Tag: 50000 words

December 3, 2015

My Greatest Competition

Almost a month ago, a set out to write 50,000 words as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It’s a daunting challenge and not just because I’ve failed to reach my goal four years in a row. I have never written such a long piece of fiction in such a short period of time. It’s also intimidating because every year, I have to face the specter of my previous attempts. In a way, I’m competing with the four other versions of me who have embarked on this voyage of literary abandon.

November was a crazy month for me. Between family commitments, holidays and some long days at work, I’ve been extremely busy. Like most writers with some semblance of a social life and a full-time job that isn’t writing a novel, writing becomes harder and harder to squeeze in. Writing time is often cut back in favor of other activities, chores, sleep etc.

So, the week leading into Thanksgiving, I took a look at my word count and realized that there was no way I was going to reach my 50,000-word goal this year. Instead, I looked at my stats for the last four years. In 2011, a few short months after launching this blog, I wrote 15,621 words. In 2012, just 6,217. In 2013, I wrote 12,100. Last year, I cranked out 22,615 words. I decided that If I wasn’t going to crack 50K, I at least wanted to beat my personal best. I set a goal of reaching 30,000 words by the closing hours of November 30.

Sadly, I didn’t make 30K either. But I don’t view it as a complete failure. Over the course of 30 days, I wrote a grand total of 28,521 words — that equals 127 pages of very usable material going forward. And that’s what counts. If you take NaNoWriMo seriously, you don’t just write for those 30 wild days. You use it to form a foundation for your writing from December 1 to October 31. I think I accomplished that. I wrote 12 short story drafts during the last month. With edits and polishing, I think my collection stands a chance of getting published.

If that isn’t a victory, then at least I beat myself. And that’s oddly satisfying.

— 30 —

Jonny Eberle is a writer in Tacoma, WA. He just finished a month during which he attempted to write a complete novel. You can find him on Twitter.

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November 11, 2013

Why I’m Not Doing NaNoWriMo (But You Should)

For the past three years, I have plunged into the wilderness of creativity and wrist pain that is National Novel Writing Month (better known as NaNoWriMo). If you haven’t heard of NaNoWriMo, it’s a worldwide movement of literary minded folks where you attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel in just 30 days. If it sounds crazy, that’s because it is.

I’ve never made it to the 50,000 mark, not once. A lot of people don’t, but the point is to try to write a crappy first draft, not a perfect one. It’s a noble goal, but not one that I’m pursuing this November. Here’s why.

1) Dearth of Uninterrupted Free Time

In my past attempts to cross the 50,000-word mark, I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands. In college, you’re frequently faced with awkward blocks of free time between classes and work. College is bursting with opportunities for a young aspiring novelist to write. Every building on campus has a suitable place to sit with your laptop and type away. November is also the perfect month because it’s right between the chaos of midterms and the chaos of finals (not to mention it has a 3-day weekend and a 4-day weekend built in to help you bulk up your novel). If you’re still in school, you’re already doing crazy things — why not add a novel-in-a-month?

The real world is scheduled and regimented like college never was. That’s not to say a lot of working professionals don’t participate. People of all walks of life make NaNo work for them. But my life, with a new job in a new state, doesn’t give me a lot of extra time. The free time I do have is also spoken for…

2) I Have a Writing Job

I’m lucky. I get paid to write. Fully 50% of my income is generated by freelance projects. So, when I do find those times to write, I need to spend them wisely. I could blow off my commitments and write a novel, but first drafts don’t pay the heating bill. Articles and press releases do. When writing becomes your job and not just your hobby, its hard to add personal writing on top of the mountain of professional writing that you already do.

Of course, that doesn’t mean successful (or unsuccessful) professional writers don’t do NaNoWriMo. A lot of them work on projects that they’re passionate about on the side. And speaking of projects…

3) I’m Already in the Middle of a Big Writing Project

NaNoWriMo is a fantastic way to jump start your creative juices when you otherwise wouldn’t write. The mad rush of trying to get it all done in such a small amount of time forces you to write without editing, which is really great for unleashing your inner storytelling genius. It works, trust me. You will be amazed at what you come up with while trying to meet that daily quota of 1,667 words.

But I’m not in a writing rut like I have been in past years. I’m actually in the middle of writing a novella. In fact, I’m making excellent progress. It may not be a novel, but I think it has potential. It doesn’t make sense to interrupt my momentum — you don’t throw off the emperor’s groove. I’ve always struggled with seeing a story all the way to its conclusion. I think I can do it this time and finishing this is more meaningful to me than starting a novel that I will later abandon.

Why You Should Still Do It

If you’re rounding the corner of 18,337 words today, I’m cheering you on. You’re on an incredible adventure. I wish you success. If you’re behind your word count, you are just like me. Keep going, even if you spend page after page describing the blueish gray hue of your protagonist’s eyes. Your goal is not perfection. Just get something down — editing is for December. If you aren’t doing NaNoWriMo, you should try it. It unlocks potential you never knew you had.

I’m not down in trenches of NaNo this year. But I have my reasons and I think they’re good ones. Next year, if I’m more settled and have some time on my hands, I’ll take the plunge again. Write on, Wrimos. Write on.

— 30 —

Jonny Eberle is a writer in Tacoma, WA. You can follow him on Twitter and read his articles on foreign relations on Grey Cell. Thanks for reading!

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November 28, 2012

Please Don’t Ask Me About My Novel

Motivation is hard to find around this time of November. For a month, I’ve been dabbling on a novel as part of my yearly NaNoWriMo challenge. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days…and I’m nearly 45,000 words behind. Needless to say, it’s been a rough year for noveling.

I love the writing, I do, but the words just haven’t materialized. It’s tempting to blame work, my social life or my other creative endeavors, but I know that’s a cop-out. I simply haven’t given this project the attention it deserves. Sometimes, inexplicably, the thing you most love is the last thing you want to do.

Normally, I could cut my losses and move on to a new, shiny idea, but I told people about this novel. I hyped it to pretty much everyone I know and now they’re asking me about it. “How’s the novel going, Jonny?” they ask. I cringe and have to admit that it isn’t going very well at all. Awkward silence and pangs of guilt set in.

I’m tempted to tell people as soon as I walk into a room that I really don’t want to talk about my novel. It’s a sensitive subject. But, you know what? Every time someone asks me how I’m doing on my novel, it forces me back to the keyboard. The guilt drives me back to work and I inch a little closer to my goal.

I’m under no illusions that I’ll finish in three days, but I’d like to see how far I can get. And if this crummy draft starts to resemble something akin to a story between now and Friday, I may just find the motivation to continue into December.

So, when I say, “Please don’t ask me about my novel,” what I’m really saying is, “Please pester me about my novel so much that I’ll be forced to write to save my pride.” I’ll thank you later.

— 30 —

The novel continues! If you’d like to bother me about my progress, please comment or mention me on Twitter: @jonnyeberle.