Every time November comes rolling into the picture, a lot of excitement grows around NaNoWriMo. I always get a little curious about joining but then I tell myself that I’d write a chapter or two and lose interest. It’s also intimidating to read comments where people say that writing 50,000 words is pretty easy.
It also worries me that I’ve never been descriptive. I remember being in school and taking one-on-one tests where I had to describe each picture that was shown to me. It was always “The boy is eating ice cream. The girl is riding a bike. The dog is running down the street.” The person giving the test always encouraged me to give names and tell a story but I never deviated from my method and they noted it. It wasn’t until years later when I saw the results of one of those tests. “He doesn’t use names and he doesn’t give the characters a backstory.” That statement got stuck in the back of my mind especially since I like to write.
I think I’m also spoiled by the early internet years. The late 90’s was the chatroom era and that often required one-liners due to character limits. I guess I never could pull myself free from that habit, especially when we moved to forums and message boards. My friends know that I give a quick paragraph when I reply. That’s it. And somehow they can make six detailed paragraphs out of one brief moment where the only thing going on is a character looking at someone. I simply can not do that. I’ve tried…
Most people seem to give the same advice. Just write. The goal is to write 50,000 words so it’s basically a first draft. I think maybe if I focus on that, it might not be so terrible. So… I registered. My author’s page.
Tags: NaNoWriMo
Location: The Green Room
4 Comments »
Hey, you worry too much. Maybe that’s what holding back the flow. That’s what NaNoWriMo is all about. Never mind EVERYTHING except the pure flow of writing whatever comes to you. I get complaints of not enough description in my writing too, but so what? If the important stuff is there – like action and plot and ideas – the descriptive stuff can always be added. Be true to your own style and don’t let people tell you how you should write.
Good luck! Hemingway once said that the first draft is always crap…” or there abouts. I just focus on my daily goal and pray for word vomit!
Thank you both very much!
[…] thus, this ends my journey. It’s weird to look back at the first post I made about NaNoWriMo and trying to decide if I should do it or not. Now I face a new concern. If […]