…You don’t need a plot before you write a novel, nor do you need an evocative sense of place or a winsome, engaging cast. You don’t even need coffee…
What you really need is a secret weapon.
…
Without hyperbole, I can say that this tool…is the most awesome catalyst that has ever been unleashed on the worlds of art and commerce…
What you need to write a novel, of course, is a deadline.
These words are from Chris Baty and appear in his NO PLOT? NO PROBLEM! how-to guide. They are the fundamental basis of National Novel Writing Month, which Baty devised and started in 1999. He goes on to claim that, “Deadlines bring focus…” and are “simply put, optimism in its most ass-kicking form.”
The skeptics
I’ve personally found this to be true. The skeptics think it is terrible to sit down and write quickly or without too much preparation. They doubt that good writing or good story-telling can come from a rushed, pressured imagination that emphasizes word count over quality. I have friends who belong in this group of skeptics. When I first talked about NaNoWriMo (I started using it as inspiration in 2005), some of my very best, most literate, most likely to read a lot friends completely poo-pooed the idea.
My experience
It does sound a little crazy. You can write a novel in a month if you don’t worry too much about quality and just work on getting a story down on paper. It would seem like a mess.
But it’s not. I mean, it could be. But each year brings another challenge. And each year, when I take the NaNoWriMo challenge, I produce a novel. Not great literature. But something I learn from. Characters I meet. Places I go. History I explore. Relationships I relish.
Focus
When you have a deadline, you must focus on meeting it. In the NaNoWriMo challenge, you write 50,000 words of a novel in one month, aiming to get a complete story arc from start to finish. If you are a turtle, like I can be, you meet the 1,667 words per day goal and push ahead no matter how slow the going is. If you are a hare, and I can be this, too, you have a 10,000 or 12,000 word weekend where your story soars. I usually experience that latter “hare” writing because I’ve procrastinated (as does the hare) and must rush and write in sprints and gallops to catch up. That deadline looms as a tremendous help in creating focus.
Optimism
And yes, having a deadline is optimistic because, by taking the challenge, you are asserting your ability to meet it. That’s truly optimistic. No matter how many times I’ve done this (and it’s more than a decade of novels), each one is a challenge. Each one starts with a blank page. And no certainty at all that I will come up with a story and get a novel out of it. But the deadline says I can do it, and no matter how badly it turns out, it will all be over in a short while, so just do it! (and surprisingly, the novels do not turn out terribly. There’s almost always a story in there that is worth saving with some edits.)
NaNoWriMo Coming Soon
Creating is innate to human beings. And here’s a sincere toast to all those who create without a deadline. But for me, and for hundreds of thousands of others who have written their first (and many more) novels using the NaNoWriMo challenge, that deadline is a true benefit. It makes possible what seems impossible. Getting it done.
I’ve quit the “official” NaNoWriMo site–they had too many issues and too many problems, so I no longer find it encouraging or useful. But you can check it out if you want. I would strongly encourage anyone who wants to write a novel to check out NO PLOT? NO PROBLEM! –I have my own copy, but you can also borrow one from the library. https://www.amazon.com/Plot-Problem-Revised-Expanded-High-velocity-ebook/dp/B00JVZ42HM?ref_=ast_author_dp (great sample intro available there.)
The inspiration is well-worth the read. The deadline is coming up–as November is the official National Novel Writing Month. (You may, of course, choose any other month that suits your mood.)