OIC 4 NaNoWriMo
Normally I shy away from acronyms if possible, since using them is tantamount to supporting the “secret club” theory of communication. In the case of this article’s title, though, an acronym seems appropriate instead of “Observations, Insights, and Conclusions for [my] National Novel Writing Month [experience].”
In the various teambuilding events I help facilitate in my day job as well as the classes I teach, a good exercise called Observations, Insights, and Conclusions helps to understand how much (or how well) participants are “getting it.” In setting up this exercise I tell the participants that what they learn from this experience doesn’t only come from my pontifications standing in front of them, but also from interactions with others during breakouts, their private reflections after the session, and so forth. The exercise nearly always yields a few “ah has” out of the group and is also an excellent way to assess learning from most any kind of activity.
Reflecting over the last few days on my recent NaNoWriMo experiences, I sensed an opportunity to facilitate myself through an OIC process. Before I begin, let me make clear what I mean by OIC:
* Observation – the action or process of closely observing or monitoring; the ability to notice significant details (I SAW…)
* Insight – the capacity to gain an accurate and intuitive understanding of something (I THOUGHT…)
* Conclusion – a judgment or decision reached by reasoning (I WILL DO…)
The process is not usually as obvious as the definitions would make it seem. Sometimes the three parts blend without having clear borders. The main point, though, is simply to reflect and think about these three types of outcomes from a learning experience.
I’m now several days past uploading my ReallyBadOh novel thus gaining my official tag of “Winner” for this year’s NaNoWriMo challenge (which combined with $1.65 might get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks). I’ve had several days since to relish not having to force a time to write sentences hellbent on speed and volume. I still have moments when I feel like I’m suppose to be writing the novel but suddenly realize, “I’ve FINISHED the damn thing.” The last time I had that kind of feeling was way back in school when I’d wake up panicked, thinking I was late for classes only to realize it was Saturday. Such is the pull and patterning of something done obsessively over time.
Enough, enough already…my OICs:
Observations
* It was difficult to maintain a rigid schedule of writing, of trying to hit X word/day.
* I found out that it’s difficult to progress a 50,000 story based soley on the sum total of two quickly scrawled paragraphs summarizing the story written the night before the start.
* First fifteen minutes or so of each session was a struggle, but once I warmed up and got in the story, the writing went more smoothly (note: not good words, just good pace).
* First week of writing was the hardest to do without my internal editor whining incessantly, despite my best efforts to mentally duct tape his voice.
* Having a commiserating writer to do this with provided extra encouragement on “those” days.
* Having that same someone publish a word count added a little incentive to catch up (and hopefully pass).
* Writing progressed best when fueled by caffeine.
* Intensity of the effort burned up my creative energy surprisingly fast and I had moments of “dead brain” after some sessions.
* Writing fiction opened up a side of me I wasn’t aware was there, and surfaced some strange thoughts and situations.
* My best writing time was early morning…while still in pajamas.
* The giggles set in around 45,000, making everything, even the shape of punctuation, become hysterically funny.
* Under the pressure of the deadline, I had to draw on personal habits, traits, ticks, etc., to flush out characters.
* Most people didn’t understand why or what I was doing.
* Chocolate counts as a major food group when nano-ing, as does peanut butter by the spoon.
Insights
* I did much better going with the flow and writing in varied hunks of time where available rather than trying to work a schedule, although recognizing there has to be some sort of tracking going to stay on target.
* The deeper I got into the project, the easier it became to ignore the internal editor.
* I can trust my imagination to develop characters without an outline or sketches (but it’s more difficult and creates huge disconnects and vast gaps in logic throughout).
* I can trust my imagination to work through scenes and scenarios, bringing in twists and surprises along the way.
* Posting my word count daily on inkmusings encouraged me to make progress from a desire to push those visible numbers higher.
* I’m capable of free writing a first draft without the internal editor awakening delaying (or killing) progress. Major cool.
* Even though I pulled a lot of personal details in to fill, I shouldn’t construe that as some sort of bowing to the id’s desire to push me into years of therapy.
* NaNoWriMo effort is best done as part of a group, rather than in isolation. Some contact of fellow nano’ers helps overcome the (frequent) urge to kill the novel.
* Creative energy needs replenishing regularly while in novel-mode. Such energy isn’t bottomless and it’s dangerous to bury oneself into the book for weeks on end without recharging this vital element.
* NaNoWriMo is a good exercise to flush out lingering story ideas as well as a detox of sorts for the creatively constipated.
* I seem to need quiet to write fiction, whereas non-fiction happens in spite of distractions and noise.
* It’s best not to tell non-believers what or why you’re doing this; it’s bad enough that you rationalize it.
Conclusions
* Next year I need a little more outline and story, not full blown, but something more skeletal than what I started with this time.
* It would be nice to find others in my area doing NANO and keep in touch with them during the process for support.
* I’m going to pursue fiction as part of the writing effort ahead, based on finding out I enjoy the process and freedom of fiction (this was an insight as well: who knew?) My expectation going in was I’d write a narrative-type work with little dialog, but ended up with characters, dialog, twists, surprises, etc.
* I need to plan for creative replenishment (movies, nature exploration, museums, etc.) during any major writing project, especially one of fiction.
* Under no circumstance, for any amount of money, will I let anyone read the first draft of this sucker. Note to self: make provision in will to burn this thing should I become famous someday.
* There may be parts of the novel worth working into something decent. Should leave it alone for a few months then reread to see if anything is there.
* Try to write fiction early in the day, preferably while in pajamas, and absolutely before showering,
My experiences from this nutty push of outing 50,000 along a loosely framed (and frequently abused) storyline may differ from the other 5,800+ completists, and I’m certainly glad I signed up for and completed the challenge. But there is definitely one more conclusion that all who finished NaNoWriMo 2004 have in common: we’re so flippin’ glad it’s over.
