Pies baked while I wrote my 1,666 words! |
But last November I found myself in a lower than low writing mood. NaNo to the rescue! I'd researched my topic like crazy; I'd crafted an outline based on the solid craft advice from John Truby's Anatomy Of Story, and I was ready to enjoy the fast-drafting flow.
Oh, how I struggled to find that creative flow. Writing those 50,000 was painful. I'd find myself sitting in the bagel shop (the one with free coffee refills) at 2:45 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, needing to pound out 500 more words to keep on track. And I didn't know what to write. The outline wasn't helping me.
I was sucky.
Yet, I'm stubborn and so I persevered, no matter how bad it got. Want to see how bad it got? Here's a direct quote from page 176:
"WHAT A MONKEY WOULD TYPE:
AJDLAKJFOIJELA'MNCNRJEAIAEADKHGOIEA'GLKJLIJADLKAUE
[There are only three words in the at mess: "a" and "ad" and "go," so I guess I should keep writing!]"
A few weeks into the new year, I set the novel aside, unfinished. My sixteen year old was pissed. She called me a quitter. I ignored her and moved on to shiny new writing projects, eventually working my way out of that low writing mood. I started to have fun again.
So early last month, I found myself lecturing my daughter about not giving up, using my bumpy journey as a writer as an example. She brought up THE ABANDONED MANUSCRIPT.
"You are a quitter!"
My first thought: I should have never let you join the debate team. My second thought: look at that story again. Maybe it's not as bad as you think.
And it wasn't. Sure, there are some weird patches of monkey writing, and I skipped writing a few difficult scenes (darn it!), but overall it's solid work, and fun to revise.
I never would've written any of it if it weren't for wanting that darn NaNoWriMo certificate! Thank you, NaNoWriMo for keeping me writing through the rough patches of the creative life.
I rewarded myself with the Camp NaNo patches last November, not thinking I'd ever try a summer fast draft. |
Good for you, Sydney! Never underestimate the value of monkey writing!
ReplyDeleteLove this post!!!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the crazy-fast draft! So glad you went back to your book...
ReplyDeleteI think the pies help!
ReplyDeleteI like the picture of your writing space; I think it must be inspiring to look at all those books as you write. And the picture of the pies look good, too. I think NaNoWrimo is great, even though I've never participated in it (November is a very busy month for me). Like you said, it's a good way to motivate people to keep writing.
ReplyDeleteWay to go!
ReplyDelete