Tales from the typewriter

By the time this edition of the Vanguard goes to print, my novel for the Camp NaNoWriMo writing challenge should be at roughly 16,150 words. As of now, I’m about halfway there, working my way to the 7,000-word mark on my fifth day of writing.

Not only does the Camp NaNoWriMo website allow its users to input their daily word count and keep track of their progress, it tells users how many words they’ve written on a daily basis, what the overall word count is and how soon they’ll finish at their current rate. As I write this, I have yet to enter my work for the day, so my expected finish date is Aug. 10. While word count is important, it’s not the most significant thing. Through this accelerated process, I’ve learned several things about myself and my writing.

As much as I deny it, I’ve learned that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my work. I’ve always been the one to insist that people write and not worry about what a first draft looks like but to just keep writing. In the last year, I suppose I’ve become much more picky about the quality of my writing, expecting my first drafts to be perfect. No one’s first draft is perfect.

Anne Lamott, a fiction writer who also teaches creative writing, said in her book Bird by Bird that all first drafts are “shitty firsts drafts.” They allow writers to play with the world they are creating and to explore the characters they’ve dreamed up. I have to keep reminding myself that drafts are just that: drafts. They are a place to explore.

I found a website, Coffitivity.com, that plays coffee shop sounds: people talking, cups clanging, the till opening and closing. I’ve been playing it under my own soundtrack for this novel, and it’s worked incredibly well and doubled my productivity.

Writing is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It takes a great idea, which I hopefully have, and endurance to keep on with the idea. And then, of course, comes the editing. Thankfully editing is not a part of NaNoWriMo, but that will become my problem after July 31.