Yes, I did NaNo last year. I just wrote about it in my self-introduction in this thread on the NaNoWriMo Forums, and I can't recommend it enough for getting unstuck. R.B Supervisor notwithstanding ;-) I still had a blast, both in the sense of enjoyment and in the sense of dynamiting the writer's block into rubble.
I think you should give it a go. The whole point is similar to the "morning pages" Julia Cameron advocates: to just get in motion and write, to get past the inner censor and get our words, any words, on the page. Go into it with a spirit of writing Total Crap, and come out of it amazed at how much good is mixed in with the word-count-boosting "crap."
I don't recommend working on your ice castle novel for this project. Just come up with some premise or plot line that'll get you started and the process of writing that novel will hopefully get you unstuck and looking with fresh eyes at your "real" novel come December, or January.
We also have a terrific group of people in the Twin Cities who get together periodically during NaNo, and occasionally during the rest of the year. I'd look forward to seeing you there!
Also, one comment on something you said your previous post:
So strange, those who assert that science fiction and fantasy are about imaginary things, when Lois shows it is actually about truths that cut right to the core, that are so unflinching, honest and pure that they take the breath away.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me know I am not alone. Fantasy, fairy tale, myth have always been, for me, about more clearly illuminating reality, not escaping from it. I've only articulated this via repeated run-ins with people for whom it is purely escape, and who don't enjoy my endless analysis of the Truths Being Mythologized.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Do NaNo!
Date: 2003-10-04 01:40 pm (UTC)I think you should give it a go. The whole point is similar to the "morning pages" Julia Cameron advocates: to just get in motion and write, to get past the inner censor and get our words, any words, on the page. Go into it with a spirit of writing Total Crap, and come out of it amazed at how much good is mixed in with the word-count-boosting "crap."
I don't recommend working on your ice castle novel for this project. Just come up with some premise or plot line that'll get you started and the process of writing that novel will hopefully get you unstuck and looking with fresh eyes at your "real" novel come December, or January.
We also have a terrific group of people in the Twin Cities who get together periodically during NaNo, and occasionally during the rest of the year. I'd look forward to seeing you there!
Also, one comment on something you said your previous post:
So strange, those who assert that science fiction and fantasy are about imaginary things, when Lois shows it is actually about truths that cut right to the core, that are so unflinching, honest and pure that they take the breath away.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me know I am not alone. Fantasy, fairy tale, myth have always been, for me, about more clearly illuminating reality, not escaping from it. I've only articulated this via repeated run-ins with people for whom it is purely escape, and who don't enjoy my endless analysis of the Truths Being Mythologized.