Why I soured on NaNoWriMo

I used to love National Novel Writing Month. I've done it three times, even "winning" twice. The first time I did the event, I was in between jobs and the task of writing every day helped me stay as positive as I could. Those that were around me at the time might wonder (correctly) how I was "positive", but it is what it is.

For those that don't know, the purpose of National Novel Writing Month is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. The aim of this goal is kind of noble. How many people want to write, but don't? The event makes you carve out time for writing, makes you sit down and write. Even if it is "crap", you're writing. As someone who enjoys writing, I know that a lot of what I write is crap, whether or not it's part of a marathon sprint.

I enjoy the idea of National Novel Writing Month, but I also know what it has done to me as a writer. As someone who would like to get published someday, I decided to use National Novel Writing Month as  way to get a few ideas started. Both were fantasy novels.

Both are terrible.

I've gone back and read them and hate it. It's the worst stuff I've ever written. There's no thought to the writing. It's just getting words on a page so that I can say I accomplished a goal. While I don't use the "dirty tricks" to get there (I've seen things such as including a characters full name and occupation every time they speak, or just adding needless dialogue), it was still fairly rubbish. I suppose that could be expected for a first draft, but here's the thing.

I ended up hating my characters, my stories, everything. Hated it. Didn't want to look at it. The stories weren't finished at 50,000 words. I went back to continue on writing, but I could not do it. I just hated it to much. I grew sick of the story. Returning to these places that I created became a chore. 

When I first did National Novel Writing Month, I was beginning to flirt with the idea of becoming a teacher. I thought to myself, "wouldn't this be an awesome extra credit assignment? They could get a point for every thousand words they write!" And now, I think "what a better way to turn students off from writing". I will want my students to write, I will want them to engage with their creative side, but I want them to do it in a way that is productive and beneficial. 

I should note that this is my personal experience. But, I do wonder how many of the winners of National Novel Writing Month have similar ones? How many say, "well, that was terrible and I won't do it again". Those that win, but use dirty tricks to get there, do they feel as if they've accomplished something? Do they feel that they are Writers (as opposed to writers, who merely put words on a page, Writers are something more)? 

I came across this article from Salon about National Novel Writing Month. Ironically, I got it from a NaNoWriMo group on Facebook, where it was labeled as "anti-NaNoWriMo drek" . The premise of the article was basically that participants aren't writing anything good (again, stated goal of the event) are ignoring what it takes to be a good writer (reading....and lots of reading), and so if they aren't going to take the writing process seriously, than what is the point? The writing process is NOT just sitting down and writing. It is not just bulldozing your way to the end of your task. The writing process is something that takes time, concerted effort, and a lot of thinking and reflection. I fear that for many of National Novel Writing Month participants, they cut out all of that and just write.

For anyone that comes across this and is ready to blast me for hating on people who create, I am not doing that at all. By all means, write! Create! As one of the commenters on the Facebook post said, "write what you want, when you want". If you feel that you have a story inside of you, than by all means get it out. But, take the story seriously. Take your own creation seriously. Coax it out of yourself, give it lots of thought, develop your characters and your world. Do research to make it more real. Reflect on your story, where it has been and where it is going. Can you do this in one month? Possibly. And yes, I know the saying "write in November, edit in December". But, if you're rushing through the writing part of the writing process, are you really going to give the rest of the process the attention it needs?

Happy writing to you all. I think I'll go visit some of my own characters myself.