NaNoWriMo

[dolari]

So this is the third year of NaNoRiMo coming up...and for once I'm considering going in on it, especially if I'm still jobless that month.

I have a basic idea of what I want and two characters that have already solidified and are working on thier stories (they've got an excellent beginning, and an open ended ending, but no middle). But I'm not sure I'll get it all done in a month, as we can stew on plot points for months or years before coming up with something good. Closetspace's plots and twists are almost ten years old. AWFW's story is still evolving after four years.

I'm wondering though, since I write more in "chunks" than by page count, if I might do the Harlan Ellison Bookstore Stunt instead of NaNoWriMo.

While in NaNoWriMo, your assignment is to have a 175 page story at the end of the month, the Harlan Ellison Bookstore Stunt (so named by me) is actually a lot more fun. What Harlan would do is go to a bookstore, pull out a typewriter and just start clacking away. As soon as one page was done, it was pulled off the typewriter and pasted to the bookstore window where everyone could read it. The idea was Harlan had to write a story, page by page, without going back or editing or rewriting in case he made a mistake or typo.

That might be better than NaNoWriMo, cause if I just can't make the 3.5 pages a day for two days, I'll be swamped to make it up.

Whada you think? NaNoWriMo? Or the Harlan Ellison Bookstore Stunt?

Comments

[hemlock-martini.livejournal.com]

You might have some trouble finding a bookstore willing to let you do the Ellison Stunt (but then again, considering where you live, maybe you won't). I know I wouldn't do that, because I need to edit constantly, and the possibility of going through writers' block with people watching me makes me sick to my stomach.

But it does sound like more fun. If a bookstore won't sponsor you, maybe a privately-owned coffeeshop would.

[jenndolari.livejournal.com]

Actually, the idea was to post it HERE on LJ, so everyone can read it as I write it instead of going to a bookstore to do it.

Hey, Erin! Need a stunt to open your bookstore with?

[hemlock-martini.livejournal.com]

Aaaah, okay, gotcha. Sorry, I'm slow this morning.

If you can convince a bookstore/coffee shop that it's "performance art" maybe they'll even promote it. I remember being in a coffeeshop in the Delmar Loop (St. Louis) in the early nineties when a guy dressed in a spacesuit came in and constructed a toy robot while we all watched him. Then he zipped it up in a mylar bag, gave the owner the "live long and prosper" gesture, and left. I never found out if that was a planned event or not.

[erinlefey.livejournal.com]

I need a bookstore to open your stunt with. :)

[lisalees.livejournal.com]

I wrote the first draft of Fool for Love in four weeks, which was about 50,000 words. It wasn't for NaNoWriMo, because November is an impossible month for me, it was August 2004. Once I got going I found it easier than I thought it would be. I had two characters and an opening, then I just kind of sat back and wrote down what they did. Sometimes they surprised me. The Harlan Ellison stunt might work for a short story, but I'd get totally confused trying to write anything long that way.