A Reflection on Nanowrimo

(most of this was written while running around London with the most amazing group of writers!)


The Nanorilla Reflection

When I was 7, being the practical child that I was, I would have told you that I would have loved to be a writer, but that I wouldn't be. This wasn't because I thought I was horrible, I just 1. knew it wasn't a reliable job and 2. didn't want to do something that I loved so much as a job. So I decided being a farmer was a better choice (I could only think of farmers or vets as options, as I wanted to work with animals and I couldn't bear the thought of cutting an animal open... apparently I hadn't thought of slaughtering the farms animals!).

One of my life goals has always been to write a novel. Not publish one, but write one. I've had it set as “something to do once I was finished with school” since before I was even in highschool.

I am now done with school, having graduated last June. I have now written almost 70,000 words in a novel. During the past month. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is only 76000 words roughly, to give you an idea of how long it is. It will be even longer by the time it is finished. I've left out a lot of probably-needed description in the novel, since I hate writing, so I will need to go back and edit that in at some point (which will make it even longer). I also need to edit it so that the writing quality is of a higher grade that Twilight (that will be easy though, have you READ Twilight?!).

So I've wrote a large part of my novel and I did it in a month. That's right. One month. As part of National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org). I first heard of nanowrimo while I was at York, and I promised myself I would do it when I finished uni. The challenge for nanowrimo is to write 50000 words into a novel in the month of November. I met that challenge on November 16!

Of course, when I first heard of nano I wasn't thinking about moving to London. I knew that was my plan (to move to England) but it wasn't fully real to me at the time. So I move to London at the end of the summer, which is huge and new, lovely and scary. I was finally starting to live the life that I want to live.

Not much was missing in my life. I love London. I love being here, and being free to do what I want with my spare time. I can start pursuing my hobbies, which are all time-consuming and/or expensive. And while I am not fully pursuing all of them, I have at least began to. For September and October I mostly contented myself with exploring the area and hitting up various parks and museums. Which I love doing.

In all of that enjoyment, I totally forgot about Nano over the last few months.

I remembered about it though. Towards the end of October I realized what I was missing (I was starting to notice a downward trend in my moods by this point). I was missing my social life, which I'd always thought was rather tame. I was really starting to miss my friends (and I still do).

So, when I finally remembered about Nanowrimo, I was super excited. Something to do for the month! I joined the site and planned out a memoir (which I changed a few days before it started, and have been writing something that was completely fiction and rather unplanned). Trolling the forums in my pre-nano excitement, I discovered that I could join a region. I joined the London region, and discovered something far more awesome – write-ins and meet-ups! Apparently people actually get together and write! Who'd have thunk it? Who the hell can write WITH someone? I was a bit unsure of that idea. I thought it sounded a little weird.

Ok, so this may or may not sound odd to you, but I'm actually fairly shy. Once I'm in some situation where I have to interact with strangers I'm perfectly fine and overly chatty (to be quite frank, I'm overly chatty BECAUSE I'm shy and nervous at first, and don't want to stop talking so that I can ignore any weird looks and avoid the potential let-down in someone's response... no one notices this because once I'm comfortable I just babble away happily... but when I first start babbling? I'm NOT happy and comfortable. I'm incredibly nervous and self-conscious and end up giving off the worst impression ever and then get right paranoid). But generally, I avoid contact with strangers as I NEVER initiate. I just respond when someone starts a conversation with me. I'd find it rude not too and don't want to start an argument, so it's easier to respond and be polite and friendly and hope it will be over shortly. So meeting people for Nanowrimo didn't seem like a very good idea to me before November started.

If I had still been in Toronto, I can say I wouldn't have gone. I would have been too shy to go without knowing anyone. However, I'm in London. I really DON'T know anyone. I haven't figured out how to actually meet people here, as I normally befriend people through school or work. Hard to do supplying! I wouldn't find it easy to meet people who share similiar interests, as all my happiest activities are very solitary. If I made myself go to the meets, I reasoned, at least I could have some social contact, with the possibility of keeping myself motivated to write the entire month. I wasn't sure at that point if I was going to tell my friends that I was attempting to do this, as I wasn't sure how I felt about being questioned and was worried about embarrassing myself.

The first meet was going to be during half-term, when I didn't have to work. Thinking back, I probably would have chickened out if I had had to work the next day. I decided to cut my stay at Siggy and Jen's in Bristol a bit short to attend. By doing this, I assured my attendance – I HAD to go since I'd cut a visit with one of my best friend's short! I would have been miserable if I left Bristol early for no reason!

So off I went. I can say now that it's probably one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself. I met some fun and crazy people at the meet up, and it gave me the courage to try attending a write-in. So I went to my first write-in in Bethnal Green, and enjoyed myself. I wrote a lot, and it was nice to be with other writers. Reading the forums, I decided that maybe I would try braving one of the central London write-ins, as they seemed to have a larger crowd and a different atmosphere. I was apprehensive about getting there though, as I work in East London and don't usually know exactly when I'll be finished my day. I was worried I'd be late.

Those of you who know me well, should know about my issues with being late (as in, if I'm going to be late, I will likely cancel or not show up), so the prospect of being late combined with being with people I didn't know and the potential of getting lost finding the venue? Led to a stressful debate.

I dragged my laptop with me to the school I was teaching at that day. I ended up finished remarkably early, as the school day at that school was finished at 2:45pm. Wow eh? I made it to the venue at least an hour early. I wasn't sure that I was in the right place until I found the nano-group amassing tables.

