101 Reasons to Stop Writing

Mike Toot writes uninspired, mechanical prose. But then, he’s paid to. He makes a decent living writing software guidebooks, if you assume “decent living” means he is able to eat without getting a real job. The Big Guy in Seattle even offered him a job (not personally, he’s got monkeys for that), but he turned it down for the freedom to write fiction. This, of course, the kind of biography that only looks good after you’re successful.

He’s written nearly 48,000 word on his young adult fantasy novel for this year’s NaNoWriMo (what is it with geeks and fantasy?). Not bad for someone who claimed to be quitting writing, back in May of this year.

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

Once, in 2004. Got to 12,500 words and quit about ten days in. I started with an idea that came to me complete. I was excited about it, but the more I got into the “just write it” phase of NaNo, the more my inner writer rebelled, finally constipating and not spitting out even crap onto the page. The story just wouldn’t go any farther, and I quit.

It’s an interesting problem for me: I write for a living, and can produce material on demand that’s decent enough (in others’ eyes) to get paid for it. With fiction, it’s a completely different set of muscles that’s used. While some cross-training benefit is available — I know how to start a fire by rubbing two dry clichés together — the fiction writing muscles are nowhere near as strong, and it takes me longer to feel comfortable with what I’m writing.

What value do you place on completing NaNoWriMo?

I don’t place any meaningful value in completing 50,000 words, or on getting that many words done in thirty days. It’s a tool, one to help me exercise my fiction muscles, and I fully expect to toss out half (or more) of what I’ve written and do it over. To the extent it helps me work on skills that weren’t worked on when writing my guidebooks, it’s valuable.

How much time will it take to write 50,000 words? How do you divide the workload across the 30 days?

I’ve learned that 2000 words is about the limit of what I can do; 3000 is a lesson in agony endurance.

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

Not at all. In fact, I re-read the last paragraph, and then pick up from there. I don’t go back and fiddle.

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

The answer is yes, and as much as the story needs. I’m a professional writer, and I write to pay the bills. I don’t spec-write my other material; I get the contract up front and then do the writing. The novel market is a bit different, in that you need to have finished work product to get the first contract.

But I also have enough objective experience to know when my writing sucks and when it’s good. Some stories just don’t turn out. If that’s the case, then it turns into drawer fodder. I won’t send it out if it’s only “pretty good” or “my Vampire: The Masquerade group liked it” or “my cat purred when I read it aloud to her.” I’m not going to pour hours into it in hopes I can make it better. No sense in polishing a turd if I’m just going to flush it.

Do you participate in the NaNoWriMo community? How do you think the community aspect affects the experience?

I’ve posted, but I stay away from deep, involved discussions. In general I learn best by writing, not by reading other people talk about their own writing. Sometimes reading the other posts about writing is like being in junior high again: someone says, “I’m so ugly….” and everyone else chimes in, “No, you’re not! You’re cute!” Urgh.

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

I got a highly visible club I can use with two buddies, both of whom write well, to encourage them to get off their butts and start writing. I also think accountability towards others helps with my own writing. I’ve set targets before and not made them; and after a while I get tired of using Thomas Mann’s excuse, “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” Okay, so it’s tougher for me to spit out the word count. Time to crap or get off the pot.

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

Yes, with reservations. I think people should feel free to try NaNo, write whatever they choose, and if they like it enough to try some more writing, then that’s totally cool. Out of such simple starts are great works born. But the central conceit, that putting 50,000 words into one document constitutes a “novel” and makes the person writing it a “writer” or “novelist” has as much validity as a belief in Santa Claus.

Unfortunately many people think they can tell stories but they really can’t. Hell, most people can’t tell jokes, much less stories: they can’t tell the setup to a joke so that the punchline makes sense, or they mangle the punchline after meandering through the setup. Yet these same people think they can sustain 50,000 words of story? I honestly wish them luck. Label them a writer? No way.

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

Put in a requirement that, if any work developed during NaNo is accepted for publication, 10% of the proceeds goes to a charity of the author’s choice. This should help cut down on the number of Nano works submitted to publishers and keep the “novels” in deep, dark drawers where they belong.

For someone who clearly understands every reason to stop writing, I’m surprised he’s still going. But I can see why he’s on target to complete NaNo this year – judging from his responses, the man can pad.