NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo. If I'm honest, I've heard about this in previous years but never took the time to find out what it is. This year was different. I looked up what it was, checked out the website and decided within two minutes that there was no way I was taking part in such an event. Sure, it's a good way to get people to write a story but I've already made the decision to do so, and have done more than once.

I can certainly see the appeal for NaNoWriMo, don't get me wrong. If you've been bugged down by second thoughts and procrastination and half-formed excuses that prevent you from actually sitting down to write a story, then NaNoWriMo is perfect for you. But I don't have that problem. Although I might put off writing I know I will eventually get it done, it's only a matter of time and this is where my young age comes in to play. Since I'm only eighteen and still in education, I feel like I've got all the time in the world to write my many stories.

I guess that's just an idealised youthful dream, but it works for me.

From what I understand about NaNoWriMo, the main objective is to write something - anything - that passes as a complete story. The key point that put me off it is that it won't make much sense. There will be next to no planning, characters will be all over the place and the end is more like a mad dash to get to the finish line rather than a slow easing into something magical which is how it is for me, when I do eventually get there. The pure random nature of anything produced through NaNoWriMo scared me away.

I like my stories to have substance, and a basis in something deeper than "I really wanted to write a story but lacked the courage". I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that if I wanted to write like I was six years old again, I'd join the NaNoWriMo movement and this would be an entirely different blog post.