Here is the very first posting in Free Range Novelist, updated for 2009.
This is the National Novel Writing Month weblog of Wes the Bricoleur. Or, for short, NaNoWriMo and Brico. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. That's it! 1,667 words a day, every day, quality not even a consideration. Free Range Novelist chronicles my experiences during November, 2009, as it (sort of) has for five years running. It will center on day-by-day writing, life as a Municipal Liason, plus a few excerpts from my novel-in-progress. Maybe 10% of postings will ramble off into other topics.
Why a blog on top of daily pages of novel to write? This is a way to let some "I-ness" out in the midst of so much "they-ness" writing in the characters' voices. If my Inner Editor gets too restless pacing in its month-long cage, it can exercise on a very short leash here.
Here are my rules for November: this blog is a place for honest observation and reflection. Like, or don't like what you see here? Feel free to comment, all considered opinions are welcome. I'll write about other WriMos here, and in return expect to be fair game.
As for the noveling experience, well, other entries can wax philosophical or turn practical. See the "rules for writing" post, for instance.
So. Here we go... enjoy November! Yours Truly must surely enjoy it, since this is the sixth noveling November in a row for your enthusiastic Brico, and a chance for a third win.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Annual (Re)Introduction
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2 comments:
Hi there, found you over on the NaNo forum. I've been reading my copy of No Plot, No Problem in an attempt to psyche myself up for this.
I do have high hopes but I do wonder about the whole not-having-a-solid-plot thing. I have a basic outline but no huge event in the middle. Problem?
Maybe not. I guess we'll see. Do you blog daily while doing NaNoWriMo? Your link through the Free Range Novelist goes to a .org that's a general page to start a new blog.
Wow, a reader! Hope you'll come out to some of the events this November.
This is my sixth year doing NaNoWriMo. My first year, this middle-aged, male software engineer decided to write something completely outside the box. So I did a romance novel. I started out with not much of a plot, and it showed. I was easily 10,000 words in before the two main characters actually showed any interest in each other, and another 10,000 at least before the bodice-ripping began. The whole thing was just stream of consciousness without many events beyond what came to mind somewhat randomly as the next plot turn.
But you know what? On some nights the characters started talking for themselves, and my job was just to transcribe. That was a great feeling that came, I think, from really letting go and daring to write without hesitating for anything, and also having no standards whatsoever.
And that's all right. This summer I read Bird By Bird, which is about the things novelists do to get their novels written down, and then pulled into shape. The first section of the book was all about giving yourself permission to write lousy first drafts, because all novelists do. Except the author didn't use the word "lousy."
Some people blog their NaNo novels. Hunt around the Internet and you'll find a lot of really bad writing. That's the standard you have to meet. There's some better writing in the novel samples here at Free Range Novelist - they're all the way up at mediocre, and remember, the best of what I wrote.
Perversely, it may be harder to psych yourself up to write poorly than to write well. But the trick is to just do as Chris Baty says in his book. Lock up the Inner Editor (or let her write a blog like this one) for a month. But I guarantee if you take the plunge, it'll be liberating.
As for Brico the Blogger, I always intend to write something every few days during NaNo, and always fail. But that's okay, too.
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