tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942294427695379658.post5105688241245511850..comments2024-03-19T09:19:45.353+00:00Comments on Dan's Adventures in Fiction: Not NaNoWriMo-ing?Dan Purduehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01633271913854946500noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942294427695379658.post-61799902273941391152015-11-02T21:36:12.056+00:002015-11-02T21:36:12.056+00:00Yeah, I guess they intended it to be a bit of fun ...Yeah, I guess they intended it to be a bit of fun and then it grew and people started taking it seriously and it became a monster as well! I think they do pretty well with their pep talks and mentors and support groups and everything, but I'm sure they could do more.<br /><br />I think it's probably at its best for people who either just need shaking up and who go in as an experiment (like me), or for people who are just doing it for fun and aren't ever planning on doing anything more with what they write. The danger zone is the people who desperately want to "be a writer" and think this is what writers do!Chloehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00183206722136871230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942294427695379658.post-9475331259596350942015-11-02T10:01:46.501+00:002015-11-02T10:01:46.501+00:00That's great to hear, Chloe (and of course I a...That's great to hear, Chloe (and of course I am kicking myself that I didn't remember The Art of Letting Go started off as a NaNo novel!). And I hadn't really thought about the fact that people might be less 'attached' to their prose if they kept in mind that it had been blasted out in such a short time. That's a good point (although I'm not convinced my brain works that way).<br /><br />However, I would say that you weren't exactly a novice writer when you sat down to start your NaNoWriMo stint, so you'd already have had that understanding of the need to edit and refine what you'd written. That's why you took the time and effort to finish and polish and only then submit it to agents.<br /><br />I think NaNoWriMo is a good idea, I just think it needs to work harder at showing how the writing it promotes fits into a much longer process. A year-long novel writing programme would be ideal, although I guess it wouldn't have the same 'quick fix' appeal, and be a nightmare to run.Dan Purduehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01633271913854946500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942294427695379658.post-25988237749523649142015-10-31T15:13:26.339+00:002015-10-31T15:13:26.339+00:00My published novel was a NaNo novel! But I spent a...My published novel was a NaNo novel! But I spent a year re-writing it before submitting it to agents. Some people try to submit in December which is crazy! I was quite against the idea of writitng crap for a month just to get it done, but actually the big advantage I found is that because I hadn't spent months and months crafting a first draft, I didn't mind slashing it to pieces for the next draft. It made me more bold at killing my darlings (perhaps because I hadn't had time to make any darlings!) and completely restructuring - changing the voice and tense and cutting whole scenes. I don't know if I'd do it again but it was unexpectedly successful at making me a braver writer.Chloehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00183206722136871230noreply@blogger.com