I’m behind on my NaNo Novel. Very behind. So behind that I’m
fairly certain my NaNo buddies (all 16 of them) are judging me severely. But
it’s not my fault. It’s the novel’s fault.
There is only one simple reason I am ever able to finish a
first draft – regardless of how long it takes me. That reason can be summed up as The Lie of the First Draft*.
The Lie tells me
my writing is so amazing that after this first draft is done all I will have to
fix about it is the occasional spelling error.
It’s The Lie that
tells me my first draft isn’t a giant pile of crap that will mostly all be
thrown out during revisions.
But it’s this lie that keeps me going.
And my NaNo Novel refuses to lie to me. It won’t even humor
me. I am brutally aware of the awkwardness
of the plotting, the lame dialogue, and the sketchy setting descriptions.
So now it’s time to lie to myself. You can finish this novel. 25,000 words in three days? Piece of cake. You.
So. Have. This.
This lie may be just as ‘true’ as The Lie of the First Draft, but I’m hoping it will have the same
effect.
What keeps you guys writing (other than the voices in your
head)? ;)
What keeps you from editing your first draft instead of just
finishing it?
And are you achieving NaNo success this year?
*I don’t know where I first heard this term (I certainly
didn’t make it up).
You can do it!
ReplyDeleteI guess I lie to myself in that I tell myself that its going to be the best book ever written. (I highly doubt that). But there is a good chance that it could be the best book I'VE ever written. And if its not, it's helping me to eventually get to the point of being a good writer.
I did complete NaNo...so that's one goal checked off.
Good luck!
I had success this with NANO this year. But last year I wrote 7k. That's it. Talk about major writing block. I think you can do it if you drink a lot of Coke. ha ha. but really.
ReplyDeleteCaffeine and lies! Yes, that is how I do it!:)
ReplyDeleteGo girl! You can do it!
ReplyDeleteIf NaNo is important to you, then more power to ya. Personally, I don't see the point. It shouldn't be about the quantity, but rather the quality. But even still, a first draft is supposed to be just that, a first draft, one that's rough and terribly imperfect. It's for the laying down of ideas and plot. Julie Musil had a great post about this first draft writing a couple of days ago. Check it out at: http://juliemusil.blogspot.com/2011/11/writers-how-to-entertain-your-future.html
ReplyDeleteAs for myself, I don't do NaNo, obviously, but when I do write, and I do write fast, I also self-edit as I go along. Not a lot, but just enough so I can read through and know the general idea was put down correctly. I know I'll have months to edit later one.
So don't worry about your first draft. It's the first. Not the last.
It is so hard to turn off your inner editor sometimes! I swear, the inner editor's the one responsible for not letting the ms humor you. I've heard mass amounts of chocolate shuts him/her up a little. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat keeps me writing? Hmm. Maybe the fear that the most awesome parts of the scenes in my head will fall out if I take too long to get it down.
I will achieve NaNo success this year but I'm not very excited by it. I'm hating my NaNo novel and am planning a rather large word massacre on December 1st.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten to writing a very skimpy first draft -- usually less than 30,000 words. It expands a lot in the polished draft phase. What keeps me going -- I have to love the characters and the story to see it through.
ReplyDelete