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Looking for NaNo Advice
Nov. 9th, 2005 03:31 pmTo all of those who read my journal, not just those who are doing NaNo or who are writers:
I'm considering dropping NaNo. My reasons are multiple, and are listed below. First, I want to clarify what kind of advice I'm looking for from you.
I'm not looking for blind encouragement (as wonderful as that is). I'm looking for real reasons that I'm not doing as badly as I think I am, that there is some merit in this project despite my misgivings. I suppose I'm looking for some value in my work.
My reasons for considering dropping out:
1) I'm behind. Not seriously behind, but far enough that I'm going to have to work hard to catch up. My current word count is 6,071. If I was on track, I would have 15003.
2) I'm lacking concentration. When I'm writing, I'm thinking about getting ready for my Tae Kwon Do grading; when I'm at TKD, I'm thinking about writing. Neither writing nor TKD is progressing as needed.
3) I'm not loving my story. The concept is lame, the plot is hokey, the characters are one-dimensional. In all of my previous writing, I've been able to see good bits - a great character, some excellent writing, a really good plot. In this, the only good I see is the further development of my outlining process. The new process is good; so good, in fact, that I'd like to move on to something that matters so I can try out the process on that.
So, what do you all think? Is a hokey, completely unpublishable story worth devoting my time to? Should I forget about NaNo and go back to work on one of the original projects that might be publishable, or one of the fanfics that has a readership built in? Am I ignoring/forgetting all the valuable aspects of NaNo simply because I am frustrated and/or lazy?
Looking forward to your comments.
I'm considering dropping NaNo. My reasons are multiple, and are listed below. First, I want to clarify what kind of advice I'm looking for from you.
I'm not looking for blind encouragement (as wonderful as that is). I'm looking for real reasons that I'm not doing as badly as I think I am, that there is some merit in this project despite my misgivings. I suppose I'm looking for some value in my work.
My reasons for considering dropping out:
1) I'm behind. Not seriously behind, but far enough that I'm going to have to work hard to catch up. My current word count is 6,071. If I was on track, I would have 15003.
2) I'm lacking concentration. When I'm writing, I'm thinking about getting ready for my Tae Kwon Do grading; when I'm at TKD, I'm thinking about writing. Neither writing nor TKD is progressing as needed.
3) I'm not loving my story. The concept is lame, the plot is hokey, the characters are one-dimensional. In all of my previous writing, I've been able to see good bits - a great character, some excellent writing, a really good plot. In this, the only good I see is the further development of my outlining process. The new process is good; so good, in fact, that I'd like to move on to something that matters so I can try out the process on that.
So, what do you all think? Is a hokey, completely unpublishable story worth devoting my time to? Should I forget about NaNo and go back to work on one of the original projects that might be publishable, or one of the fanfics that has a readership built in? Am I ignoring/forgetting all the valuable aspects of NaNo simply because I am frustrated and/or lazy?
Looking forward to your comments.
