It's been months since I put words to paper in just about any form save for the evil that is work. The major reason is mental health related and simply not having the energy to do much let alone find a semblance of creativity and work at it until it becomes something more. Most of my usual activities has fallen by the wayside and, while I'd like to think I'm on the road to recovery, I'll admit that the road is quite a bumpy and barren one.
This year has just shot past me. I'm still grappling with the fact that Nanowrimo is around the corner when I was still casually attempting to put together a sheet with planning for my non-existent 'novel' but a few 'days' ago... which turned out was a couple of months ago, but anyhoo. This leaves me with the question of 'Should I do nanowrimo?' this year. Which of course brings the question of 'Why do nanowrimo at all?'.
For those who don't know what Nanowrimo is, it's in essense a competition you have with yourself to write a story/novel from scratch at the beginning of November and to reach a wordcount of 50000 by the end of the month. And while that seems enormous, it's actually quite do-able if you allow yourself the right circumstances. Some people churn out their daily 1667 words first thing in the morning, others break up their writing into ten-minute bursts. Others go to the extreme of cramming in as many words as possible in single sittings (usually over the weekends).
Nanowrimo gives you the opportunity to discover what creative approach works for you. It makes you consider things like: Are you a planner or a spontaneous writer? Do you write by hand or type on pc (or typewriter... yes, there are people out there who use just that). It can make you question a lot of things about yourself at your core as well which I won't go into here. All in all, the whole exercise can be a fascinating discovery of self while pushing towards bringing something to life that had not existed before.
I don't know whether I'm going to participate in Nanowrimo this year or not, but I've realised that I want to. That there's a familiar stir of excitement that only really rears its head around this time of year. Novembers used to be my favourite time of the year, you see. I used to live for the Nanowrimo rush.
And, in realising that I want to participate, I've also realised that I still believe in the spirit of Nanowrimo. Even if my area is mostly dead and people are cliquey. Even if I don't get the 'in person' interaction. That's never been what Nanowrimo was about for me to begin with. It started as an exercise I allowed myself to do on my own with no external input. And while that external input can be glorious, it's ultimately not necessary. It's not what Nanowrimo was about. The big thing, I think, is that it gives us the opportunity to be creative for no real 'reason'. It leaves expectation by the wayside along with the inner critic that you know is going to want to pull what you write to pieces.
And while there's an open, judgement-less space to work in at the beginning, it also gives you something precious in the end: Something you've created. Something that you might be able to work with and shape into a 'purposeful creation' - be it something you can post for others to see, or publish.
You might not realise it but you have an inherent need to bring something of 'meaning' into this world. Nanowrimo gives you the opportunity to have that be a piece of writing. And that can be kinda cool, don't you think?
