Against National Novel Writing Month
During November each year, thousands of people around the globe take part in Nation Novel Writing Month (that’s NaNoWriMo for short), in which each person attempts to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Last year nearly 200,000 people took part and even more will try this year.
One of the greatest myths of our age is the possibility of creativity. This may sound like a pessimistic place to start an article on creative writing, but it is hardly possible to talk about art without considering the challenges that have faced all artistic production over the last 100 years. Of course, there is still the production of interesting and relevant cultural objects, that stand in the place that art has always stood, that engage in the same sorts of debates as older art. That is there are new cultural products that take on the same cultural function of older art, but in a new and changed world. The question, then, is why so many people are trying to create novels so quickly. What is the attraction of NaNoWriMo, and is it a good thing?
In all honesty, any novel of this length written in such a short time is liable to be extremely weak. Bulked out by paragraphs, if not pages, of pure irrelevance. Often written from beginning to end in an artificially structured stream of consciousness, the likelihood is that any novel produced is not only unlikely to be read, but is likely to be unreadable. Apart from this, the challenge of writing points to a greater problem: the obsession with finished products. Without a doubt, most people writing will be doing it for a personal sense of achievement and the ability to say, “this is something that I made, it is mine, and it is part of me.” People become no longer defined by process, by subjectivity, but rather by what they produce, and ultimately objects,
What we are actually looking at is an issue of alienation. A society in which people are so lacking in their sense of self, that they feel they must produce something tangible to others to continue existing, whether that be a child or a novel or a symphony. And the point is simply that this is, and will forever be, a poor reason to write a novel, to have a child, or to write a symphony. Rather than engaging with an alienated society, these people attempt to rectify it through the imposition of their so-called creativity, and yet are forever doomed to failure.
Novels are fantastic things, and their production is something we should continue to value, but the point of a work of art, and the conditions of a work’s production is not something that we can take lightly. Creative possibility is not some omnipresent aura that may be tapped by anybody at any time, and as soon as we begin to be honest about that we may be able to engage with some of the major problems of society. Instead, NoNoWriMo is just popularising a notion of creativity that has never, and can never, exist. Maybe we should believe in humanity for what it is, rather than believing in it based on its ability to produce large piles of rubbish.
Reader Comments
Or, people just enjoy writing. I agree that the end product of NNWM will likely be drivel, much like the vast majority of WH Smith’s shelves. But is that really the crucial point at the end of the day? Why do I write novels? Because I want to be a famous writer? Because I want to produce a valuable cultural product? Because I want something I can sell to make money? Yes, to all three I expect. But the most important reason I write, the thing that keeps me going through all the uncertainties of the publishing industry, is because I enjoy it. I couldn’t do it otherwise. And if people want to spend the month writing, instead of sitting in front of the TV or playing a computer game, go them.
I don’t think Jacob is denying that amateur creative writing is a good thing, the point is (in my opinion) that it is actually far more worthwhile for someone to spend decades practicing creative writing at the end of which they have produced a couple of reasonably good short stories that will be read mainly by thier grandchildren than to produce a novel in a month. In some ways I even think it could take more confidence to do the former. Similarly for music, I find it far more proffitable learning to play fugues which I will never have the reliability to perform than trying to become a keyboard player in a up and coming indie band (setting aside the absurdity of this image), even though the latter would be considered a greater achievement in conventional terms.
In your case, as a professional writer, the fruits of your labours are bountiful enough that you and the publishing industry think it worthwhile to produce more ambitious and finished products. But this is, presumably, on the basis of a substantial commitment of effort beyond most amateur writers.
Re-reading the above comment, it sounds like I am being condescending towards indie and invoking classical snobbery. This was not my intention. My point was that I could competently do the job of a keyboard player in an indie band in terms of producing a respectable finished product, but would not have much to contribute to the genre and would not find it particularly enjoyable.
The thing about embarking on a novel, though, is that it’s a scary task. Most are never seen through from beginning to end. It’s much easier to hone your skills writing short stories. Far harder to see one sustained narrative through from beginning to end. NNWM is never going to produce any masterpieces. But what it can do is help people conquer their fear. I don’t believe there’s a novel in everyone. But even for those people who have a novel in them, it’s a hell of a task getting it out. If NNWM can help break the ice, and give people the confidence to put the time and effort into creating something greater later down the line, then I have nothing against it.
Thats true, although the condensation into a month still seems a bit excessive. Not being a writer myself I can’t really comment with any great weight.
Damn, I’ll stop praying to my Kerouac poster at night then.
There is nothing new under the sun and esse est percipi. Writing should always be about having fun. The great writers wrote mostly for themselves. Joyce and Beckett made huge leaps and bounds in subverting the novel form, but the same tired old crap still sells. But hey, where’s the harm? You don’t have to read what others feel a need to write.
Well indeed, there have only really been seven basic forms of story since Greek times. That’s not to say a writer can’t do something revolutionary. But chances are even the best ones won’t.