Your Nanowrimo Guide! ...sort of?
Nov. 13th, 2005 08:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lyricalityThis all began yesterday evening, when I was hanging about the Nanowrimo forums, looking over the "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" threads and wondering if I could be any encouragement at all. One of the most popular threads was titled "Supportive Parents? I THINK NOT!!" and after reading through it, I was feeling vaguely depressed about the different ways in which loved ones--intentionally or, more often, not--can lower the wordcount and sometimes end the participation of the Nano writers in their lives. I thought on the matter all evening, then this morning as well, and the subject just wouldn't leave me be. So we'll just call this...
A Little Guide on Dealing with Your Friend/Lover Who's Doing Nanowrimo
1. Please respect the difficulty of the task. For the grand majority of us, writing 50,000 words in 31 days is not easy. It has never been easy, and it will never be easy. This should be perfectly evident by the fact that only a very low percentage of those writers who begin Nano will actually finish it--perhaps eighty percent of participants give up in the second week.
2. Belittling the project in any way is not especially helpful. I've heard a few painfully detrimental things in the last two years: "Wow, 50k? I guess novels have gotten a lot shorter than I remember!" "I don't see why you're doing this when no one's going to help you publish it." "Do you really have an entire month to waste on this?" None of these sorts of comments are going to make you particularly endearing.
3. Until December 1st, only I am allowed to call my novel "stupid." I'm pretty sure I can't emphasize this enough. Insulting the idea someone has spent upwards of 20k words and perhaps 24 full hours writing is really just a keen sort of cruelty. Refrain.
4. The time spent on Nano is not time directly taken away from you. Thinking it is, and making the writer feel guilty over it, is pretty selfish. Most of us waste a lot of time during the day. Turning three hours of television watching into three hours of writing seems like a fairly positive equation. Also, writing is like giving birth--it does require a little bit of extra concentration. Your loved one will return their full attention to you on the 1st of December--in the meantime, you can help them hugely by doing the dishes piling up in the sink.
5. All creativity is draining, to a certain extent. My other creative projects take the back burner, while I do Nano. I've always done my best to make this clear to everyone involved, well before the fact. Please, please try to remember the truth of this, and that the writer only has so much energy in one 24-hour period.
6. Nanowrimo isn't about what is being written, or the (subjective!) quality of what is being written. It's about the process and the triumph of completion before a deadline. The reality of completing a task which looks impossible at first, and the positive personal power of that victory, can't really be measured. It's an incredible thing, even awesome.
7. Please don't use children, pets, parents, grandparents or other living beings as bargaining chips in a bid for more attention. Obviously this doesn't include children or pets or parents or grandparents who are actually say, starving to death. No one I know takes any creative project more seriously than actual living beings. o_O; The point is that this is the best possible way to cause the sort of resentment that will linger a lot longer than November does.
8. You may have to endure some conversation about the novel in question. This is especially common when the writer is doing Nano for the first time, or is particularly excited about the idea involved. Please just nod and smile and say "That's great!" even if you don't give a damn, because the chances are very good that your friend/lover is not actually looking for critcism at this crucial juncture, whether that criticism be constructive or not. All editing (by the author or anyone else) belongs in December.
9. You can help support the writer in your life by doing little things. Half an hour of uninterrupted computer time can be worth more than gold, seriously. A trip to Starbucks for a favorite latte, or picking up a pizza instead of the chaos of cooking a meal, is just as good. (Incidentally, Nano is probably not the best time to nag your friend/lover about his or her waistline, unless he or she is eating a piece of cheesecake at every meal, drinking to complete excess, or otherwise endangering his or her general wellbeing.)
10. Nano is for fun! But it's important, too. Your support is so, so very important to the writer involved. You are probably one of the most necessary people in the writer's life, and you have more power over them than even they realize. Just remember to use that power to support them, and not to unnecessarily hinder them.
