NANOWRIMO

author=Max McGee
As someone who's actually finished several novels on their own schedule (and as someone who sadly hasn't done any serious writing since 2009 due to laziness, distraction, illness, and life) I have never really "gotten" the point of Nanowhatever.

I have always been of the attitude that if you want to write a novel, you don't need a special occasion to do it, and if you don't really want to write a novel, no special occasion is ever going to help. I'm really not a fan of the entire idea, I don't think it generates a lot of GOOD prose, generally speaking. I don't think, as a very very broad and obviously not all-inclusive generalization, that the novelists who need something like NaNoWriMo to motivate them are the ones in any danger of producing good writing.

Obviously LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of people disagree with me. I'm in the minority on this and I acknowledge that.

As a published author, I see the merit of NaNoWriMo. It inspires people to write, which is just great, in my opinion. Whether they're writing amazing stories or they're just tossing their salad on paper, it is still literature. Quality over Quantity, yes. However, the point is the enjoyment of pumping out a book. Max, as you are probably aware, the extreme gratification one gets from completing a story is sometimes better than sex. November is like a writer orgy, now.

Also, most importantly, NaNoWriMo sets the Deadline. Deadlines are extremely motivating, stressful, disgusting, and wonderful. Too many writers spend so much time rewriting, proof-reading, revising and basically jerking themselves off... Only to never finish the book. I see it with all my writer friends --- except one. He used to be like that. Now he spins out short stories like Stephen King burps out novels. Are they good? Not especially. Will he go pro? Probably not. The point is NaNoWriMo changed him.
If he continues as an indie writer, all the power to him, and the other NaNoWriMo writers.
We are part of the Indie Game community! We ought to embrace the fact pretty much every medium has the indie crowd, and cheer them on.

NaNoWriMo is to writing, what RPG Maker game contests are to gaming.

I'd never even heard of this thing until now :|

Most of you guys have been doing this for years?

I ask for critique a lot, but it's harder to find people willing to critique a 100+ page story than a picture that takes five seconds to analyse, y'know?

author=Dudesoft

author=Max McGee
As someone who's actually finished several novels on their own schedule (and as someone who sadly hasn't done any serious writing since 2009 due to laziness, distraction, illness, and life) I have never really "gotten" the point of Nanowhatever.

I have always been of the attitude that if you want to write a novel, you don't need a special occasion to do it, and if you don't really want to write a novel, no special occasion is ever going to help. I'm really not a fan of the entire idea, I don't think it generates a lot of GOOD prose, generally speaking. I don't think, as a very very broad and obviously not all-inclusive generalization, that the novelists who need something like NaNoWriMo to motivate them are the ones in any danger of producing good writing.

Obviously LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of people disagree with me. I'm in the minority on this and I acknowledge that.

As a published author, I see the merit of NaNoWriMo. It inspires people to write, which is just great, in my opinion. Whether they're writing amazing stories or they're just tossing their salad on paper, it is still literature. Quality over Quantity, yes. However, the point is the enjoyment of pumping out a book. Max, as you are probably aware, the extreme gratification one gets from completing a story is sometimes better than sex. November is like a writer orgy, now.

Also, most importantly, NaNoWriMo sets the Deadline. Deadlines are extremely motivating, stressful, disgusting, and wonderful. Too many writers spend so much time rewriting, proof-reading, revising and basically jerking themselves off... Only to never finish the book. I see it with all my writer friends --- except one. He used to be like that. Now he spins out short stories like Stephen King burps out novels. Are they good? Not especially. Will he go pro? Probably not. The point is NaNoWriMo changed him.
If he continues as an indie writer, all the power to him, and the other NaNoWriMo writers.
We are part of the Indie Game community! We ought to embrace the fact pretty much every medium has the indie crowd, and cheer them on.

NaNoWriMo is to writing, what RPG Maker game contests are to gaming.

I don't actually have a problem with the content of your post (at least not enough of a problem to muster a proper counterargument, which would take time and (gah!) effort), except to say that I feel more tempted than ever to start prefacing every single one of my posts with "As a published author".

I mean, the only way to get better at writing is to actually write, right? :3

Well being a voracious omnivorous reader helps a lot, but yes, actually writing frequently and regularly is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED.

Nanowrimo isn't the best, only, or optimal way to do that, because it motivates people specifically to...write one month a year. Which is not how any real author operates.

Right now, I don't consider myself a real writer (OF PROSE) nor have I since 2009--not based on any financial or publication concern. Simply because I haven't regularly put words to paper since 2009. Putting words on paper--THAT'S what counts. Without your 2000 words a day, you've got nothing.

I'm at about 5000. I've been busy with procrastinating and exams.

edit: it will not take me long to catch up, however!

I have always been of the attitude that if you want to write a novel, you don't need a special occasion to do it, and if you don't really want to write a novel, no special occasion is ever going to help. I'm really not a fan of the entire idea, I don't think it generates a lot of GOOD prose, generally speaking. I don't think, as a very very broad and obviously not all-inclusive generalization, that the novelists who need something like NaNoWriMo to motivate them are the ones in any danger of producing good writing.

yeah man this totally.

nano's great for the people who do it because it's a community thing. but it's not really a good writer thing. the big "tips" for nano writers embrace needless dialogue and going off on tangents. good writing is about cutting that extra stuff. the wordcount itself is the goal of nano, not creating a decent story.

nano:writing::rpgmaker:gamedev is a great fucken comparison.

nano is a good excuse to get people motivated to hit their daily word count, and to connect people with an online community of peers. other than that it isn't really that special.

i don't participate in this—i write for me. but the past couple days i've been hitting two thousand words a day. it has nothing to do with nano. it has more to do with getting off irc and turning up the classic rock.