Na or no?

[olivermoss]

The hour is upon us and I am still not sure what to do about Nano. I intend to write a ton this month, but I can't just toss my current projects and work on something else. Too unproductive. I have a story fully outlined, but it's going to be about 5-7k, nowhere near 50k.

I really want to do it for the sense of camaraderie and hope of write-ins, but if I drop my current writing projects and focus on a new one it will be a inefficient use of my time. Finishing my current stuff will be way better for my actual writing progress. But I feel so out of tune with the spirit of Nano to just sign up and write a few shorter, unrelated projects.

Comments

Heh

[disgruntledgirl]

Make the story an ongoing progress report for the other writing project and get real hilarious when you fail to update or notice you've switched your blonde "as if warmed by the sun" haired protagonist is suddenly black haired by the 30th chapter but you're so attached to the description of the how the light from the bare fluorescent bulb in the kitchen reflects...
Ya know- when stuck: Lampoon.
It may act as a (something, words fail me - I flopped out of bed to get to a doctor's appointment) to jar or jostle some ideas on your real writing.

Re: Heh

[olivermoss]

Suddenly it's the 80s for no reason!

I've set the project up as if my current project could possibly be a novel. I'll plunge ahead and just be real surprised when I hit the ending.

[kay_brooke]

My approach to NaNo is this: do I have an idea for a new possibly novel-length story that I'm excited to start? If yes, do it. If no, then work on something else. I like using the general NaNo energy to focus on a project(s), whether new or old, but I don't like distracting myself if I'm already focused on something else. Like this year I was in the middle of a thorough edit of an older project, and I don't want to upset that momentum by feeling like I should do a traditional NaNo.

I know it's not in the spirit of NaNo, but I personally reached a point where I was drowning in unfinished NaNo projects and decided it wasn't doing me any good to just keep starting new stuff. So I became okay with working on older projects during NaNo. :)

[olivermoss]

Yeah, I like the Nano energy but the approach is just not useful to me. I could really use anything community right now, but also I am not touching the local groups with a ten foot pole. If I do anything it will be virtual. Sadly, my local group remains a hot mess.

I have signed up and am just pretending this project could possibly be a novel

[mistressofmuses]

I feel like "50k spread out over multiple projects" (or even if it doesn't wind up being 50k total) is still a worthy goal, and "NaNo Rebel" is a self-claimable badge for anyone doing something OTHER than the traditional goal, so I don't think you'd be alone!

In terms of the goal being "working steadily toward getting things written that you didn't have written before" I think it fits just fine.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, that's sort of what I'm doing. I am pretending my outlined project is my Nano project for now.

And the local group is still... yeah I am just going to avoid the local Nano group for my own sanity.

[mistressofmuses]

I think that works perfectly well with the spirit of NaNo!

Oof, yuck. I still didn't look into my local group. I probably should, and maybe I'll be surprised! But I just... keep not. I'm afraid I already know what it'll be like, and that it's not going to work for me, ha.

[olivermoss]

The last year Nano was in person there was a decision that write ins had to have outlets, free food and no entry fee or expectation of buying a coffee. Since people weren't comfortable going to each other's houses, they decided to do the write-ins at ... *drum roll* the airport! Free food for all would be brought in crockpots. Anyone raising concerns over this plan was told to go learn about social justice.

Sadly, there was no thread on how their first attempt to take over an airport lounge with laptops and crock pots went but they never tried again.

I stuck my toe in the discord and noped back out. Yeah, the local group is a mess.

[mistressofmuses]

...wow. I do genuinely appreciate the desire to make sure an event is accessible. But um. Yeah, wow, there are just so many things a mess with that. What the fuck.

I am just *shocked* that there wasn't a repeat of the event!

Ugh, I'm sorry the local group is a mess. It sounds like that's the case with an awful lot of your local writer groups. (Or maybe just writer groups in general, tbh.) I have a feeling ours is likely similar, and I'm a little afraid to confirm.

[olivermoss]

It's like, yes I need community but I don't need that kind of social experience. It's like 2012 tumblr up in there, complete with the utter lack of understanding how anything works in reality.

I don't blame you for being cautious!

[mistressofmuses]

Oof, yeah, that does sound like 2012 tumblr ideas about social justice. Demands for absolute perfection, no compromise, and no understanding of how things actually work (and therefore why it's unfortunately not as easy to attain perfection as "just do it".) As much as I want a community, and as much as I value ideas of inclusion and accessibility and equitability... yeah, not interested in dealing with that kind of yikes.