Of course, Nano is specifically designed for people who haven't had much writing experience, to prove to them that they can actually get something done (even if it's really only half the length of a typical novel). It's meant to be an easy confidence-builder.
That said, I did it once, in high school, and saw absolutely no point in bothering with it ever again. I could just as well choose a month when I'm on break and finish one of my main stories.
STOP FUCKING ASKING ME IF I AM DOING NANO. ESPECIALLY GODDAMN STOP PREFACING IT WITH:
"oh lol ur a writing mfa right you'd be good a nano :3"
FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON. FUCKING REALIZE THAT I WRITE AN AVERAGE OF 81 PAGES A MONTH FOR MY CLASSES ALONE. No, it's not 50,000 words; it's somewhere around 33,000 words; no it's not all for the same thing (the largest single thing I do every month is *only* 6,000 words, ish); but I do this every month. If you factor in all the crap I write for teh lulz in RP and random shit I do in my spare time (like Counting Airplanes) it may well come to over 50,000 words a month.
I do not have time to take on 50,000 extra words of COMPLETE FUCKING BULLSHIT kthxbai. I do not have time to spew garbage when I am trying to work on a fucking full length nonfiction book with a shitty premise that must be done in two and a half years or I do not get my degree. You may be doing this crap for the lulz; I am trying to do this so I can have a
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It's not unusual for me to write 5000+ words in a day. But I'm not going to hold that against people who write NaNo, even though I've moved beyond the exercise (which I have never successfully completed, ha ha).
It's kind of like raging at apples for not being fish--especially since writing fiction and non-fiction are two completely different things. I can write a 7,000 word feature with no problem, but managing 1,000 words of my novel is agonising.
Red, you know I normally respect your opinion and I do respect that you are a writer as well, but I really think you just managed to suggest there that it is somehow really easy to write non-fiction as opposed to fiction.
And I'm trying REALLY hard to get your point and not ragequit on you here.
I would agree that fiction for someone who does not generally write it is hard and there IS a certain thumbs up for NaNo as a matter of an excersise in deadlines. I also get too that fiction/nonfiction or whatever there are days where you just say 'fuck it, I'm getting nothing done, I'm going to go sit in front of the television and marathon the Simpsons because that's going to be just as much productive and a lot less stressful than sitting here hoping that I will subconciously produce something miraculously out of my ass."
But to say that writing nonfiction is easier? I fail to see the logic.
What makes me rage at NaNo is the whole "50 000? I do that EVERY TWO WEEKS!"
I think you misunderstand. I'm implying that neither is a cakewalk, obviously, but each is difficult for very different reasons. So I wouldn't hold my daily wordcounts against a NaNo participant because we're writing for completely separate reasons.
Anyway, I guess that's all moot if it's not the point you were making. Sorry about the confusion.
Most people who do NaNoWriMo don't even do it legitimately, anyway. They cheat or they just ramble on about nothing and call that a "novel". When I do it, I actually try to craft the basics of a story that makes sense, that I will later revise into a full-length novel.
For me, doing NaNo is a way to motivate myself to write original fiction. I can do 80,000 words of fanfiction in 1-2 months, no problem, but writing original stuff has always been hard for me. When I feel like I'm "competing" against other people to fill up that word meter, it drives me to work my ass off. I want to be a professional novelist someday, so this kind of thing is healthy for me.
In reality, you're right. Doing 1,600-2,000 words a day is nothing. But for someone like me, who goes weeks with a big fat zero in the original fiction category, it can be pretty difficult. It's fun, sure, and it is mostly for the lulz, but for me it's more than that. I do want this to be my job, so I take it very seriously.
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Of course, Nano is specifically designed for people who haven't had much writing experience, to prove to them that they can actually get something done (even if it's really only half the length of a typical novel). It's meant to be an easy confidence-builder.
That said, I did it once, in high school, and saw absolutely no point in bothering with it ever again. I could just as well choose a month when I'm on break and finish one of my main stories.
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I think I really love the fact that I managed to misspell novel there.
I love that I do my thesis in language and really REALLY don't know how to spell.
But yes, I do agree, it's probably more of a teaching tool about deadlines but ASDFJKL EVERY WEEK AS OPPOSED TO A MONTH!
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An addendum to this:
STOP FUCKING ASKING ME IF I AM DOING NANO. ESPECIALLY GODDAMN STOP PREFACING IT WITH:
"oh lol ur a writing mfa right you'd be good a nano :3"
FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON. FUCKING REALIZE THAT I WRITE AN AVERAGE OF 81 PAGES A MONTH FOR MY CLASSES ALONE. No, it's not 50,000 words; it's somewhere around 33,000 words; no it's not all for the same thing (the largest single thing I do every month is *only* 6,000 words, ish); but I do this every month. If you factor in all the crap I write for teh lulz in RP and random shit I do in my spare time (like Counting Airplanes) it may well come to over 50,000 words a month.
I do not have time to take on 50,000 extra words of COMPLETE FUCKING BULLSHIT kthxbai. I do not have time to spew garbage when I am trying to work on a fucking full length nonfiction book with a shitty premise that must be done in two and a half years or I do not get my degree. You may be doing this crap for the lulz; I am trying to do this so I can have a ( ... )
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It's kind of like raging at apples for not being fish--especially since writing fiction and non-fiction are two completely different things. I can write a 7,000 word feature with no problem, but managing 1,000 words of my novel is agonising.
My $0.02!
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And I'm trying REALLY hard to get your point and not ragequit on you here.
I would agree that fiction for someone who does not generally write it is hard and there IS a certain thumbs up for NaNo as a matter of an excersise in deadlines. I also get too that fiction/nonfiction or whatever there are days where you just say 'fuck it, I'm getting nothing done, I'm going to go sit in front of the television and marathon the Simpsons because that's going to be just as much productive and a lot less stressful than sitting here hoping that I will subconciously produce something miraculously out of my ass."
But to say that writing nonfiction is easier? I fail to see the logic.
What makes me rage at NaNo is the whole "50 000? I do that EVERY TWO WEEKS!"
No, guess it's not fair but AGGGHHHH ANYWAY.
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Anyway, I guess that's all moot if it's not the point you were making. Sorry about the confusion.
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Also just glad I was accurately able to project emotion over the 'net.
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For me, doing NaNo is a way to motivate myself to write original fiction. I can do 80,000 words of fanfiction in 1-2 months, no problem, but writing original stuff has always been hard for me. When I feel like I'm "competing" against other people to fill up that word meter, it drives me to work my ass off. I want to be a professional novelist someday, so this kind of thing is healthy for me.
In reality, you're right. Doing 1,600-2,000 words a day is nothing. But for someone like me, who goes weeks with a big fat zero in the original fiction category, it can be pretty difficult. It's fun, sure, and it is mostly for the lulz, but for me it's more than that. I do want this to be my job, so I take it very seriously.
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