I’ve heard people say that “everyone has a good book inside them.” That may be true, but many of those people should have somebody else write it for them.
November has charged in with its National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge for people to write an entire novel in just one month…because apparently writing a novel is just so easy that anyone can do it in thirty days.
Personally, I am insulted by this implication. I understand the idea of sending out hope and motivation, and some people need a little shove, but the message received by many is that writing a novel is quick and easy; in fact, it can be done in one’s free time in as little as a month. At least February wasn’t the month chosen, but couldn’t it at least have been a month with thirty-one days? Heck, you could probably write a sequel then too.
Because I have written a book, I have had a few people ask me questions about or make suggestions along the line that now that NaNoWriMo is here, I can finally finish the sequel I’ve been writing since late June, as if all I needed was for it to finally be November, the magical writing month. Sure, I’d like to have had my book finished and edited in July, but I’m happy with my pace. I like to really feel my story and my words, not force them into existence just so they will, well, exist. They may not be the right words. No thank you NaNoWriMo, I would rather take my time to get it right.
I’ve never given this whole ordeal much thought in the past. It’s like American Idol, right? Everybody thinks they can sing, and everybody thinks they can write too. But I’ve watched the train wreck of Idol auditions, as most people have, simply for the entertainment of how horrible the performances can be, and how seriously the “singers” think they have talent.
NaNoWriMo is the Hunger Games of writing, in a sense, with the unprepared and untrained warriors. No, nobody is killing anyone off. It isn’t really a competition. But maybe it actually is. Think about it. What will happen after all these one month novels are written? Many people will likely choose to self publish them, flooding an already densely populated pool with novice novels. Some of them may even be good with some editing, but how will anyone find them with so much to pick through? So, in essence, these NaNoWriMo novels will dilute the quality of indie published works, making it that much more difficult to gain respect and credibility for the serious writers who know it takes longer than thirty days to write something we can consider true literary quality.
My melodramatic summary if NaNoWriMo: It does little more than rape the seriousness and respect of true authors’ hard work. Of course, these are just my opinions, and you don’t need to agree with me, even though I’m right. I even know a few people participating in this writing challenge, and some are legit writers, but it goes against my personal principles as a writer.
caverns of my mind 