The Write Way to NaNoWriMo

          If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I really like Larry Brooks and blog, Storyfix. His teaching on storytelling rocks. Mostly. I disagree with him on one point. Or at least I think he only sees a portion of the picture. His portion. The one that is most comfortable.

          See the goal. Go after the goal. Attain (or fail) the goal.

          This is valid, but there’s so much more to the act and art of storytelling.

          Yes, when it’s time publish that story, it must have those components in it that make a good (or great) story. This is where Larry excels. He analyzes and explains those story parts. He does that in a way that makes storycrafting understandable. By reading and doing what he teaches, you can mold and shape your own story into something worth reading.

          Before that point, though, I beg to differ with him. Not that he’s wrong. Just that his way is not the only way.

          It’s like going shopping. Some people (mostly men, but I’ve known quite a few women with this propensity) go shopping with a goal, say to buy a jacket. They go to store #1, find a jacket they like at the price they want to pay. Thirty minutes after they entered the store, they are on their way home, thrilled and satisfied. (And they have a great jacket.)

          Others prefer to “shop”. Yes, there’s usually a goal (although not always), but the experience of visiting a variety of shops, comparing different jackets (and blouses, pants and skirts), spending time laughing and talking with a good friend or two is what the shopping trip is all about. Finding the perfect jacket early in the day just makes the day that much more fun.

          Both ways of shopping are good. . . . for the one who enjoys and prospers in shopping that way. It would be counter-productive to force yourself or anyone else to shop “the right way” (whatever that is). The right way is the way that achieves the desired goal.

          NaNoWriMo is like a day (or month) of shopping. Some people going into November know exactly what they want to accomplish. Posts like the past few on Storyfix are helpful and encouraging because they give guidelines. The prep work and planning can be done in the days and weeks leading up to the starting point. Others (like me!) go into NaNoWriMo less sure of exactly what they want to accomplish. They know they need to spend time with the characters and the germinating plot ideas in order to find the story. And they love that the looming deadline energizes them and compels them into massive amounts of writing.

          Depending on their experience, they may (like me) realize that November is more about discovering the story while December and beyond are about crafting it into a true story. Or, as Larry contends, they my be completely clueless and think they’ll end up with a publishable story at the end of 50,000 words and a month. That’s okay. They will learn. Sometimes the only way to learn is to do it. In the doing comes the learning.

          To Larry (and other “get on with it shoppers”) that method of discovering the story is a waste of time. For others, it is the point of the time spent, it is the goal, it is the desired experience.

          Which are you? Whether you are writing from a plan or writing toward a plan . . . Let’s Write!