NaNoWriMo
A brief break from the Ursula Le Guin exercise series. I’m trying (as she recommends) to do some analysis of a great writer, and that’s taking time; it’s also looking to turn into a bit of a series unto itself, so I may wait to present my findings until after the Le Guin series is done. Anyway….
This month I’m doing NaNoWriMo (that’s National Novel Writing Month), an annual writing event that takes place in November.
The idea is that you announce the project you’re going to work on, and then during November you buckle down and write a great deal, ending with a novel 50,000+ words long, or anyway a solid draft: the 50k cutoff is supposed to distinguish between novel-length and novella or short story. If you have any interest in doing this, the website is at this link. https://nanowrimo.org (And hurry up—it’s November already!)
People approach this in lots of different ways. Some people use November to try to make a lot of progress on something they’ve been working on; very often, they’ve got a thing they’ve struggled with off and on, and they use the NaNoWriMo to make a push toward finishing it. Some people have always wanted to write a novel, and they try to make the month their test-case: can I really do this? And so many other variations.
As you go along during the month, you post your news on the site. Mostly that’s word-counts: today I wrote 3000 words, huzzah; today I didn’t manage to write anything, uh oh. Like that. And people jump in and cheer you on: they can become “writing buddies” or follow you or whatever. If you’d like to do this, much appreciated: my link to sign up is…. [NOTE: if you’re reading this and there’s no link, it’s because I’ve asked the NaNoWriMo people how this works, and they haven’t replied. As of today, October 31, they have not replied even though I asked 2 weeks ago and they say it should take at most 4 business days….]
My plan for the month is pretty ambitious. I completed a solid draft of The Rules, the first Ghildor book, and while a bunch of so-called “beta readers” (I hate that term) read it and provide comments, I’m going to write another Ghildor book. I’m going to go with a pretty strict interpretation of the rules. The rules are pretty much optional: you don’t sign something saying you’re going to obey, after all. But there are still event rules, which you can find at this link.
Already in late September, I had about 400 words of bits and pieces that I was thinking about using for the next Ghildor book. Those may be kept, or chucked, as they seem useful to me. Beyond this, I did not write a word of the novel before Nov. 1.
I was allowed all the planning and outlining and whatever that I want. So, contrary to my usual practice, I made up detailed character sketches, place descriptions, all that stuff. I also worked out an intricate plot in advance; since I’m mostly a semi-controlled “pantser”—I lay out a general picture and then fly by the seat of my pants—this is going to be very different for me.
Starting November 1, I can write all I want. At 11:59pm November 30, I have to dust my hands and announce where I got to.
I’m not going to explain the plot of this book, except to say that it is essentially a murder mystery inside a heist thriller. And no, before you ask, Ghildor didn’t commit the murder—probably. The tricky, complicated part is that a lot of the evidence in the murder investigation is provided before the murder takes place, through the offices of a diviner reading the future. That serious confuses the whole nature of a murder mystery, and makes it all the more essential to keep my head clear and focus on what I’m doing.
In any event, please do follow me on the site. I’ll post occasional updates when I reach some milestone or whatever. And I will also post more in the Ursula K. Le Guin Steering the Craft exercises series.
Cross your fingers: I’d really like to have at least a rough first draft by December 1.