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NaNoWrMo and Other Gimmicks
Nov. 10th, 2009 09:50 amNaNoWrMo, hereafter "NaNo," refers to National Novel Writing Month, which is the month of November. The idea is for all the budding novelists in the world to write 50,000 words by month end.
I always thought NaNo was a gimmick, like wearing a rubber band around your wrist to stop smoking. Like any gimmick, it can be good or bad.
For beginning novelists, one of the big obstacles is “get the damn manuscript done,” a close cousin to "I'll write a novel someday." NaNo can help make that happen, or at least get you in sight of the target. Another beginning novelist trap is the "must have perfect Chapter 1" concept. In this trap, the novelist keeps going back to revise Chapter 1, and never even starts chapter 10. Cranking out 50K words will put that bug to rest.
But all gimmicks have limitations. NaNo's limitation is when people assume that the 50K words they just puked onto the page are the Next Great American Masterpiece. They are not - and they are probably not even a finished work.
Assuming otherwise can get you into trouble.
I always thought NaNo was a gimmick, like wearing a rubber band around your wrist to stop smoking. Like any gimmick, it can be good or bad.
For beginning novelists, one of the big obstacles is “get the damn manuscript done,” a close cousin to "I'll write a novel someday." NaNo can help make that happen, or at least get you in sight of the target. Another beginning novelist trap is the "must have perfect Chapter 1" concept. In this trap, the novelist keeps going back to revise Chapter 1, and never even starts chapter 10. Cranking out 50K words will put that bug to rest.
But all gimmicks have limitations. NaNo's limitation is when people assume that the 50K words they just puked onto the page are the Next Great American Masterpiece. They are not - and they are probably not even a finished work.
Assuming otherwise can get you into trouble.
