TECH: Nanowrimo Notes #19: A firehose?

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Running Water

We have rice paddies near us, which means I get to see the farmers playing games with water. One of the fun parts is when they open the water on a gutter that hasn't been used for a while. There's a trickle, then a kind of gush with mud and muck tumbling out, and as the torrent continues, it starts to run smooth and clean -- and powerful.

Looking at the comments from some of the nanowrimo writers on another list, it seems as if they are experiencing that sort of a cleansing. Several of them commented about initial awkwardness and slowness, worries about needing to edit, needing to outline, and needing to do something besides write. However, they persevered and started to find themselves writing more than they needed to, just because it felt right.

They also found themselves having characters come to life and say we're going over here, or this is going to happen now, or otherwise finding that the story shifts, the setting, the characters, the plot, all that stuff that we thought we had under control goes off on its own merry way. And that's okay! In fact, it's kind of exciting.

That's probably another point or theme that seems to come through their comments. The feeling of release -- that just sitting down and letting the words tumble out feels good. Bradbury, Goldberg, and others have commented that one of the evil rumors is that writing should feel bad, that it should be agony and hard work. Yes, there is perspiration and commitment and a fair amount of stubbornness required to keep writing, to finish it, to go back over it and make it better, and to put it out there in public view -- and deal with the rejections. But there's also a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling of doing something that feels right.

"There's nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." Walter Wellesley Smith

"Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning:  I wanted to know what I was going to say." Sharon O'Brien

I think they're both saying the same thing. Far too often, people see opening a vein and get scared. That sounds painful! Then Sharon O'Brien reminds us that it's exciting to find out what we're going to say. What will happen next?

That's what the nanowrimo writers seem to be commenting on -- the fun and the push of seeing where the words take you, of having the torrent clean out the muck and mud and come roaring out, smooth and clean. Take a deep drink from that rush, and keep writing.

tink
(about 450 words)
Rock around the clock tonight!