On That Thing
That November thing.
You know, write a novel in a month.
I never participate.
I guess it's because I have a somewhat prolific output from my steady--show up with pages every two weeks or risk humiliation--writers' group. Back when we all lived in the same city (I now conference call in--I am "Charlie" on Lurker Monkey's piano bench), if you didn't bring pages, the rule was you showed up with chocolate.
So I don't do That Thing. That novel in a month thing.
But I think sometimes exercises like that get the cobwebs out. For me, I have been slumping, but last night, sitting around a blazing fire in my fire pit in my backyard, the flames must have mesmerized me like they did my dogs. Either that or I finally relaxed, because my entire novel for a new proposal appeared in my brain. Can I get an Amen!
I suppose the other reason I don't do That Thing . . . the novel in a month thing . . . is because everyone else does it, and I am rebellious by nature. I don't think there is one way to get a novel written, or one "formula" (GMC) that works, or one process that must be followed. I don't write every day.
But everyone needs to shake it loose once in a while.
Oddly enough, I remember being in a slump once and discovering that if I took my LAPTOP and wrote in a chair I wrote more than sitting at my desk. A lot more. I was preggers with Child #4. That new output of more writing on my laptop lasted until the third trimester when I discovered that being an exhausted mother of three, a PREGGERS exhausted mother of three meant . . .
big comfy chair + laptop = nap
So I started writing at my desk again.
So what do you do to get all loosey-goosey? To shake things up in your writing routine? Are you doing That Thing?
40 comments:
Yes, I'm trying and I'm on day three thinking, sigh, I won't make it. This is harder than dieting.
It does help though to change the routine. I've been up since 4:45 trying to write and shut-up my inner editor, the one that keeps reminding me, umm this is crap you'll wear out the delete button. I'll build a fire today. See if it helps me.
Richmond:
I highly recommend the fire pit. Must be some ancient cave woman thing. :-)
My thing, lately, is to Open The Doc. I get so distracted by life, dogs, internet, TV, sunshine, rain, iPhone, audiobooks, laundry, errands, job-hunting and whatever else, that if I don't have the WIP Doc open and up on my monitor, I almost "forget" about it some days. So when I'm going to be home I Open The Doc. Then I can't stay away. Luckily the laundry doesn't call my name the way my WIP does.
Amy:
LOL! I do the same thing--a work in progress is nearly always open.
E
I've never tried That Thing, but I do sometimes try to talk myself into believing I have quotas and deadlines. At the same time I try to keep a sense of play about the whole thing, try to make it fun.
Jude:
I have real deadlines, so the stuff I "explore"/play with/wip I am rather relaxed about . . . .
E
Can I just say I love the phrase loosey-goosey? :)
I did NaNo last year and yesterday I started the second draft of that novel. It was a good exercise for me to learn what I can accomplish when I force myself (2000 words per day) but I don't feel the need to do it again.
Reading something that excites me usually gets my gears turning.
Melanie:
For me, making time to aimlessly think/daydream often does it. I am in such a pressure cooker in my real life, that relaxation is sometimes what's needed.
E
Thanks for this post, Erica!
I've been in a slump ever since I declared I would enter the Golden Heart with this WIP. I think my brain froze because even though I could 'finish' the darn thing--it wouldn't be my best work.
Ergo, I decided NOT to worry about that contest and just write.
I'll have to let you know whether or not my philosophy works.
magolla:
I cook without recipes. I just can't follow them and don't want to. I'd rather play it by taste. I feel the same way about writing a book . . . I can't force it and imposed dynamics or deadlines often don't work for me. But that's my personality.
E
Well, here's the thing. I'm always prioritizing my writing because I'm a full-timer. So, for instance, this week, I have an article due Friday, and an article due next Monday. I think I've got enough interviews for the Monday article, but I still need one more for the Friday article. And I have a major market research report due mid-December that's starting to push me toward Panic Mode because it's just not moving fast enough. And I'm working on another article for a regular client with no firm deadline, and I'm in the middle of edits for the technical journal I edit.
But I really want to work hard and regular on a fiction wip with hopes of getting a draft done by the end of the year. So I was doing it first thing in the morning, but... I HAVE to make more time for the market research report. So the wip gets backburnered to the end of the day. Or, in the evenings on the laptop (except, Son #1 had a band concert last night; karate tonight for us; Son #1 has jazz band concert Thursday night; marching band fundraiser Friday night). So, uh... I'll figure it out.
As for That Thing, well, to each his own. I feel sort of disapproving because I think 99.99% of the time it'll probably produce dreck (and agents must really fear the month after) and convince people that just getting the pages done will make a publishable novel. But, to each his own; if it's what you want to do with your time or it's what gets you in the chair, well, whatever works.
I am doing That Thing. However, I am also continuing to revise my wip. I'm having a fantastic time. I'm a quick drafter, and the distance writing is making me feel very productive. Hopefully the feeling will last out the month. (I've already broken the cardinal rule and edited some of the first 5,000 words.) My goal is not to end up with complete crap.
Mark:
I know that whenever I am ready to write, SOMETHING will happen--galleys to proof, or a kid crisis, or a deadline for a ghosted book or whatever. So I feel like the consummate juggler as well.
E
Heather:
I am always editing and redediting what comes before. I'm not sure I could DO That Thing and still use my process. But who knows?
E
My crit group did That Thing last year -- all six of us. We all finished 50K words. We emailed our progress, our thrills, our frustrations everyday. The camaraderie was amazing. We had fun.
Five of the six of us have spent the past year trying to turn the "chicken poop first draft" into a nice "chicken salad." LOL!!! One of us (not me), though, took the time to do extensive pre-writing before That Thing started. She churned out 78K words, and now a year later, she's shopping a darn good novel.
