I don't expect to "win" NaNoWriMo this year. I've only just made it to 32,000 and I'm close to the climax. Even though I expect to finish the story and even edit it, this one feels like work where last year's felt like play. I would like to hear from writers what you think causes the difference.
Once I finish I'll post about my Portland trip.
progress
Perhaps your comparison of last year's NaNo to this one is like the comparison of one DAY to the next in almost every writer's experience:
ReplyDeleteSunday's writing comes forth effortlessly, and Monday's writing feels like passing kidney stones.
The important thing is that you WRITE regularly. No matter what.
So I would say that Congratulations to you are in order!
It's just a question of inertia. For NaNo this year, it's saying to myself, I'm not going to write this next part of the plot until I hit this mark. Also, if you know your characters and the plot really well, it's easy. Attended lots of write-ins to write with other people to bounce ideas off of is helpful too.
ReplyDeleteI've had this, most notably over Camp NaNoWriMo when I tried to write a Serious Book, on the heels of editing a goofy piece of fluff. I quit on that story at around 35K, because I just dreaded writing it, and I couldn't make it happen (it didn't hurt that it was the middle of July, either -- too nice outside to write!)
ReplyDeleteFor me, it got me to think about what genres I like to read, and how what I was writing was not that genre. I wasn't letting myself have any fun with the characters, and they just laid flat on the page... and then took the story into strange, dark places. I spent a lot of time spinning my writing wheels on backstory and secondary characters rather than facing my plot head-on. And to be honest, the plot was paper-thin -- it may be better served as a short story.
This was a case of "learn from your mistakes." What made past NaNo's work so well, and how was that missing from this one? And certainly don't let it discourage you from trying again. Be like me! Deny that failure ever happened, and then bury it in a deep, dark hole (and then mine the draft for stuff that can be recycled into other stories.)
What's odd is I'm enthusiastic about the story - I have so many options that I get stuck picking one, then I have to recheck to see what I wrote to keep consistent. Every new character I think, hmm is this one the villain? To me that's fun, but these characters aren't moving the story like last year's. I've managed to keep them in the dark and I have to throw them something to grab onto. That's the "work" I guess.
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