There are working writers who do NaNo. A few, after strenuous revision, have actually published the books they drafted during NaNo, and not necessarily with Publish America.

Fred Stanton is also right. The two main reasons people who want to write don’t are (1) because they can’t commit and (2) because they want a first draft to be perfect. NaNoWriMo defeats both of these obstacles. Maybe… well, probably… your NaNo novel will suck (at least the first draft will). Most definitely, the 50,000 word goal is too short to be a true novel.

But the pros, I think, outweigh the cons, unless you depend on writing for your income and you’re broke. NaNo is extremely fun if you enjoy writing, and it gets people writing, which, last time I checked, was still the single most important part of the writing process.

Why can’t we do both? A 50k jumpstart and 250 words a day to polish it off?

Just sayin’

My God, all I did was offer a counterpoint to the NaNo overhype and provide some really good, serious writing advice, and you kids are acting like I’m taking away your toys!

Write, just write. How ever you do it. Write. Stop posting here. Just write.

But if a ONE of you comes back and says “HAH! I finished my NaNo novel and I’m publishing it through iUniverse or Publish America!” I swear I will not be responsible for my actions.

As you say, “WORKING novelists …” What about novelist wannabes?

There isn’t a National Play the Violin Month or a National Oil Painting Month because I guess no one has thought of implementing them yet. But why not? It sounds to me like you may be equating WORKING on something during a period of time as equivalent to LEARNING and PERFECTING such a discipline. For example, what if there WERE a National Play the Violin Month, for all those people out there who have been saying, “Someday, I’d like to learn how to play the violin”? Of course they wouldn’t learn everything they need to know about how to play the violin and become instant masters in one month — that wouldn’t be the point. But if instead people could use such a month as an incentive to get off their duff and try practicing a violin an hour a day every day for a month, at least they’d get a taste of what it’s like, and perhaps begin the discipline of practicing every day.

If you professional, experienced writers don’t want to use NaNoWriMo — fine. No one’s forcing you to. But if others may wish to take on the NaNoWriMo Challenge, why should that bother you? You are of the opinion that people should not partake in the Challenge — fine. But why can’t you accept that others may be of the opposing opinion?

Although I understand what people who are NaNo supporters are saying, I would like to point out a few things. Some of you have heard them from the facebook discussion where this is also taking place.

NaNo devalues the writing process by favoring quantity over quality. Yes, the website does provide many disclaimers and it does say that this is just a way to get the internal editor to shut up. However, as I have said before, we don’t have National Play the Violin Month, or National Oil Painting Month. We know it takes a long time to master those arts. So why do we think that writing a novel can be done in such a gimmicky fashion?

I think that it is noteworthy that working novelists and short story writers Don’t. Do. NaNoWriMo.

Okay? Please, if you can’t listen to me, look at the evidence.

Carry on!

2. What if that first time writer is pretty fast?

3. YA at 50k is acceptable. MG is below that.

4. 1.7 is very realistic, especially when you are in a contest and can worry a bit less about the overall product.

5. SECOND DRAFTS!

For me the key is to write everyday. The 200 is an intentionally low minimum so that I have no excuse not to write. Many days I write more because 200 words is barely enough for a decent dialogue exchange or to set a scene in motion. I found if I set larger goals (like 1,000 words a day) that I wouldn’t write at all if I didn’t think I had enough time to do it. It’s possible for me to do 1,000 words in 40 minutes if I’m really rolling, but I hardly ever really roll, so a thousand words could take two hours. It I didn’t have the two hours, I’d skip the writing session.

I’ve written a minimum of 200 words a day every day since September 20, 1999. I’ve been way more productive with this regimen than I was don matter what I tried in the 10 writing years before that.

I do understand why some people might want to do it. It’s just not for me.