101 Reasons to Stop Writing

Heather Dudley is a Georgian fantasy writer (the US state, not the former Soviet republic, or the period in English history), with an unhealthy obsession with dragons. She is a Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo, charged with the unenviable task of babying other NaNo’s in her geographical area through their depression when the “Look at Me! I’m a Writer!” buzz wears off. I guess she’s also the one who calls International House of Pancakes to book the local winners’ party.

She blitzed NaNoWriMo this year, belting out 50,000 words in 12 days. (If you finish in under 15 days, Thomas Pynchon sends you a card.)

How many times have you participated in NaNoWriMo, and what was the result?

2006 marks my fifth attempt. Only my second win, though. The first year (2002) I completed the challenge in 14 days. The second: chose entirely the wrong novel to write. Heavily researched biblical fiction does not lend itself well to the let-loose spirit of NaNo. The third, personal drama just plain annihilated any attempt I might have made. The fourth (last year) I had a baby November 16. Hard to write a novel while pushing a melon out of your crotch. I did manage 14k before I had her, though.

What value do you place on completing NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo taught me to shut up and write. Quit fretting over perfect prose and just get the stuff down. I also haven’t had trouble with writer’s block since my first year. To quote Hemingway: “The first draft of anything is shit.” NaNoWriMo gets that first draft out of the way in a hurry.

How did you reach the 50,000 words target in 12 days?

Too much free time. And typing 120 WPM. I also gave myself RSI in the process: Don’t try this at home, kiddies.

Do you spend any time editing/redrafting the work-in-progress during the month?

Not one moment. I even made sure to write each chapter in a separate file to discourage myself from reading back. Too many people sabotage themselves by constantly re-writing before they even finish. What good does that do, exactly?

Do you plan to (eventually) submit the result for publication? If so, how much additional work do you expect to do?

Of course! I figure on at least two hours of revisions, plus four days of letting my friends tell me how wonderful it is, and it ought to be ready to go.

Seriously though, it’ll be a long road to publication. This is only the first draft of many, many rewrites. It has potential. But I’m going to have to do a lot of mining to get to the diamonds in THAT story.

How do you think the community aspect affects the experience?

Community is the main reason the NaNoWriMo beast has grown to the proportions it has. Many people participate as strictly a self challenge. It’s the camaraderie that draws people in. You’re doing this insane event with tens of thousands of others, at exactly the same time.

I’m something of a know-it-all, and like to tell others what dumbasses they’re being. So I frequent the Rules and Regs forum. It’s also great because you can look at the excerpts people post, the plot synopses they try to get opinions on, and their awful, awful characters, and you realize that hey, your stuff ain’t half bad after all.

What do you get from participating in NaNoWriMo that you couldn’t get from setting your own writing targets?

Accountability. You’ve got a public humiliation in the works if you don’t finish. No one will tell you that you suck, (in fact, there’s a whole forum devoted to commiserating with other failures), but YOU will know that you suck. And that’s a powerful motivator. It also forces to to work on a deadline… a very unreasonable, arbitrary deadline. Makes deadlines from editors seem gentle by comparison.

Would you recommend the experience to other writers, published and unpublished?

Definitely. I know of several published authors who use NaNoWriMo to give their own projects a kickstart. It’s a great experience, something I think most people should try at least once. If for no other reason, than to realize that writing isn’t as easy as it looks. Writing involves commitment, DAILY commitment. And if you can’t cut it for 30 freaking days (1667 words a day is NOT that much), then you have no business trying to be a writer. Plus, it’s just plain fun.

If you were in charge of NaNoWriMo, what rules/parameters would you set?

Really, I think they’ve got most of it just about right. Their motto should be “shut up and write, stupid.”

What I hate is that it isn’t against the rules to quote other people, just to quote yourself. Say what? You can write a novel in November, and you can’t use your previously written prose, but you can quote an entire song, or even term papers, if you want to? What the hell kind of sense does that make? If YOU did not write it, then it shouldn’t count. You can’t say “I wrote 50k in November” if you write 45k and quote your favorite author for the other 5k. Just write the freaking book, already. It’s like trying to cheat on an open-book test in school.

I’d also make killing the padding people mandatory. Someone in the rules and regs forum asked if he could quote a term paper he just wrote in his novel and have it count, and just say his character wrote it. Sure, it’s not against the rules, but it strikes me as incredibly freaking stupid. Fortunately, he will never be published.

Her response to being interviewed by 101 Reasons?

If one writer stops clogging my future agents’ slush pile because of this site… it’s all worth it.

With more Municipal Liaisons like Heather, who needs eneNaNomies?