I once heard Neil Gaiman, among others, say that all you need to do to be a writer is write. I didn't believe him until I started NaNoWriMo. As far as I'm now concerned: if you've written one word for all November, you're one word more of a writer than the person who hasn't yet decided to take a shot and write that word down.
For me, It's been a very enlightening month as far as what people are capable of when they get out of their own way, even a little bit. Its also been a pleasure getting a chance to meet so many of you and being able to talk to people who are so motivated that they're willing to even give this crazy month a try, despite having a personal life. Thank you all, it's been an honor to write along side of you.
So...we're down to our last week and come Saturday morning we're done with NaNoWriMo, if we're done or not. The big thing here is that being done with NaNo doesn't mean that you have to be done with your writing. Don't be bummed if you're behind and don't think you'll finish on time. By all means try, but don't stop writing now just because you think you won't be able to finish it by Friday night. Keep going.
Because, guess what?
Just by writing...you've become a writer!
How cool is that?
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"I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions." - Augusten Burroughs
50,150 / 50,000
Nov 27, 2007 - 20 01
Good post, and I agree 100%. I've been crazy enough to do this now four years running. I honestly don't know if I'll do it a fifth time, because as much as I enjoy the challenge, I know that I'm not going to do anything with what I'm writing now.
Keep pushing everybody. Even if the odds are against you, get as much done as you can. I'm pulling for everyone in this region to hit 50,000!
50,198 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 04 37
I would have to agree with you pseudojoe. It takes courage to even say you will attempt to write a novel. As you said, even writing one word down makes you a writer. I did NaNoWriMo for the first time last year. I had no idea what I was going to write, I just knew that once I started to write, I would finish it. And I did, I won. This year I had an idea of writing a sequel to last year's NaNoWriMo novel. So it went a lot faster and a lot smoother this year. In fact, I even had an idea for another novel and started that one as soon as I finished the first one. I now have over 12,000 words on my newest novel. I just don't want to stop writing. I have so many things I want to write about... it's become addicted to writing... hehe
And Clax, your next year's novel may be the one that you happen to mention to a friend or to someone who thinks it's a great idea and you get it published. I would sure like to see you go for year five. This is only my second year, and I suppose if I never get published in my lifetime, someday when I'm dead and buried my works will be published and people will be able to enjoy them. I write now for me, and if someone else gets a chance to read and enjoy them later, great.
I wrote a novel back in the last half of the 80's and couldn't get it published because I wasn't female. Even using a female pen name wouldn't work, they said they wanted female authors for the book tours and book signings. "Female authors attract more buyers" is what I was told. So that novel is still sitting here waiting to be discovered. I didn't let rejection stop me. I have since then been working on about five novels off and on for the last year or so. Hopefully, one of them will be published someday. Not to mention several non-fiction books I have started this last year.
Great post pseudojoe.
And I would have to agree with both Clax and Pseudojoe, keep writing right to the end. I am also pulling for all of you to finish your novels.
SammyD