and then being devastated when that first effort doesn't sell, they can write 50,000 words of something they enjoy for pure fun, and learn something in the process. And they don't have to invest years of struggle into it.
For a few people (myself included), that first hectic effort is a very rough draft that later gets ripped apart - I literally cut and reworked 40,000 words in my first edit alone - and polished several times for eventual submission to publishers. In those cases, we're still talking about a significant time investment and a serious project. For other people, it's just fun, a way to see if they can do it.
I haven't yet seen anyone on NaNo who considered their unedited NaNo effort to be a work of genius or who was disappointed about seeing it rejected. And at the rate of one NaNo a year, a writer would likely have at least two books completed before getting the first one rejected, so there's unlikely to be the same element of "I can't believe they rejected my baby" in the process.
You say that the idea of writing a novel before you were ready was psychologically daunting. The whole point of NaNo is to make the process less psychologically daunting. Isn't that a good thing?
Slash has nothing to do with Slashdot.
And where on earth did you get these definitions? At any rate, they certainly aren't universal.
From the Wikipedia entries on Novel, Novella, and Novelette. The contents of those articles state that they are the guidelines adopted for the Hugo and Nebula science fiction awards. While obviously there is some wiggle room, it would appear that 50,000 words is well into the territory of the average novel.
"I would give my right hand to be ambidextrous."
I did Nanowrimo last year. I had about 40000 words written years ago, but never finished it. So I took the situation and characters and wrote a new book, different adventures. It's not great, but I got off my posterior and WROTE it!! That's the important part. And yes, I am doing it again this year. Don't have a plot yet, but it'll come to me.
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