NaNoWriMo - U R Doin' It Wrong - by Angie Capozello

Ah, NaNoWriMo. That glorious orgy of words, a veritable cornucopia of creative work that seems to fit so well with the season of celebrating abundance.

I am totally doing it wrong.

On purpose.

It’s not that I don’t love the challenge, or the sense of camaraderie as I cheer on writing buddies struggling to reach that insane goal. I do love it, which is why I participate most years. But more and more, I find myself cringing at the thought of all those lovely, precious words that I am about to throw away. It never fails; I reach the goal of 50,000 words and start editing. And then I realize that I’ve got a crucial scene wrong early on in the story, and fixing it changes everything that comes after. Every- freaking-thing. Bye-bye one whole month of time and sleepless nights.

So this year I decided to NaNo again, but on my own terms. I still cheer on my friends. I post my word counts, even though they remain pitifully small compared to those titans of the typewriter and virtuosos of venerable ink pens. I am editing. While I write. And I like it.

(I know, it sounds dirty.)

But despite this, I can still hold my head up high. When I reach December 1st I will not have 50,000 words that will mostly hit the cutting room floor. I will have 10,000 words that I’m going to keep.

So yeah, I’m doing it wrong. But as far as I’m concerned, I’m winning anyway.

-Angie Capozello

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