nanowrimo, why can’t every day be like this…
so far nanowrimo has been going excellently for me this year. it’s only day 5 and i’ve written over 10,000 words. that’s 2,000 words a day average, which exceeds the 1,667 minimum daily requirement to make 50,000 words by the end of the month. the thing that feels so good right now is it’s like a tap has been opened and words are flowing like water. certainly, i have enough story inside of me and a strong enough desire to put it down on paper to be able to accomplish this feat. what saddens me is that i do not have this enthusiasm for writing every single day of the year. what i’m getting an insight into is the lifestyle of accomplished writers that talk about going to their offices and writing for 4-6 hours a day, every day. for what i’m working on writing right now, it would take that sort of commitment to turn this into a professional piece of literature. i am just in blow-torch mode right now, blazing these words out in story fashion rather recklessly because of the regulations of nanowrimo. if it were not for nanowrimo, there would be no fire lit under me boiling these words to the surface. maybe this will be my contemplation during this month. what do i need to do to keep this fire lit in my life.
part of what i’m starting to experience this month is physical and mental fatigue. my back hurts more than usual from so much sitting and i’m starting to get a little carpal tunnel from all the keyboard pounding. one thing that surprises me is that i have no shortage of energy flow for ideas of what to put into this story. i pretty much know the whole story already, but when i sit down for a day’s writing session much more flesh appears upon the skeleton than i originally thought would have been there. thus, i’ve got this feeling that i could just keep writing right through the day. this is a spot where nanowrimo is putting a limit on my potential because of that 1,667 word a day number in my head. i mean, i understand the logic of it. i’ve seen it work for me before when i succeeded in completing a full novel in 2008, but at the pace i’m writing at now, with the amount flesh there is to stick to this skeleton, i’m imagining surpassing the 50k word goal. maybe i’ll write a 70k word novel this year just because this story needs that many words. as long as i get the 50k down by the 30th, any surplus will be brownie points.
that is all.
Comments
It is always interesting to hear how different writers approach their craft. Some do what you are doing now - write in short, intensive bursts to finish a project, and then go into a fallow period. Others develop a regular routine with a specified amount of time or output to complete. These usually build in short periods of time off.
I try to write some everyday, even just a paragraph or page. The point is to not allow yourself to make excuses or procrastinate.
The other aspect is to finish the work, just as sculptors and painters do. They know when their work has been fully realized. I think writer's have a wider world to appeal to. A novel or story or poem that is not experienced by others seems unfinished, even though it has an ending. A painter can hang his work on his wall and call it done and possibly enjoy it for art's sake. As a writer, my story or poem is not complete until someone else has read it. Even Emily Dickinson shared her work within her family and social circle.
You are doing what good writers do - writing, finishing, and showing your work.
Thom