Today I have received an invite from a friend to take part in National Novel writing month, a project which aims to encourage people to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. As it says on the website:
"Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
"Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
"Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
"Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down."
You can find out more by visiting www.nanowrimo.org.
This has got me thinking, while I personally do not have the time or energy to try and write a 50,000 word novel – what about our book club writing something each for one of our meetings? It could be anything at all – a short story – a novel – a poem – or a title. And if people feel totally uninspired to write anything, well then they can bring along their ideas to discuss so there is no pressure. The idea would be to discuss work in progress: our inspirations, what we found easy or hard and see the other side of reading: the creative process. And if people would find it easier this way, we could always limit the amount of time spent on it – like NaNoWriMo.
A wacky idea, but whatcha think?
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If others are, I'm up for it. It's a lot, lot harder than you think, and the more you write, the more you need critique...
ReplyDeleteI was actually wondering at some point whether people might be open to commenting on various bits of the novel I am writing, so this is another (selfish) reason for me liking this idea!