Yes, I know the term’s called writer’s block. It’s an age old plague, one that manifests itself even to ranting bloggers. I suppose posting Tyra vid after Tyra vid is one sure sign of that. As you may know, she’s one of my favorite celebrities and I even posted a spoof of her famous Vaseline episode on her talk show. It was partly based on my desire for free gasoline. However, it was my only creative endeavor involving Tyra and isn’t necessarily getting over writer’s block.
Then there’s something called NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Also, there’s NaBloPoMo, spelled out as National Blog Posting Month. Every month’s some kind of special month. Why can’t a month just be a month? We have enough damn holidays as it is. Nonetheless, some have taken it upon themselves to create that extra kick in the pants for everyone to write more. NaNoWriMo is for those who have that Great American novel in them, but they just need it spit it out the way Linda Blair famously did with green slime on The Exorcist. NaBloPoMo is for the rest of everyone else who’s just too lazy to blog everyday. If you need that extra push to write, then get in on it.
Chris has generated a few thousand words of his novel so far. His word count can be tracked on the NaNoWriMo site. I don’t think I’ll officially get into this. I’m too nervous about submitting any work to the site, even though I know it’s just word count they’re concerned with. However, it is good practice to write every day, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll keep you posted on my progress as I go along. As for Chris, just don’t leave this novel or the act of writing it in November. Once this special month is over, keep writing and revise!
Brian and Fredo have gotten into NaBloPoMo. I’ve come across both of their blogs earlier this year when I started to actively blog. There have been several attempts in the past, such as my Live Journal, which went through bouts of lots of postings to dry periods where I didn’t post at all. When I started this blog last year, I also tried blogging on MySpace to create a “mirror blog” that “my friends” could read. After writing a memoir series on grad school and some rants, I fell out of the blogosphere sometime last summer. I got this job (which I’m glad to be out of), and I got nervous about blogging. At the time, I wondered what the hell could I write about besides the dysfunctional people I work with, the incompetent boss, the uptight accountant, inane water cooler conversations, and some assorted bitches I dealt with on a daily basis, especially after the central and local office were consolidated. I guess there is some material there, but I’m still not willing to touch it beyond my open letter posted a few months ago. Getting back to blogging, I have blogged more posts this year than in the past. I haven’t posted every day this year, but I have tried to post regularly, even during August, in which there seemed to be a writer’s drought. I’ve been posting every day this month. All I need is the badge.
Badges? I don’t need no stinking badges! I couldn’t resist this even though it’s cliché. Do I need any badges to keep writing? Not really. However, it’s fun.
Josh’s recent post about writing got me thinking about the issue as well. In discussing some approached to writing, he mentions trying out Stephen King’s approach:
I even gave Stephen King’s 10,000 words a day method an attempt. I ended up producing a bunch of shit.
Stephen King’s method is the closest to NaNoWriMo’s, though they’re not as demanding. I suppose it’s good for full time writers and others who have plenty of time on their hands. The one that works the best for Josh is Kurt Vonnegut’s approach:
Legend has it that old KV would produce one page of writing a day, would pore over that page, writing, rewriting, and painstakingly editing every character, every sentence, every paragraph. Taking a book one page at a time is actually a hell of a good idea. First of all, it’s a fairly easy goal to meet. I can turn out a page of quality content in about 30-45 minutes.
Josh is careful to point out out that each writer is different, so what works for him may not work for another writer. Some may thrive on the marathons!
As for writing fiction, I’ve found I’ve had to unlearn all the writing workshop nonsense. It was easy to get addicted to them, especially in grad school where the program was set up for one workshop per semester. The problems I see with workshops are the that fiction (and even poems) become writing by consensus and that one can become dependent upon those who facilitate the workshop. There are some great teachers out there. On the flip side, there are some egotistical cult of personalities who prey on the weaknesses and insecurities of their disciples. The advice and even affirmation of either case (though the latter can be very destructive) can be a crutch. Then there are the classmates. Some lavish endless praise on some works, while ripping apart others. They’re all literate, they know what they’re taking, so this and that should be changed according to what the group wants. What happens is the literary version of Mexicali soup.
For me, there’s another issue. The people I’ve been in workshops with over the years have become the personifications of the inner critic, what I think what most people want, and even doubt. During the time I took workshops, I would hear these voices in my head, especially after I went home with returned manuscripts in hand. It was stifling, but I now know the issue is that I hadn’t learn to trust my voice. I’m not saying that trusting my voice means that my writing will be perfect, but that I know what I want to say and will work towards making sure it is said how it should be said. No one else can speak for me, nor would I want them to.
For me, it’s just a matter of getting out of writer’s block. The whole point of doing this blog was to keep writing, though I’ve made some friends along the way. If I can keep plugging away at this version of ShindoTV every day, I can set aside some time for myself to write. Oh, I also need to silence all those inner workshop participants. They’re not invited to the party.
Tags: blog friends, creative writing, fiction writing, MFA Creative Writing Program, NaBloPoMo, NaNoWriMo, Tyra Banks, writer's block
“Men who suffer from writer’s block and the men who love them. Next time on Oprah.”
I question the effectiveness of NaNoWriMo myself (Lord knows I wouldn’t have picked November, either …) but I know a few people who are doing it and figured why not? I’ve started writing too many things that haven’t gotten past the first chapter, and I figure this is a way to try to push myself to actually finish something for once.
They don’t actually read anything you submit, for the record. They even have instructions on how to “scramble” your book so that you just submit gobbledygook.
As for NaBloPoMo … I’m going to live in the simple superiority of knowing that there is such a thing as quality over quantity :sticks out tongue:
Chris, you ignorant slut. I think that a measure of quality evolves from quantity. I’m participating in NaBloPoMo because I like writing, but I’m not creative enough to pen a novel, however I’m using the blog posting month as an excuse to examine the quality of my postings and find a more consistent voice. Actually writing entries instead of creating 5 posts a day linking to other blogs and news stories. Many popular blogs have a lot of readers and a lot of posts, but they rarely have time to say what they think about all of the information they present.
If they ever do an event for short story writing, then maybe I’ll join in. And I do agree that we have too many “months”, but when they are for a constructive purpose it can’t be all bad!