How very… something
I was thinking about my schedule. I think… I can set the goal of finishing my various outlines by the end of October. And I think if I’ve outlined well it’ll take me four weeks to write the rough draft. Or at least I’d like to aim for that! I only work well in a crunch.
Coincidentally, the month after October is November, which is the infamous month in which many people strive to complete a novel in about four weeks. For example, last year I tried to finish TFN 1 in November.
*pause in which I meditate upon that disaster*
I’ve never actually completed Nanowrimo before. Not legitimately and within all the boundary markers. I’d like to say something dramatic like ‘if I can’t do it now in near ideal circumstances, I’m clearly not cut out to be a writer’. But… I don’t think I’ll be so harsh.
Somebody tell me it counts as legitimate if the novel is unfinished in November but makes it to 50k words, instead.
Michelle, 
kevin, 
Kirby 3:02 pm on October 12, 2006 Permalink
Sure, it counts!
Really, being a fast writer is a valuable skill, but not nearly so much as in other endeavors. Being a fast programmer means I get more work done than my peers in a given timeframe – which makes me more valuable to a company. It also means that I’m easier to work with on group projects, because I’m not being a bottleneck. And most places have a backload of work to do, so clearing that out rather than adding to it is good.
For a writer, though, it’s usually solitary. And a reader has no idea if it took you 6 weeks or 6 years to write a book. It does increase the amount of books you can sell, and thus the rate of pay, to be able to write faster, and it definitely helps build up the portfolio before being published to write faster, but it’s not nearly as important. If you turn out to write books people really enjoy, but take a little longer than typical, that’s not a huge problem.
But being able to finish what you start, I think that is a major goal. Or, in other words, I think building self confidence as a writer is a major short term objective, and getting more completed rough drafts is a good trajectory on that path.
Stacy 3:10 pm on October 12, 2006 Permalink
I doubt that most professional writers even bother with Nanowrimo. I guess it might be helpful to participate if it makes you more productive, but if it just undermines your self-confidence, I would say screw it and stick to your own schedule.
Alix 3:50 pm on October 12, 2006 Permalink
I think it totally counts if you hit 50K in November on the novel but it’s not finished. I think most professional writers probably laugh at the 50K thing–most novels aren’t that short anymore.
And you know what? IMO, NaNoWriMo’s purpose is to motivate people who always said they want to be writers to write…to give them a tangible goal and a tangible event to put butt in chair and write.
If you’re already doing that? Then you’ve grown past it. You don’t need that external framework.
Go you!
kevin 5:52 pm on October 12, 2006 Permalink
Thomas Harris.
Michelle 7:21 pm on October 12, 2006 Permalink
I told you that last year!