(Notes from 12/15/08)
In November, I participated into the NaNoWriMo online challenge. The goal is to write a 50,000+ word novel in the month of November. No editing or revising, just writing intensely every day.
I was lucky enough to go through this with several other writers from various Donald Maass workshops, including Lorin Oberweger, who put this group together.
My first goal was the novel (of sorts.) I did that and won my little logo. After that, my task was to go back and fill in the more hastily-written scenes to create a complete first draft.
After reaching my second goal in two additional weeks, I took a day off to reflect on what this writer wrought. I realized then what an amazing thing NaNo offers to writers adrift. I'd never worked so intensely, or come at a story from so many different angles, or produced so many results in such a short time.
Since I knew about iNaNo's potential afteraffects, I was a little leery of participating. After the month's done, lots of people are burned out and don't write much for awhile. I'm sure many of my fellow travelers felt a bit of that. However, I'm sure that having the support we shared during the month made the journey less exhausting, and much more rewarding. So I must thank Lorin, again, for putting my wheels in motion, and thank all of my companions for keeping the light green.
I personally think NaNo's main value lies not in piling up vast amounts of words (although I admired that), but in forcing us to work with such concentration on one thing. I really think having that focus made us more creative, and challenged us, and finally pushed us down into the unconscious well and coming up with great things. That our group spun so much quality fiction astonished me. And in a good way.
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