We're all doing That Thing again this year. Me? I'm using the month to finish the final revisions on last years nanonovel. As "The Intern" calls it I'm doing NaNoReVisMo. (http://internspills.blogspot.com)
Then in December, I'll begin the pre-writing on my next novel, and when I get that done, I plan to do That Thing and write the first draft in a month (January), revise through the next several months, and hopefully have pre-writing done on a third novel in time for That Thing next year.
I really like the fun, the ridiculous deadline, the way my family all sacrifices during that one month to allow me to do whatever it takes to get a draft finished, the camaraderie, and I like the rhythm of the writing year it affords me.
Beth:
Sounds like an awesome way to approach it. Really does . . . . I think if I WERE to do it, that would be the way to go.
E
Planned on trying it this year...started on Pearl Sunday night and then realized that I need to sit on this idea a little longer.
Getting off to a good start is what's most important at the moment.
I'm really trying to figure out if I need to write it from first person or third. I'm not great with third, but I think it suite that world so much better. Which do you perfer?
I alternate between writing while walking on the treadmill, that's my main desk, and sitting in a glider rocker, with my laptop, next to the woodstove.
To shake things up even more, I go running, split wood, cook. But most important, I switch between writing projects fairly often.
I've never understood the criticism of The Thing. Every month you write balls-to-the-wall. So, in November, you have company. What's the problem?
I'm with you, Erica. I never do it ...
For one thing, I'm pretty prolific as it is, when I want to be. So I don't feel like I need the motivation. But just 'cause I don't use it doesn't mean everybody else shouldn't. I think anything—fires, NaNoMo, hallucinogens, whatever—that gets writers moving is a good thing.
JT:
I used to only write in first . . . but over time, I used third to get out of my characters' heads and develop the world a bit more. I think it all depends on the book . . . .
E
Paul:
I switch up a lot too.
E
Stephen:
I suppose it's the word count/finish a WHOLE novel in a month aspect. Some people think writing with less filters and getting the word count up there is a good way to approach it--and then there's Mark's explaination of it, which a lot of people concur with. I don't criticize it . . . I think whatever works. I just haven't done That Thing.
E
Lurker:
May have to try hallucinogens. Or I believe yesterday's discussion--spiked lemonade.
E
Gosh, I mix things up ALL the time. As soon as I find something that "works" (and I'm always searching for something that works best), it stops working, and then I have to find something else. Certain chairs, laptop vs. netbook... the latest is just staying in bed until I'm done, LOL.
Yes, doing NaNo! I need the energy to motivate me through seeing if I can actually write a story without much sex, LOL.
I've taken to my laptop and a recliner in my office. It's cozy and keeps me offline.
I don't do NaNo either, and like you, it's probably the rebellion in me. Also, I can't stand to just write words for the sake of word counts and not bother making them worthwhile words. I also do rolling revisions, which take a lot of my writing day.
It's odd though. I had this fantasy novel that I started a couple of years back. It's a mystery. And last night I revisted Ashetan and Eriq and the others. It really made me want to plot it out and write it! Something in the weather...
I love a fire, btw. Best for communing with self and others!
Natasha:
Good luck, LOL!!! May you get through it without too much sex.
;-)
E
Starbucks:
Demon Baby and I had a lovely time under the full moon with the dogs.
E
Amen!
I've thought of doing the novel in a month thing, not to enter in a contest, but just to see if I could do it and produce something worthwhile.
Sometimes my best writing comes when things are flowing. It requires little revision except for taking out useless works and other cleaning up.
Other times, if I sit down when I feel empty, I get going and the writing flows.
Hi Joe:
The minister gave me an Amen. :-)
E
I'm not doing that thing, but I am going to try and use this month to revise and edit my WIP.
As for shaking up my writing routine, I'm pretty much glued to my desk due to wrist injuries, but I often find watching movie previews helps get the creativity and inspiration moving.
Amen!
I don't do that thing either, but as a PR gal, writing copious amounts in short time frames isn't unusual. My record is about 60,000 wds in 16 days. Not good words, but words none-the-less. As for getting the cobwebs out... taking a laptop to a coffee shop does it for me. Gets me out of my tiny office without a view and around real humans. Works every time.
Nadine:
Music inspires me a lot . . .
E
Colleen:
Sometimes I eavesdrop too much to be productive at a coffee shop. LOL! People fascinate me.
E
I was going to build a fire today but it was too warm. So I mowed, raked, pulled dead veggie vines and voted and now am tired. Tomorrow's scene is in my head.
This year NaNoWriMo is working for me. It hasn't before. I suppose it is like anything else, bed, chair, desk, or laptop it isn't the thing itself that is important it is the energy that we direct at our creative mind because we believe in our talisman, temporary though it may be.
I'm with you, Erica. Can't get into that "Thing". Can't commit the time necessary and certainly don't need the pressure. I'm sorta-kinda able to produce a steady number of pages when I'm actually writing.
I do change my routine. I'll switch from the laptop to the desktop to writing at the day job (when I can get away with it).
I'm not doing that thing, exactly, but I did set some goals similar to it for this month. And I'm already far behind, but my desk is halfway cleared off!
Love to sit and watch fire. It's the pyro in me.
What do I do - something completely different. Different mood, different voice, different style, different length, genre, whatever. Generally, I do something short to give those creative muscles a stretch. They get badly kinked sometimes.
Awesome that you got the book in your head like that!
Richmond:
Definitely. In fact, because I am a busy mother/writer, I had to give up a lot of the things that I "thought" I needed to write since if I wait for silence, it ain't happening.
E
Liz:
I even switch up silence versus music. Though I find I produce more with music on.
E
Sarah:
Now it's settling into the two voices. But yeah . . . I see the whole thing.
E
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