So, yesterday at a late hour I hit 50,000 words and won NaNoWriMo. Cool, cool, cool.
The thing is, before I even started, I was confident that I would do that. Mostly because I am aiming for 75,000 words and a full draft of a novel.
The novel I have been writing this month has been sloshing around inside my head for ages. At least two to three years. The character was invented as a distraction during an entirely different writing stint. It was time he got a book. (Or at least a draft manuscript).
I figured this would be an easy write.
I was wrong.
To start with, writing a short story that is 100% compressed comedy was easy. Running that out to 45 times as long… Well, that was no small task.
I knew the plot, the characters, and the theme. I knew the humour and the extended “jokes”.
This writing attempt did two things for me.
First, it showed me that I still have a lot more to learn. A great lesson if you like a bit of imposter syndrom in your life.
Second, it forced me to learn stuff. In this writing attempt I ran up against limits I had set for myself and limits within my own skill set as a writing. Overcoming those limits forced me to grow as a writer and storyteller and, I think, resulted in a draft that has the potential to be the best story I have ever written.At least in my own less than humble opinion.
The breakthrough came when reflecting on the TV series Community and the writing style (and self-imposed rules) of the main showrunner, Dan Harmon. Here is a blog post exploring Harmon’s approach to writing. My key takeaway was how heart – that is personal growth and real human feelings – can be part of a comic narrative without undermining it. Finding that sweet-spot helped me to up my game as a writer. I was able to take a good-ish story and give it some depth. In doing so it became funnier, more relatable, and just a lot more enjoyable to write.
If anything, it was these discoveries that I “won” in this year’s NaNoWriMo.
How did NaNoWriMo 2020 treat you?
