I am the worst kind of writer.
I am the kind of writer who calls himself a writer, but never makes time to write. I am the kind of writer who can prattle on endlessly about ideas for books and screenplays, but never actually sits down to write one. I am the kind of writer who thinks that the difference between a first draft and a final draft is a run through the spell-checker on my computer.
These are flaws that I freely admit. Despite years of my telling people, “You know, I’m a writer, that’s what I want to do with my life,” every indication pointed to this never ever actually happening. With the amount of motivation I had (none), I was destined to become another starving artist who blames the publishing industry for his failures, while instead of actually creating a work of art I would be playing video games and trying to avoid going to creative writing class.
Then I found out about NaNoWriMo.
I know what you’re thinking. “NaNoWriMo?” you think. “Jake, what does that mean? It sounds like a drug that I would get advertisements for in my email.”
NaNoWriMo is not, however, something that will increase your sexual longevity, enlarge certain organs, or lower your mortgage payments. It is an abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month.
National Novel Writing Month was created by a Californian named Chris Baty and it is quite easy to summarize: in the month of November, write a novel of 50,000 words or more, beginning 12 a.m. November 1 and ending at 12 a.m. December 1.
50,000 words in 30 days. A novel in one month.
A challenge where output counts more than quality. A challenge where you only have to work for one month. A challenge with the mantra, “Don’t get it right, get it written.”
This was my kind of challenge.
I signed up for NaNoWriMo during the last week of October, thought up a (very) rough outline, and sat down the morning of November 1, excited, optimistic and already thinking about gargantuan movie deals. It didn’t look impossible. 50,000 words in 30 days averages out to about 1700 words a day, which is about
70 words an hour. That’s not that difficult, is it?
Answer: Yes it is. Dear God, yes it is.
I now understand why novelists get paid so much money for books that are exponentially longer than 50,000 words. Writing a 50,000 word is hard work and writing a good one must be near impossible.
I wouldn’t know. This isn’t a good novel.
The book I wrote, however, a 55,000 word adventure novel with trips to three countries, more slayings than you can count on one hand, a sex scene and a college that bears striking resemblance to USM, was written in 30 days. Every word. There are spelling errors, plot holes, pacing problems, grammar snafus and a host of other problems that would give any editor a migraine.
But it is done. For better or for worse, I did what I never would have otherwise been able to do: I wrote a novel in 30 days, thanks to NaNoWriMo.
And it is done.
It has been said that climbers scale Mount Everest “because it’s there” and writers write because “it isn’t there.” In my 55,000 word book, “The Angel del Oro,” at least, I’ve remedied that problem
It is there now.
The first half of the novel is on-line at
thejakechristiestory.blogpot.com. If you like what you see, please buy the full print version for a measly 10 bucks. That way, I will never have to torture myself into writing a novel again.
Well, at least not until NEXT November.