2018 nanowrimo reflections of a creative challenge: What I did and what I did it for

https://nanowrimo.org

November has come and gone. Of course I participated in the National Novel Writing Month, or nanowrimo again this year. In fact since I participated in November of 2017, I have participated in several creative challenges including Camp NaNoWriMo in both April and July and then the SoFoBoMo in August. I don't think I thought about whether or not I was going to do nanowrimo again this year, it was just something that I was going to do.



In the last 13 months, starting on November 1, 2017, I have written more than I have in any other 13 month period, ever. I think much of that is in part to these creative challenges. Even thought I would not consider any of these manuscripts as being especially great or even inspired, they are complete drafts and a good show of work.



I also think that these creative challenges are perfect for anyone who wanted to learn the discipline that it takes in order to get something done, to see a project from the beginning straight to the end.




What I did was this: I wrote another novel. When I looked at this particular novel, Lovejoy, I see a piece of writing that is not vastly different from anything else I've ever written. In fact, if I'm honest, I have written the same novel twenty times. In this latest effort, I feel like I've been able to stay with my practice and fit it well into the confines of the nanowrimo program.



Why I did what I did: what the hell else am I going to do? I decided a long long time ago that I wanted to be a writer. It wasn't that I wanted to write news, or that I wanted to write anything technical, nonfiction or really anything of value. I wanted to write novels. So, perhaps I should say that long ago I wanted to become a novelist.



When I first discovered nanowrimo, I found the concept to be very appealing because I like to work fast. I like to work fast only because if I work slowly, I grow bored, insensitive and vague. Of all the novels I have written, one took me three and a half years, and another one took 13 days. Big difference. The one that took 3.5 years is not good if only because of how much I changed in that time and it is reflected in the voice of the narration. Thirteen days is too short, and I even think 30 days is too short. It's a great way to steep in creativity, work more and reflect less on a project.



I'm starting to think that writing a novel is something that everyone should do. I also think that everyone should try out nanowrimo. It's only 30 days. It's 30 days of all consuming work and that really is worth the challenge.