It’s been two weeks since the start of this year’s NaNoWrimo write-a-thon, and the Eastern Michigan University Wrimos have been writing their hearts out to make the count.
The consensus thus far is almost unanimous: Being students, parents, employees and Wrimos isn’t easy.
Any of the two combined could lead to a disastrous NaNo year; add another into the equation and it’s enough to make most give up or hurl his or her computer over the balcony in frustration.
Despite the school work overload and life in general, the goal of “winning” (hitting 50,000 words by 11:50 on Nov. 30th) has remained a motivating factor for the Wrimos to keep writing.
Last week’s write-ins at Pray-Harrold brought new writers into the NaNo fold. Sophomore Ben Bohannon, a creative writing major at EMU, hasn’t officially registered on the NaNo site (www.nanowrimo.org) but has already started writing. The
majority of his writing will be done during the Thanksgiving break.
The main problem with writing so much in one week is writer block.
I know this from experience. When I started my NaNo novel, things were flowing really well. At about 3,100 words I reached a point where I just couldn’t picture what came next. I was stuck.
Veteran Wrimos Christopher Segal and Stacey Seidl reminded me that I needed to just write.
“Don’t force yourself into chronology,” Segal said. “You’ll get stuck and not know what to write next.”
Writing in chunks as it comes to him, Segal has written more than 14,000 words. Seidl echoed his sentiment.
“Don’t write in order,” Seidl said.
Seidl has been writing steadily, joining the Pray-Harrold writers last Wednesday.
“My characters are just flushing out right now,” Seidl said. “It’s not very coherent because I’m just writing scenes. I’m totally all over the place, time stamp wise.”
She, like Segal, writes in segments.
“Right now it could be a book about time travel because of how scattered the events are,” Segal said.
The biggest roadblock for everyone seems to be time.
“It’s hard to find time to keep up these days,” NaNo newbie Shelley Catalan said. Writing mostly poetry, Catalan has around 2,000 words so far. “The experience is positive.”
Catalan, like Seidl and Segal, also has research papers due in her classes.
“I have that big research paper that is due next week [for Literature],” Segal said. “I’m trying to write a research paper while trying to write a novel.”
The amount of time necessary to write both a research paper and 50,000 words is draining.
“I slept in the back seat of my car because I was so exhausted,” Segal said.
Seidl is also suffering from lack of sleep. Mother of two, student and a 10-year NaNo veteran, Seidl has just surpassed the 18,000-word mark. According to her, lack of sleep is one of the two ways she is surviving this NaNo year. The other way?
“There has been wine involved,” Seidl said.
I’m with her on this this. My entire household is currently NaNo-ing, and the wine rack is quickly being emptied, filled and re-emptied.
Both my roommate and I are students and have jobs, but we’ve both been writing as often as possible.
For all those Wrimos out there (registered and not) no matter what the word count, the fact you’re writing toward a goal of 50,000 words is the real success.
Write as often as you can and remember this: You’re taking on a challenge to do something incredible … and we’re all winners in the end.
