No Mo Wri Mo

[digitaldiscipline]

[inspired by an entry by sukipot]

I find myself in a similar mindspace - "I could write this or that, but it would suck, and I'd end up getting annoyingly caught up in the details. . . or it would be pointless wanking" [read: dialogue that is realistic to the point that it doesn't accomplish anything. . . you know, like real conversation. heh]

I failed pathetically at NaNoWriMo last year. I have enough failure and frustration on my plate, thanks. Besides, I don't have an idea that would last 50,000 words. My most ambitious ones are something between 8 and 12k. Most are about a quarter or half that. I'm a short story writer. I'm fine with that. Less space to get caught up with the wibbling that nips at the heels of story like a nagging mother in law, whose axe to grind is suspension of disbelief.

My problem is trust - I don't trust my readers to be able to jump through any hoops at all, lift anything heavier than a paperclip, or miss the ground when they fall, so I fuck up my intrepitude making allowances.

Maybe I should go back to being a demanding bastard and leave things hanging in space, to be plucked by those who can reach.

Comments

[ladysoleil.livejournal.com]

I feel you. I used to write all the damn time. Now I'm lucky to churn out two LJ entries a week.

I've always had words. I just don't know what the hell to do with them. I don't know where the hell the muse went. I think she's hiding out in the bomb shelter waiting for me to get over myself and just write something already.

Fuck the allowances. Write what you want to say and let people make of it what they will. If they're too stupid to get it, they'll say so. If not, you don't have to worry about underestimating anyone.

[apotheon.livejournal.com]

NaNoWriMo is helping me get over a decade-long writer's block (as relating to fiction) this year.

I agree -- don't dumb down for the masses. Work to elevate them to your level.

[ivy]

Yay demanding bastards. Write as you want to write. Unless you're aiming to become a professional mass-market author, don't worry about making it understandable for all the masses. You'll lose a lot of your sparkle and charm and expressive power that way. And if you still want to do NaNoWriMo, write a book of short stories.

[sukipot.livejournal.com]

I've got a friend who's a novelist who always says that to read her books, you've got to run with her a little bit, stretch your mind, and so on, and that she doesn't want readers who don't want to do that. I think you ought to be the delightful demanding bastard that you are, and let people reach for what you've got there.

Around here, one of the icky pieces of managementese we hear a lot is "low hanging fruit." IMO, it's the higher stuff that's really worth the stretch. Leave the rest for the ground-grubbers. :)