Nanowrimo 2014
It’s almost that time again. In little over a month, Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) will be in full swing again. I will once again take part.
Sort of.
I decided last week I was going to be what they call a Nano rebel. I will not write a novel this November. Rather, I will attempt to write at least 50,000 words worth of short fiction during the time period.
This may or may not make me an official rebel, actually. The Nanowrimo website suggests that a collection of short stories with the same theme or characters or that are otherwise connected in some way does not necessarily fall outside the “normal” Nanowrimo experience. Unrelated short stories during the month would, however. At this point I don’t know if I am going to simply write as many words for random stories I have been thinking about, or if I will set aside a specific common theme for them, like I did with Thank You For Ten: Short Fiction About a Little Theater. So I don’t know if officially I will be considered a rebel this year or not. It doesn’t much matter, of course; the point is to write, and write I shall. I have some time to consider if I am going for theme or for variety.
Not having done Nanowrimo this way before, I don’t know what to expect exactly. My guess is that in some ways it will be easier, because I will have more complete arcs in shorter time. Yet I also considered it could be more difficult than a novel, because with a novel once can explore and elaborate and meander a bit. Shorter fiction does allow that as much, so it may be more difficult to “get on with it” as it were. I’ll find out in five weeks I suppose.
I’m far behind on my short story writing goals this year anyway, as I have mentioned several times here on the blog. This will at least get me somewhat closer to that goal, if nothing else.
So is anybody else doing Nanowrimo this year? Any fellow Rebels among my blog readership?
Ty Unglebower 
Hi! I rebelled last year to work on a draft in progress. This was after doing the traditional NaNo from scratch my first year (and failing miserably on wordcount, but learning a lot in the process). I don’t regret NaNoRebelling because it was a better use of my time than starting yet another project. I did add 50k (and sadly, the story isn’t finished yet). I’m not sure whether I’ll just stick with the same draft and see how far I get. I have some short story ideas I can set in that world as well, involving various characters, so I’d have either something to do if I finished it before 50k, or — like you — an option of doing a collection of short stories with a central theme/characters/world. I think doing related stories might be easier to plan…sketch out plots for each character beforehand. Or pick a number (10) you want to write, maybe, and add more if it doesn’t get you to 50k? I suppose you could do that without related stories, but it does seem like it would be more difficult to organize.
I’m sure you’ll be keeping us updated on the blog. Let us know how it goes (and if we’re not already writing buddies, “friend” me and feel free to PM me on the platform with any questions). I’m still wavering between the two options above and between using NaNo to edit/revise/redraft an old work in progress. It’s actually a finished draft, though, so I don’t know how NaNo-revision-rebelling would exactly work.
I’m thinking of attempting NaNo this year, as I really want to get started on my next writing project and this might be the perfect motivation 🙂 As for your short stories plan … I think that as long as you’re writing 50,000 words of SOMETHING, it counts!
Thanks for the comments!
Laura-That’s part of the beauty of the whole thing, I think. Rebel or not, if one is committed to using Nano as a tool, it can be quite the boost to creativity as well as productivity. It’s almost like you can’t do it “wrong.” I’m pretty sure I have you on my buddy list already, but I will check to be certain.
You’re also probably correct about establishing a theme/thread for the short stories I write for this. I’m not sure what that theme might be just yet, but if I went that route, I most likely would have an easier time of it in this particular context. I will indeed keep this blog updated on my progress.
Michelle-You should go for for it! Nano has contributed a great deal both to me overall productivity as a writer, and my general approach to writing as a whole. And as for my plan, the site says it counts if the stories are related, but probably doesn’t “count” if they are not. Not that it matters much one way or the other if it “counts” of course. But I’d feel better chatting in the “Rebels” forum if I actually were one.