Also, even though it’s fiction, a lot of interesting self-reflexive (and self-reflective) stuff can come up. And guess what? You never have to actually TELL anybody that parts of it may be autobiographical.

And I’ll tell you a secret. The whole thing happens on the honor system (I mean really, there’d be nothing stopping someone from downloading 50,000 words of anything and submitting them as her or his “novel”). So even though the official rules say it must be fiction, last year I (shhhhh!) used NaNo to write a memoir.

@Chris – Speaking of Anne Lamott, I have “Bird by Bird” on my pile of books to read. I’ve been hearing wonderful things about it, like, *forever.* So I figured it was time to dive in already. I’m looking forward to reading someone who advocates shitty first drafts.

@Barbara – So is it a fair guess that you have the number 1,667 embedded in your brain cells? Me, I’d shoot for 2,000 words a day, to give myself a little breathing room–and to compensate for the days when I couldn’t write. And excellent point about the frantic rush to deadline vs. the slow-and-steady approach…fodder for a future post there, I believe!

@Goddess Leonie – I totally get why you feel November wouldn’t be a good month for you. But I’ve also seen lots of people who just *knew* they couldn’t do it amaze themselves by–yep, doing it. If you want to tackle it at another time, you can definitely get a support system in place, and if you want to be brave and tackle it in November, you just might surprise yourself. Either way, let me know if you want to discuss–I’ve got some good ideas for you. ;o)

@Rebecca – I’m not at all surprised that your 2007 NaNoWriMo experience coincided with those other big transformations. Makes sense to me that you were ready for change and making it happen in multiple ways at once. And thanks for that quote–”from ‘best-seller’ to ‘would not make someone vomit’” is such a perfect Baty-ism! Remind me to tell you someday about meeting him…

You are preaching to the choir with me dear woman!!

I’ve raved about NaNoWriMo in quite a few places and here is my favourite bit from the book:

“Embrace exuberant imperfection. Give yourself permission to make mistakes, then go ahead and make them. Lower the bar from “best-seller” to “would not make someone vomit”. Write in draft form, write uncritically, experiment, break all the so-called rules of writing. Stay loose and flexible, and keep your expectations very, very low.” Paraphrased from No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty

Exuberant imperfection is just perfect for your new site

I did NaNo in 2007 and it was part of my beginning some huge transformations including starting my own business.

Sorry to gush on but, yes, NaNo is great and thanks for posting about it!

No Plot No Problem forever!!!!

It is totally free-ing what with its blatant quantity emphasis, totally quantity over quality. Some days I didn’t even spell check.

I found it steadying to know I only had to do a certain number of words at a time and then I could just stop.

Also, interesting approach for the person who runs on adrenaline for deadlines rather than slow and steady. (ahem.)

So anyway, can you tell this is another hearty endorsement of the Nanowrimo experience?!

Great Post! Yes, I know about NaNoWriMo and I just love Chris Beatty’s book. His book and the NaNo process are both just such a great way to give yourself total permission to write one long “shitty first draft” as Anne Lamott calls them.

Thanks for the ongoing encouragement to be creatively imperfect!

Warmly,
Chris