![[Logo]](/images/101ReasonsLogo.png "101 Reasons to Stop Writing")
NaNoWriMo aims for a novel of 50k words, but they admit this more of a novella (~175 pages). A more typical novel is around 90k+. Stephen King routinely goes over 200k.
That’s a lot of words. How long would it take you to write 50-90k words, even if you (shudder) aren’t concerned about quality?
Georges Simenon, legendary Belgian mystery writer and legendary pantsman, could write 60-80 pages a day. He published 425 novels in his lifetime, 2-3 per month, and still had time to nail 10,000 women (so he claims).
You are, however, not Georges Simenon, much as you might’ve liked to be.
NaNo’s need to average 1,666.666 words per day. You probably haven’t written that much since your high school English exam. Realistically, you’re going to need 2-3 hours per day to maintain this. 90 hours over a month, that’s two working weeks.
If you have that kind of time, you need a better hobby. Even if you make it, you’ve just worked your ass off to produce the first draft of half a novel. Whoopee.
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I did it last year and finished 6 days early. I’m not a prolific writer by any means, but I found I could push other things onto the back burner for a change. Like posting comments on blogs, for example.
Quote: If you have that kind of time, you need a better hobby.
It makes me squirm in my seat, there are so many reasons not to attempt to write a novel but having plenty of time is not one of them.
That would seem to be saying that the only people who should be writing are the ones who refuse to make time for it. (I know there’s a genuine logical fallacy in my statement, but I’m not clever enough to root it out, plus I don’t have the time.)
“It makes me squirm in my seat”
Thanks jb. They say if you can touch just one person …
My advice so far is not so much aimed at experienced/professional writers, who should stop for entirely different reasons, but at Starbucks-addicted wannabe’s who want to say “I’m a Writer!” without realising how much actual effort is involved.
That said, if my comments spur in you a drive to improve the quality of your writing, then I can honestly say that I’m failing, utterly.
If that’s the case, then you should be all for NaNoWriMo. Nothing teaches hard to do like trying to do.
Besides, where’s National Nail 10 000 Women Month? Why aren’t they catering for my literary ambitions!
I think you can get that on DVD in Hong Kong.
I reckon Simenon must have been writing chic klit under a pseudonym. Yes, he wrote under Mary, and Jean, and Francoise, and …
Well, to be honest, many people routinely go over 50k during NaNoWriMo. I know I do…
2-3 words to tap out 1,666 words of rough draft? Not everybody writes that slow. The rough draft is the crap draft for a reason, it’s not going to be right, it just has to exist. drawing blood for every word ain’t getting it done. Seriously? 2-3 hours for that? Holy hell. That’s a long damn time to write that many words. Longhand maybe.
sorry, 2-3 hours, I’m a moron. Clearly my 1666 words are barely understandable English.