I will be insane during the month of November.

[Lorizael]

Your opinions are stupid. Seriously. NaNoWriMo is a fun, community-oriented way to help writers write. No man is an island and all that ****. Seriously.

[Al B. Sure!]

This is stupid. Seriously. You want to write a novel, write it whenever you want to, make it however long you want it to be, and spend however long you want crafting it.

I can't believe you all think it's a good idea to limit yourselves like this, but whatever.

[Guynemer]

Al, you have no ****ing clue what you are talking about, so why don't you kindly shut the **** up?

[Al B. Sure!]

Explain it to me then. Explain the purpose. Explain what you can get out of constraining yourself rather then writing it on your own?

[Al B. Sure!]

Did I offend your God? Is the month of November the holy month when you sacrifice upon the altar of writing? When you punish yourself for your craft with slavish devotion to the November 30th deadline but not touch the pen any other time of the year? This must be a cultish thing because it makes no rational sense and yet I am quickly attacked for questioning its purpose. Is it supposedly self-evident as a god?

[Lorizael]

My novel will be significantly longer than 50,000 words and I won't be writing it only in November. But I will be writing the first 50,000 words (at least) this November. That's a large chunk of it out of the way. Additionally, once I've started writing some of it, it will be easier to write the rest. And, writing is a craft that requires practice just like any other. I may be able to write whenever I want, but if I can practice writing 50,000 words in November, then that's 50,000 more words of writing I've used to hone my craft.

[Al B. Sure!]

My novel will be significantly longer than 50,000 words and I won't be writing it only in November. But I will be writing the first 50,000 words (at least) this November. That's a large chunk of it out of the way. Additionally, once I've started writing some of it, it will be easier to write the rest. And, writing is a craft that requires practice just like any other. I may be able to write whenever I want, but if I can practice writing 50,000 words in November, then that's 50,000 more words of writing I've used to hone my craft.

Thank you. It does seem a bit odd though if you've had intentions to write this for months but held it off til this event, however.

[Lorizael]

Nope. NaNo helped get my creative juices flowing. When October came around, I knew NaNo was on its way and I was struck by inspiration. I'm struck by inspiration at other times, as well, and I also write novels at other times. But if I happen to get the spark around November, NaNoWriMo sure is a good way to get through a rough draft.

Essentially, it's a writer's workshop that anyone can participate in.

[Aeson]

So I take it Curtis will start posting again in November? For a couple days at least...

[Al B. Sure!]

So I take it Curtis will start posting again in November? For a couple days at least...

Well this is fiction only... oh, I see what you did there

[Elok]

My novel will be significantly longer than 50,000 words and I won't be writing it only in November. But I will be writing the first 50,000 words (at least) this November. That's a large chunk of it out of the way. Additionally, once I've started writing some of it, it will be easier to write the rest. And, writing is a craft that requires practice just like any other. I may be able to write whenever I want, but if I can practice writing 50,000 words in November, then that's 50,000 more words of writing I've used to hone my craft.

Just so you know, there is a significant danger here: you may find, after writing those 50K words, that the end of the novel no longer matches the beginning, not just in terms of minor points but plot, tone, character behavior...one character may completely hijack the story (because that's how characters act, they're inconsiderate bastards with minds of their own), or the act of writing may get your brain working in weird ways, make you look at the plot you originally came up with and say, "nah, that won't work, obviously the X needs to Y before the Z. What was I thinking?"

While that experience is actually refreshing in its own way, it can cause you to stare at the big pile of words you have to dig through and edit and re-edit, digging out every last inconsistency, and say, "aww, ****." Then you may turn your computer off, go have a beer and forget about it for a long time. Which is not to discourage you--it's fun--but be warned.

EDIT: Whoops, just saw the bit about writing novels at other times. You probably already knew all that.

[Elok]

Explain it to me then. Explain the purpose. Explain what you can get out of constraining yourself rather then writing it on your own?

The artificial and arbitrary constraints force you to do something you might otherwise put off forever with, "eh, maybe I'll try that tomorrow." The biggest difficulty in writing (at least as far as practical, non-craft difficulties go) is making your butt stay in the chair and your word processor stay open on a regular schedule. The actual novel produced, IIUC, is somewhat beside the point. I'm guessing a large number of these novels come out as gibberish due to the strict constraints. That doesn't matter, as only the tiniest minority will see print anyway. The idea is to make yourself try what can be an intrinsically rewarding experience.

[Lorizael]

Whoops, just saw the bit about writing novels at other times. You probably already knew all that.

But thanks!

[MikeH]

Only "50+" wpm? You shame us all.

For prolonged periods. 80+ on 1m typing tests.

[MikeH]

So, when should I start thinking about what I'm going to write?