Monday, November 25, 2013

My NaNoWriMo Entry, Plus Some Enlightening Old Thoughts from Max Barry

Every year, someone of some description who knows I'm an author asks, "are you doing NaNoWriMo?" Every year, my answer is simple: well, no. The next question is, inevitably, "why not?" I've made up a number of answers to this one, all of which are true. I'm busy with school, I have another novel I'm writing, and so on.

Back in 2010, no doubt under identical questioning, Max Barry gave the best answer of all: "I think it makes you write a bad novel." He said he doesn't like saying that but he's absolutely right. Admittedly, using his 2,000 word per day target outlined in that article results in writing more than 50,000 words per month. It's also done when one actually has a month available, not forced into November. I've used word targets extensively, just always over the course of a few months. Besides, if I have an idea in October that's so great, why would I wait until November 1 to kick it off?

Regarding the 15 writing techniques, End-to-End (#12) was used for Inside the Rift (2009) and Void (2011), whereas Jigsaw (#11) is being used for State of Sin (2014). I'm a night person, not a morning person, and I generally need to work at home. I used to listen to music years ago but no longer, and perhaps the occasional coffee or whisky splashes down my throat as I write.

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