NaNoWriMo

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rilte4

rilte4

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Anyone done it in the past, or started today?

After churning out a ton of medically-relevant writing in the past month, maybe I'm just on a writing high, but I thought to try it out. There's also the chance I'll put it too high on the priority list and it'll derail my life a little bit. Who knows.

With all the talk of new medical blogs around these parts, it seems that coupling medicine and writing only makes things more interesting.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Good luck to those of you who got started today!
 
I have both done it in the past and I started again today. I recommend it highly to anyone who's interested in writing.

I did it successfully a couple of years ago while I was taking orgo and bio, so I don't think it's gonna derail your life. It's actually kind of the opposite. The busier you are, the more you are somehow able to accomplish. It's like momentum.
 
I support nanowrimo, but I find the idea of completing a set number of words per day to be detrimental to the quality of my writing.

I prefer to write my novels at a natural pace. (A pace which increases when I am doing few other things, and practically stops when I am most busy.)
 
Spinach Dip said:
I support nanowrimo, but I find the idea of completing a set number of words per day to be detrimental to the quality of my writing.

I prefer to write my novels at a natural pace. (A pace which increases when I am doing few other things, and practically stops when I am most busy.)
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Novels? Like, multiple?
 
Spinach Dip said:
I support nanowrimo, but I find the idea of completing a set number of words per day to be detrimental to the quality of my writing.

I prefer to write my novels at a natural pace. (A pace which increases when I am doing few other things, and practically stops when I am most busy.)
Click to expand...

The whole point of nanowrimo is to stop caring about the quality of your writing and get something done quickly. You can always go back and edit later. When you turn off that hypercritical inner voice that says, "this is bad writing," you actually become more creative. I found that doing nanowrimo has made write more often and write better outside of November.
 
rilte4 said:
Novels? Like, multiple?
Click to expand...

:nod:


Cotterpin said:
The whole point of nanowrimo is to stop caring about the quality of your writing and get something done quickly. You can always go back and edit later. When you turn off that hypercritical inner voice that says, "this is bad writing," you actually become more creative. I found that doing nanowrimo has made write more often and write better outside of November.
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Disagree. I'd rather write something of quality than put crap on paper and spruce it up later.

We can have different styles, though. No one method works for everyone.
 
Spinach Dip said:
Disagree. I'd rather write something of quality than put crap on paper and spruce it up later.

We can have different styles, though. No one method works for everyone.
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Hemingway said, "the first draft of anything is ****."
 
Cotterpin said:
Hemingway said, "the first draft of anything is ****."
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"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the same as the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

-Mark Twain
 
Spinach Dip said:
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the same as the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

-Mark Twain
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I'll bet Mark Twain believed in editing his writing after the fact, though. Like ever single other successful writer ever.

EDIT:

"You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it."

-Mark Twain
 
Cotterpin said:
I'll bet Mark Twain believed in editing his writing after the fact, though. Like ever single other successful writer ever.
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Uhm.... I agree that editing is extremely important. :shrug: I just find that holding myself to word limits hurts more than helps.

I will leave you with my second-favorite Mark Twain quote:

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself."
 
Spinach Dip said:
Uhm.... I agree that editing is extremely important. :shrug: I just find that holding myself to word limits hurts more than helps.
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Lol, you said: "I'd rather write something of quality than put crap on paper and spruce it up later." Which blows off the concept of editing.

It's not word limits. It's quotas. I find it helps vastly more than it hurts. The first draft comes out equally bad either way. But when you have a deadline, at least you eventually have a complete first draft.
 
I've done it the last two years and hoping to do it again this year.

I actually feel like it helps the quality of my writing. Sure there is a lot of crap that comes out in NaNo but I also get to things that I don't think I would get to if I wrote in a more careful way. It gets my inner perfectionist out of the way and sometimes leads to really inspired and different writing from my usual. Plus it just gets me to sit my @$$ in the chair and write, which gets neglected more than it should during other parts of the year.
 
I've done it in the past, even during Med school, but while I probably could manage to complete another novel to year, I have had zero time to plan one out, so it would not be beneficial to start one now.
 
I've wanted to try this for the past few years but still haven't been able to pull the trigger. Plus, I can never think of a story idea that would get me to the word quota. Major props to those who can do this though. Writing is hard!
 
I don't know that it'll happen for me this year, guys. Half of my brain says "You will sit down and crank out 1700 words after work", while the other half says "But wine."
 
rilte4 said:
I don't know that it'll happen for me this year, guys. Half of my brain says "You will sit down and crank out 1700 words after work", while the other half says "But wine."
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Why not both 1700 words and wine?
 
I did it three times, of course each time I did it I won. Now I can't do it anymore and I am somewhat sad. My second one needs to be finished and published because that one has real potential to be helpful now. The other two not so much despite the third one being what Goro asked me to write. Needs a lot of work first!

There are a lot of people who need that 1667 words a day as a target. If you can do 5000 words in a day, great you are just getting ahead.
 
Y'all are impressive. I'm just over here trying to put some words on the page.
 
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