Attending that write-in is probably one of the best things I've ever done. It took a huge amount of courage for me to get there, and I was a huge ball of nerves. I think I only loosened up when I recognized @jayintheclouds from the first London meet and Twitter. Yes, I have Twitter to thank. Oh Twitter, how the #nanolondon crew has used you! The difference between Bethnal Green and Southbank was very noticeable to me; there were a lot more people (increasing the intimidation factor) and it was much brighter and I couldn't hide in a corner in a pub. (I will explain a wee bit about myself here and now – I'm GOOD at mingling with strangers as I'm used to having to do it. It doesn't mean I enjoy it or feel comfortable. Just because I seem happy and cheerful, doesn't mean that I am. I just force it and hope it changes. Southbank was one of those times where I managed to actually succeed in feeling comfortable.) The people I met at Southbank were amazing. They were friendly and outrageous, and it was such an interesting mix of personalities that I was hooked.

I began to go to all the downtown write-ins, because I loved the people that were there so much. I eventually concluded that we all had three things in common.

1.we like to write
2.we're all some variety and level of geek
3.we're all a little crazy

Everyone has been so supportive of each other throughout the month, and getting to actually spend time with such people has been such a pleasure. In a way I feel so close to them all and I've only known them for the month. It feels a bit like a frosh week, except so much better. I haven't felt nearly as lonely in London as I had been, and I really feel like I've just started some proper friendships with some really wicked people. Scarier still, I really think that at least some of those friendships will continue after this is all over.

It feels so silly to write that, about making friends, but it's been a very real, and very emotional, experience for me. I knew I would see people at the write-ins for the month, and that it would likely be friendly. But I didn't actually think that I would meet anyone who could stand the idea of seeing me beyond the boundaries of Nanowrimo. And yet, at this moment, I really feel like some of the people I've met actually enjoy my company, and that is why it feels so silly to write that.

We've all gotten along so well that many of us plan to keep writing together afterwards, and that makes me so happy. It really does, and I think it's the first time in my life where I actually feel like I fit IN. Normally I always feel like I'm on the periphery of a group, floating around on the edges and looking in but never actually belonging in it. I'd just wait until it was time to move on or end up excluded. It doesn't feel like that with the nano-group. It's so weird for me, and until they read this (even though right now they are sitting all around me in Covent Garden drinking caffeine or alcohol) they won't know how much of a positive and profound experience this has been for me, and how much it actually means to me to actually feel that way. Lol [Yes, I wrote lol when I was writing on the paper!], I almost cried writing that and I feel mighty silly. Thank gawd I didn't, everyone would have wondered what the hell was going on! I just never imagined I'd feel like I fit in in a group. I gave up years ago, and definitely thought the opportunity for it even being a possibility was long gone now that I'm finished with school. And yet here it went and happened and I have all of these lovely people to thank for giving me that. I just can't get over feeling amazed with everyone.

In a way, for that reason if nothing else, I really love all of these people.

Now as to a recap of our day so far: It's been such an honour today to go traipsing around Central London writing in random locations, getting crazy looks from strangers, and laughing like maniacs. We met at St. Paul's Cathedral and froze while we gathered and wrote on the steps. Jen and Claire (the lovely organizers of the write-ins) had even made cardboard signs for the #nanorilla Twitter group!

After freezing and writing on the steps of St. Paul's, we retreated into the Starbucks that we could see from the steps. Somehow we managed to get enough seats for nearly 20 of us. I had a Black Cherry Mocha and it was delicious (and it did NOT burn my tongue!). We wrote Stick Novels. On the stir-sticks. Mine was about an airplane.

[Henceforth this is what I've typed at home, everything before I wrote while running around in London]

My first Stick-Novel was a memoir on one side, and a story about a Princess (Cleo gave me the topic). I couldn't think about a Princess name and I accidentally called it Jay, so Jay got a bit insulted with what I wrote, naturally. So I gave it to him and no one else has read it. After, Jay told me to write about a plane. So I did, and this was my stick-novel:

“Once upon a time there was an airplane. It really wanted to be a ship so it crashed into the sea. (other side) Once the plane was in the sea all the passengers drowned. The plane regretted its decision.”

Later in the day at the pub, I wrote two more. One was about beet (Jay's topic) and one was about the rain (Melanie's topic). Everyone wrote rather hilarious Stick Novels in my opinion!

We headed towards Tate Modern, deciding that we needed to be indoors (although I did manage to miraculously keep the rain away all day, cause I've got skills like that. You can ask my dad!). Inside Tate Modern we went to see the big old black room. What was it called? Jay had a moment before going inside, so I was basically his guide dog while in there. Yep, I noticed when I said that at Tate that I'd just basically called myself a bitch. Kept Jay safe and made fun of myself for acting like a teacher at the same time. We then sat in Tate and wrote, and I have no idea what people thought of us as I had my back to the crowd. Jon hit 50k while there, so cheers for that!

After Tate we ended up writing on the BlackFriar's bridge. It was a fun, but short, stop! Had a LOT of odd looks for passers-by, and we had someone stop and photograph us for a while. It was quite amusing. What else was amusing was our group conga-line and that that we had going for part of our walk to there.

We then high-tailed it to Covent Garden, as we were cold and hungry. So what did we do? Sat outside at Covent Garden at a cafe and drank caffeinated or alcoholic beverages. Somehow we had miraculously got enough seats for all of us, ALL TOGETHER! What the hell are the odds of that one!

We then left to go find a pub. It was dark and we couldn't keep writing. This is when we lost the leaders of our pack, as the walk way was too thin and crowded for such a loud group. No fears though, as we found our way there in the end. And spent the next 3 hours or so in the pub, just hanging out.

My fingers are sore, so I am so not giving the day justice in it's recap, but it was a marvellous day and had many many hilarious moments that perhaps I will add in at some point!