My NaNoWriMo: Louise Elle Craven

When I heard Writers & Artists were doing a month long special focus on NaNoWriMo, I immediately thought of an author I know called Louise Elle Craven.  She’s been doing NaNo for quite a while now – and I first heard about it through her. 

In her own words, Louise spends every November frantically typing and the other 11 months a year whining that she really ought to be writing something.

When did you first do NaNoWriMo?

I was browsing a name generator site years ago and saw two links on the sidebar: NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriYe. They had no explanation and I couldn't fathom what they could possibly be. Being a curious person, I clicked them and the world of NaNoWriMo opened up to me. This was back in about April 2004. I had six long tortuous months before I could even sign up for it.

Why did you decide to do it?

I'd always written stories, right from my early childhood, but as I grew older and started a family, I wrote less and less. I saw NaNoWriMo as a chance to challenge myself. I would dedicate myself to writing a novel that month and see where it took me. Doing it with NaNoWriMo gave me a definite start date and a deadline. I love a concrete goal.

There's no thinking "oh, I'll work on it tomorrow," because you're very aware of the finite number of tomorrows you have. It also gave me something I could point to and say "I'm doing *that*." I guess it's the difference between a runner deciding to do twenty-six miles off their own bat and running in a marathon. It stops being some nebulous thing and becomes tangible. You can show the world you've done it, there are figures and stats and official approval.

Did you know anyone else who was doing it?

No, not that first year. I did briefly meet a couple of other local writers from the NaNoWriMo forums but none of my real life or online friends were doing it. Or had even heard of it.

How did that first experience go?

It was hard. I'd done a lot of planning for the novel I was going to write and I was focusing on trying to get the story right instead of just getting words down. My family life was pretty chaotic too, with four children at home (two of which were under four years old) my time on the computer was limited and prone to interruption. Towards the end, I remember doing a marathon overnight session just to catch up, with the two insomniac toddlers crashed out behind me on the sofa. When I hit 50k and crossed the finish line, I actually cried with relief.

Did you think you'd do it again?

Yes. Despite the difficulties, I knew I was going to do it all again. And again. I loved the entire experience; being able to talk to writers all over the world, people who understood the process of creating. I loved the feeling of being creative and having that work notching up. Seeing the word tally on the site is a great motivator. I didn't just have a file of ‘some writing’ on the computer, I had fifty thousand words. An achievement that people congratulated me on.

What did you do with your first NaNoWriMo piece of writing?

I got it self-published, so I have a physical copy. It probably wasn't that great. It's unedited and too short for an actual market. I was quite naive when I started, I thought it was better than it was, and did try placing it with an agent. Understandably, it didn't get far. Since then I've re-read it. It could possibly be rewritten, but I think I'm done with that particular story.

What did you do differently the next time?

I failed. I can't even remember what story I was writing that year.

How many years have you done it?

I've attempted it every year since 2004. I've got six wins and three fails.

What do you think makes the difference between a fail and a win for you?

The glib answer would be "one word". In a way it's true, you don't get no shiny purple bar for 49,999 words. Yet have you really lost? How can you really call that a fail, if you wrote 49 thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine words? What about if you wrote 40k? How about if you only started on the 15th and got to 35k? Technically these are fails, but they are still achievements. A true fail is when you think on the first that you'll start on the second... or the third. No words and no effort is a fail. Everything else is a success. Even if you don't technically 'win'.

How has it changed since you first did it?

It's grown hugely and has become much more well known. Now if I mention NaNoWriMo, there's a good chance that the person may have heard of it, especially online. 

How do you feel it's changed your writing?

Not my writing itself, but it's allowed me to develop writing habits and strategies for getting it done. Because there is such a tight deadline, you learn how to sit down and start writing when you get a spare hour. I often write with headphones on, playing loud music to block out the sounds of a busy house. I also have my computer play clicks when keys are pressed; I find that this helps my brain recognise I'm in 'The Writing Zone' and that my muse should show up for work.

What would you advise a writer do with their NaNo writing after they're done?

What do you want to do with it? Are you hoping it's going to be the first step on a ladder that ends with your book sitting in bookshops and money flowing towards your bank account? Sorry to break it to you, there's a lot of rungs between here and there. And your ladder is probably going to need a lot of care and hard work. Some people just want to say "I wrote 50k, so ner."  And that's that. Other people pass it along to their friends, enjoy the feedback and bask in the glow. There's no right or wrong thing to do with it. But get a physical copy if you can, they look very, very impressive on your own bookshelf!

What are you doing with your writing now?

Mainly using it to impress people. "Oh, I wrote six novels, you know..." and the companion is duly impressed. Then they usually ask if it's published. Um, no. See, writing is a bit like football. It's fine if you like it, it's great if you get to play, but not everyone is going to be in the England squad. I'm probably a five-a-side Sunday player. I may aspire to (and even reach) the lofty heights of wearing a shirt with an actual sponsorship logo on it, but I'm probably not going to be able to give up the day job.

What one piece of advice would you give someone considering it?

To go for it! Aside from that, get on the local section of your forum and meet up with other local Wrimos. It took me years to do this, but the support and fun I've had over the last year from these folk has been invaluable.

It’s really interesting talking to Louise, she uses a lot of sporting metaphors and I think that’s a really good way to approach NaNoWriMo.  It’s about developing a muscle that you need as a writer – the ability to just sit down and put words on a page.

Taking the sporting metaphor a step further, runners wouldn’t get anywhere if they were constantly practicing their first few steps – criticizing themselves, stopping and starting again.  It’s only by doing the race that they can learn what they need to improve.

If you would like to read more on NaNoWriMo, please take a look here.