And this is my opportunity to give a huge THANK YOU to the friends who have been so supportive to me, this year. Extra-snuggly fox hugs to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
varadia and laseroption. <3 <3
A Little Guide on Dealing with Your Friend/Lover Who's Doing Nanowrimo
1. Please respect the difficulty of the task. For the grand majority of us, writing 50,000 words in 31 days is not easy. It has never been easy, and it will never be easy. This should be perfectly evident by the fact that only a very low percentage of those writers who begin Nano will actually finish it--perhaps eighty percent of participants give up in the second week.
2. Belittling the project in any way is not especially helpful. I've heard a few painfully detrimental things in the last two years: "Wow, 50k? I guess novels have gotten a lot shorter than I remember!" "I don't see why you're doing this when no one's going to help you publish it." "Do you really have an entire month to waste on this?" None of these sorts of comments are going to make you particularly endearing.
3. Until December 1st, only I am allowed to call my novel "stupid." I'm pretty sure I can't emphasize this enough. Insulting the idea someone has spent upwards of 20k words and perhaps 24 full hours writing is really just a keen sort of cruelty. Refrain.
4. The time spent on Nano is not time directly taken away from you. Thinking it is, and making the writer feel guilty over it, is pretty selfish. Most of us waste a lot of time during the day. Turning three hours of television watching into three hours of writing seems like a fairly positive equation. Also, writing is like giving birth--it does require a little bit of extra concentration. Your loved one will return their full attention to you on the 1st of December--in the meantime, you can help them hugely by doing the dishes piling up in the sink.
5. All creativity is draining, to a certain extent. My other creative projects take the back burner, while I do Nano. I've always done my best to make this clear to everyone involved, well before the fact. Please, please try to remember the truth of this, and that the writer only has so much energy in one 24-hour period.
6. Nanowrimo isn't about what is being written, or the (subjective!) quality of what is being written. It's about the process and the triumph of completion before a deadline. The reality of completing a task which looks impossible at first, and the positive personal power of that victory, can't really be measured. It's an incredible thing, even awesome.
7. Please don't use children, pets, parents, grandparents or other living beings as bargaining chips in a bid for more attention. Obviously this doesn't include children or pets or parents or grandparents who are actually say, starving to death. No one I know takes any creative project more seriously than actual living beings. o_O; The point is that this is the best possible way to cause the sort of resentment that will linger a lot longer than November does.
8. You may have to endure some conversation about the novel in question. This is especially common when the writer is doing Nano for the first time, or is particularly excited about the idea involved. Please just nod and smile and say "That's great!" even if you don't give a damn, because the chances are very good that your friend/lover is not actually looking for critcism at this crucial juncture, whether that criticism be constructive or not. All editing (by the author or anyone else) belongs in December.
9. You can help support the writer in your life by doing little things. Half an hour of uninterrupted computer time can be worth more than gold, seriously. A trip to Starbucks for a favorite latte, or picking up a pizza instead of the chaos of cooking a meal, is just as good. (Incidentally, Nano is probably not the best time to nag your friend/lover about his or her waistline, unless he or she is eating a piece of cheesecake at every meal, drinking to complete excess, or otherwise endangering his or her general wellbeing.)
10. Nano is for fun! But it's important, too. Your support is so, so very important to the writer involved. You are probably one of the most necessary people in the writer's life, and you have more power over them than even they realize. Just remember to use that power to support them, and not to unnecessarily hinder them.
And this is my opportunity to give a huge THANK YOU to the friends who have been so supportive to me, this year. Extra-snuggly fox hugs to
varadia and laseroption. <3 <3
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-13 06:33 pm (UTC)Very nice little guide. I will very likely have to save this for next year >.>
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-13 07:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-13 07:13 pm (UTC)It's love, and psychosis, and addictive like crack cocaine. ^^
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-13 08:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-13 09:11 pm (UTC)See you in December~
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-14 10:52 pm (UTC)...you get the best icon.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-13 11:04 pm (UTC)Useful guide, that. I am taking notes *g*