Well, do you? I do. If you do too, feel free to be my “buddy” on NaNoWriMo.org. You’ll find me under the name Anysia (which means complete in, erm, some language, so I thought it was fitting for writing a novel — or at least the draft). I’ve seen some NaNo participant buttons on book blogs I’ve visited lately so I know you’re out there. Maybe we can start a group on the NaNo forums.
If you’ve ever read a book and thought “Pffft, I could do that” you should check out National Novel Writing Month (which is actually National Novel Draft Writing Month unless you’re particularly delusional). I used to watch TV and think “Pffft, I could do that.” Then I got stuck in a drama class in eighth grade and found out it’s not that easy. It looks easy because the actors are good at what they do, but that’s not the same as it being easy. I’ve never managed to be any good at drama (in fact I was terrified each and every class), but I’m glad that I went through it because every time I watch a movie or TV show I now appreciate that it is a skill and a talent.
If you only ever do NaNoWriMo once, you will at least come away with an appreciation of how hard it is to even write the first draft of a novel (and, arguably, 50 000 words –the goal of NaNoWriMo– is really a novella). Having done NaNoWriMo for several years (I find it enjoyable and it gives me a scaffold to build on in January), I appreciate books and their authors more. I appreciate the amount of revision it takes to get the sentences just right. I appreciate the challenge of creating a plot that doesn’t have holes you can drive a Mac truck through. I appreciate the butt-in-chair, write-even-when-you-don’t-want-to discipline that it takes to get from beginning to end and not drown in the interminable middle. And I appreciate that it takes months, even years, of painstaking work to get to something that even remotely approaches publishable.
If you’re interested in playing along, look me up. I could use the company and encouragement.
