Like many of my fellow writers, I signed up for NaNoWriMo–National Novel Writing Month–and set a goal to write 50,000 words during the month of November. As I am also doing major renovations to my house this month, and participating in a craft show, my page output has been meager and I was falling way behind.
Then I heard about the “Night of Writing Dangerously,” an official NaNoWriMo-sponsored event. Any writer who’s game gathers at a certain location at 7 p.m. on a Friday night with your laptop, and you write for 12 hours straight, or as much as you possibly can. It’s like a giant, adult co-ed slumber party. I set myself a goal of 10,000 words or 40 pages.
My husband and I showed up there (at a Lutheran church), and we were shocked at how many other insane people wanted to do this. There were around 40 people there. We were also the two oldest participants by far. Most of the others were in their 20s. (People our age don’t do stupid things like stay up all night drinking coffee and eating junk food.) I wish I had taken better pictures. These really don’t communicate the scope. And I wish I had taken a picture of the mountain of food.
I haven’t pulled an all-nighter in twenty years. But I did it. I found that if you fortify yourself with enough coffee, Cheetos and Snickers, you don’t notice the lack of sleep so much. Rob crashed at around 3 a.m., but I stayed up the whole time.
When I counted my words, I was disappointed that I missed the 10,000 mark by 149 words. But I did write over 40 pages. That is by far the most I’ve ever written in any 24-hour period. (I haven’t gone back and read what I wrote, but I’m pretty sure it’s crap.)
So what did I learn? That when I apply myself (i.e. turn off the solitaire and the Internet) I can get a whole lot more done. Imagine if I could get even half that much written in a day. I could have a book finished in a couple of weeks! I am at least reasonably on track now, and I stand a chance of finishing the 50,000 words and getting my certificate. The second thing I learned was to turn off my internal editor! I already knew this, but sometimes I have to be reminded.
The final thing I learned is that I can’t eat five pounds of junk food in one night and feel good the next day. But that probably won’t stop me from wanting to do this again next year!
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I’m not doing NaNo, but man, an all night write a thon sounds kinda fun.
Wow! I’m doing NaNo this year as well (my first time) and I don’t think I could do twelve hours straight.
Just wanted to de-lurk and say I love the blog, and congrats on getting such a huge bump in your nano word count!
Wow!
Big congrats at hitting your page goal!
12 hours straight writing.
What a cool concept!
I frequently pull all nighters with business projects (not much of a stretch as I sleep about 4 hours a night)
but writing…
I don’t know.
I can write about a chapter at one sitting.
After that my creativity brain cells need massive recharging
(and that requires time,
not junk food unfortunately).
I’m doing Nano but I missed hearing about the all nighter. Regular Nano is exhausting me! Still an all nighter sounds like it would have been brilliant fun.
Shiloh–it really was fun. Made me feel young and old at the same time.
Tami–I had my doubts that I could do 12 hours, but the time flew by. The longer I stayed at it, the faster and better I got at blocking out distractions. Thanks for de-lurking!
Kimber–I’m not sure much creativity was involved. The writing will need some gross-tuning (as opposed to fine-tuning) ’cause it probably reads like a Dick and Jane book. Wish I only needed 4 hours of sleep!
Ryshia, good luck with your word count, also.
No way.
Only my babies get ‘all-nighters’ for me. Everything else has to stick to the all-powerful Master Schedule!
Kimber An, I want a master schedule. I need a master schedule. Obviously.
I’m NaNo-ing this year for the 8th year in a row. We didn’t pull an all-nighter, but on Saturday (the half-way mark of the month) was our annual Marathon Write-In of Doom. It started at 9am and went to 1am. People arrived, people left, junk food was consumed, periodically silly games are played, and much writing is done. Lots of fun.
And I’m holding just barely ahead of pace, so I’ve got high hopes.
I’ve always managed to avoid NaNo –it’s so not my writing style, and I don’t know that it would help me. All I can see is the crap I produce when I write straight through without edits. And I’m scared I’ll forget things I need to go back and fix, or that the continuity will be lost. Big chicken, that’s me.
Plus, it seems I’m almost always at a critical point in my WIP this time of year and don’t dare abandon it for something different.
But props to you (and all the other NaNo writers) for being able to do that.
You mean we can actually get things done without internet and fun games???? I refuse to believe it.
40 pages?!? That’s awesome. I’m not doing NaNo this year, but I have a 1500 word/day goal through the end of February to finish a book. And you’re right; if I stop checking my @$(*& Facebook, I get my words done.
Um, despite not doing NaNo, I still need the junk food. Sigh.
Congratulations!! I’ve tried NaNo, but since I’m such a liner thinker/writer, when I try to ‘power through’ I just keep going slower and slower. I decided after two years of NaNo, it’s just not for me.
The good news is it did teach me that I actually don’t need a big block of time to write, I can get something done in a little as ten minutes.
Congatulations again for doing NaNo and for all the pages. You go, girl.
An all nighter with other writers sounds like fun. And junk food makes it perfect. Forty pages is super. Keep it going.
Lienne–oh, yeah, silly games! We challenged each other to word wars, and I bought a word for 25 cents. The word(s) I got was “flying spaghetti monster.” Try working that into a story. But I did.
Terry–Everybody has a different process. I usually write a very fast and ugly first draft, so this isn’t too alien for me.
Brandy–heh heh I honestly can’t remember what it was like before Internet. I think I got more reading done.
Jesse–I’ve been known to put a pile of Sugar Babies by my computer and eat one every time I finished a page.
Terry–You can actually train yourself to write in short intervals. I know moms with small children who do this! But the longer I write the faster I get, so I like big blocks of time.
Susan–thanks! I’m almost to 25K, which is half way, so I’m a little behind still/again. But moving right along.
Thank you all so much for your comments.
I am doing NaNo and your write-in sounds lovely! I did a write in that Saturday at a friend’s house and there were 6 of us. I am amazed that I know five other people in real life that are crazy enough to do this. Actually I do know a few more, but they didn’t turn up. Where were their priorities??? I used a laptop with no internet and I found myself longing for it, but I got more done without it. Thanks for sharing about yours! I think I’ll try for something like that next year! I’m game to stay up all night!