Thread: Am I waisting time?

Okay.. let me explain my situation first.

My Nano is a dares novel. I have a little plot that is the main character sells his soul for a drakes coffee cake and he and his friends spend the rest of the novel trying to get it back. The journey is filled with dares from the nano message boards.

I did not plan a single word before november and now it seems as if I am writing mush. This doesnt bother me much, because with the idea I am using I knew it would not be bestseller material, but at least I am writing.

I have been planning out a story that I plan to make into my first novel. It seems to be a great idea, and I am really excited to write it. My plan was to start after Nano ended and work on it full force.

It seems though that I am wasting my time on nano, when I could be pumping out a great story that might even be good enough quality to attract agents and publishers.

Should I stop doing nano? I knew I should have planned my novel a little bit better.

This is the reason I didn't do NaNo this year. (well, one of the reasons) I felt it would kill the momentum on projects that I already have underway. However, it sounds like spurring yourself to write the NaNo 'mush' kicked the subconcious muse into overdrive on the other story you want to write.

Others may quibble with my opinion but I think that you should work on the new idea and if NaNo dies off don't worry about it. It just became a means to an end and that's ok.

First off, I wouldn't focus on the idea of which project is going to attract agents and publishers, because that conflict is just going to get in the way of what you're really trying to do. Write whichever it is that you seem to enjoy. Don't keep bludgeoning yourself with nano just for the sake of it. If nano has spurred you to write something with more value and potential, then for Christ's sake, go for it.

The good news is that this is the reason I did nano this year. I have written all my life, but I hav not done it for about 5 years now. I saw Nano 2 years ago and thought it was a cool idea, and this year I remembered it in the middle of October so I decided to do it to kickstart myself and get me writing for real again.

BTW, I can't stand it anymore...in your topic title 'waisting' should be 'wasting'.

Sorry...I just keep seeing that and can't stand it.

I was thinking that same thing. I clicked here thinking maybe it would be a pun of some sort.

I say, practice is practice. I'm hoping I get something nice out of nano, but you shouldn't expect nanoing to produce quality work.

Originally Posted by Omnisu

I was thinking that same thing. I clicked here thinking maybe it would be a pun of some sort.

I say, practice is practice. I'm hoping I get something nice out of nano, but you shouldn't expect nanoing to produce quality work.

My bad... I just corrected someone the other day on the spelling of waste vs waist and here I go and f it up myself.

I do not expect quality work from nano. I am enjoying the story that I am writing because it is funny in a stupid sort of way, but I am looking ahead.

When I finish nano I will have a neat story and a sense of accomplishment.

When I finish this next novel I will have (hopefully) a good book and a future book deal. (again... hopefully)

That sense of accomplishment can be very empowering, and great motivation. You should finish Nano, even if just so you can say you did.