National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) is a simple premise. Write a 50,000 word novella (according to Google the average novel length is around 80,000-100,000 words) in the span of November. This averages around 1,667 words a day. I’ve been aware of this for several years, as my brother is an avid participant. But this year I joined on a lark. About a couple of days before it started, I got an idea for a story and just decided to take the bit in my teeth and do it. I wish I could tell you this was going to be a story of triumph, but I ended my November with around 36,500 words. Hey, but I beat Patrick Rothfuss, and that’s kinda cool.
But more importantly, I learned how I work.
I found that having small concrete goals (the 1,667) helped get me into a pattern. And when I get into a pattern, it locks nicely. Typically when I’ve written stories (I have a stack of unfinished scraps dating back to high school) I tended to write all the “cool stuff” first and then expected to go in and piece it all together. This is rather like every bad action film you see out there today. And being visually oriented, I also tended to skimp on scenery and descriptions. However, for the 1,667, I forced myself to do a scene a day and then go back and flesh out the background, the descriptions, and whatever else I cheated on. I didn’t meet my goal due to the pattern breaking to social obligations, my birthday, and Thanksgiving. I know they must of picked November for how it goes with the word “novel,” but it’s the worst time to try to write when you’ve got a four day weekend smack in the middle of it that’s dedicated to being social.
Which goes to the next important thing that I’ve learned: that it’s ok to just focus on one thing and fight and scrap for the time to do it. I’ve always had big picture plans, so I’d have this huge overall goal that I thought I was making concrete steps for like “Become an FX industry professional,” “Break into Concept Art,” “Become an Illustrator” or “Write an epic graphic novel.” Now you can break those down into concrete goals, don’t get me wrong. But my vision was too vague, and always I felt like I was grasping for straws because I couldn’t picture exactly what I wanted except “to be successful.” With NaNoWriMo, I learned it was ok to think small. Find something you are passionate about, and do it to the fullest. See where that leads. I think this is my best answer to Jon Schindehette‘s ArtOrder blog article Crises of Faith.
The final takeaway from the NaNoWriMo experience is to keep making small goals. I’m following a monthly format. For December, I’ve challenged myself to work on an illustration based on the story I’m writing. Thumbnails are enclosed in my post, cause everyone likes blogs with pictures, right? And I’m still writing my story. I’ve never written 36,500 words of anything, so I’m committed and want to see it through. I’m currently at 38,500.
I think 2012 is going to be pretty exciting. I hope you stay tuned as I clean up this website and watch with me on what happens next.
