In Which I Succumb to Madness...
... and sign up for NaNoWriMo
Why? The people running the website seem to have it sussed:
NaNoWriMo is all about the magical power of deadlines. Give someone a goal and a goal-minded community and miracles are bound to happen. Pies will be eaten at amazing rates. Alfalfa will be harvested like never before. And novels will be written in a month.
Part of the reason we organize NaNoWriMo is just to get a book written. We love the fringe benefits accrued to novelists. For one month out of the year, we can stew and storm, and make a huge mess of our apartments and drink lots of coffee at odd hours. And we can do all of these things loudly, in front of people. As satisfying as it is to reach deep within yourself and pull out an unexpectedly passable work of art, it is equally (if not more) satisfying to be able to dramatize the process at social gatherings.
But that artsy drama window is woefully short. The other reason we do NaNoWriMo is because the glow from making big, messy art, and watching others make big, messy art, lasts for a long, long time. The act of sustained creation does bizarre, wonderful things to you. It changes the way you read. And changes, a little bit, your sense of self. We like that.
Hear that? Big Messy Art*. Dramatize the Process. All people living in my immediate vicinity can beware. :-D :-D :-D
If anyone's interested, the first 2,039** words have been written and posted in a private entry on my LJ account. (Chapter One: In Which Jonathon Lily Reads a Letter.) If you would like to read it, comment on this entry and I shall give you access in two flicks of a quill-pen.***
* Management makes no guarantee that the Big Messy Art is, in point of fact, 'artistic'. It shall definitely be big. I suspect it shall be messy, also.
** Over two thousand words already! Woo hoo!!!
*** You will need an LJ account to do this. They are very easy to acquire. Trust me on this.
Why? The people running the website seem to have it sussed:
NaNoWriMo is all about the magical power of deadlines. Give someone a goal and a goal-minded community and miracles are bound to happen. Pies will be eaten at amazing rates. Alfalfa will be harvested like never before. And novels will be written in a month.
Part of the reason we organize NaNoWriMo is just to get a book written. We love the fringe benefits accrued to novelists. For one month out of the year, we can stew and storm, and make a huge mess of our apartments and drink lots of coffee at odd hours. And we can do all of these things loudly, in front of people. As satisfying as it is to reach deep within yourself and pull out an unexpectedly passable work of art, it is equally (if not more) satisfying to be able to dramatize the process at social gatherings.
But that artsy drama window is woefully short. The other reason we do NaNoWriMo is because the glow from making big, messy art, and watching others make big, messy art, lasts for a long, long time. The act of sustained creation does bizarre, wonderful things to you. It changes the way you read. And changes, a little bit, your sense of self. We like that.
Hear that? Big Messy Art*. Dramatize the Process. All people living in my immediate vicinity can beware. :-D :-D :-D
If anyone's interested, the first 2,039** words have been written and posted in a private entry on my LJ account. (Chapter One: In Which Jonathon Lily Reads a Letter.) If you would like to read it, comment on this entry and I shall give you access in two flicks of a quill-pen.***
* Management makes no guarantee that the Big Messy Art is, in point of fact, 'artistic'. It shall definitely be big. I suspect it shall be messy, also.
** Over two thousand words already! Woo hoo!!!
*** You will need an LJ account to do this. They are very easy to acquire. Trust me on this.
posted by theamazingcatherine | 2:25 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home