Daily Archives: November 1, 2012

NaNoWriMo

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Do not be critics, you people, I beg you. I was a critic and I wish I could take it all back because it came from a smelly and ignorant place in me, and spoke with a voice that was all rage and envy. Do not dismiss a book until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them.

That’s Dave Eggers, and he’s right. Tearing down someone else’s work is not helpful or progressive or creative. It’s certainly nothing to be proud of… which is maybe why I’ve been so remorseful about my mean Ruby Sparks post.

Today, I was supposed to recalibrate my goals. In doing so, I was reminded that the start of November is also the start of National Novel Writing Month, during which participants write 50,000 words in 30 days. I may not be able to vote in the national election (my absentee ballot still has not arrived), but I can join my fellow Americans for NaNoWriMo.

I wrote 1700 words today, and I hope I can keep this up for the rest of the month. Quality is not the issue – it’s all about getting words on the page. Still, maybe by the time December rolls around, I’ll have a lot more empathy for writers of fiction (and screenplays).

More Self-Doubt

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I went out for Halloween last night, and spent some time with the other postgrad students from my course and the related Writing MA. We talked a little about where we saw our career paths heading, and before I knew it, I was expressing all this concern about how I might not have what it takes.

I’ve been feeling bad for posting that rant about Ruby Sparks, partly because it seems to imply that I didn’t “get” the movie. I understood what was happening. I saw the skewering of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope; I just didn’t think it was done well.

Still, the possibility that I might have somehow missed the point of the film (a lot of reviewers loved Ruby Sparks) started this spiral of self-doubt and I ended up spending part of Halloween night worrying about my future ambitions.

I started this program because I want to edit fiction, but what if I haven’t read enough to know good fiction when I see it? I don’t even have a literature course this semester. It’s the same with the job hunt – I really wanted to work in Irish publishing during my time here, but it’s looking less and less likely that it’s going to happen.

I’m hoping to use the start of a new month to sort of refocus on my goals and maybe recalibrate exactly what it is I think I’m doing here.