Well, it's day 2 of my NaNoWriMo attempt and I'm at 5,777 words. I've never written like this before, i.e. not going back and re-reading, revising, or re-writing. Instead, I'm just plugging on full tilt to try and get the words out and I'm not sure I'm liking the approach.
I'm sticking to it, however, because it's what I've signed on for and because I really want to feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the month - even if it's nothing more than a virtual pat on the back in the form of an electronic badge stating "You're a Winner" (in NaNoWriMo, everyone who completes 50,000 words - and not the same word repeated 50,000 times - is a "winner").
Geesh - what a feel good, elementary school attitude, eh? It kinda makes me want to stop on principle alone: I don't believe in the "everyone's a winner" approach to life. I also don't believe in the "he who finishes first is better than he who finishes last".
I do, however, believe in finishing but I think it should be done on one's own time. Some of us take a long time to form our thoughts and then need even more time to organize them, review them, make sense of them, re-organize them, and then deliver them.
Thoughtfulness should not have a time bomb attached to it which is why I rarely, if ever, asses a timed writing as anything more than a first draft.
Which, in a sense, is what NaNoWriMo is trying to do with its novel in a month approach and therefore, I dig it: they aren't asking me to produce a finished product in a month's time, just a first draft of 50,000 words. Thank goodness - that, I may be able to handle.
So, What's La Pointe of It All? It's this: a first draft is a opportunity to begin organizing ideas in writing and see how they transfer to paper and it should be judged accordingly. But unlike in some other worlds, in my world, a first draft is just that - the FIRST opportunity. It will never be the last. Long live revision!
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