spryng | National Novel Reading Month (Reply)

audesapere made an excellent point on FB today re: NaNoWriMo and its decidedly overt emphasis on the initial phase of the writing process - i.e., the first draft - almost to the point of ignoring every other aspect of the process. Granted, this is a bit disingenuous since the organizers of NaNo both donate a lot of resources and time towards literacy and providing libraries and books to communities desperately in need of them and also make sure that the forums have places for the post-NaNo times when re-writing and edits should be reigning supreme. But we all know that when the month of November is over, a fraction of a fraction of erstwhile participants utilize those resources.

It is the community that has risen up around NaNo and that relentless you-can-do-it-ism that has driven both it and our own generation (gold stars, anyone?) that celebrates the first draft at the expense of everything that comes after, or that should be peripheral. That includes editing. That includes re-writing. But most importantly - and sadly, sometimes most forgotten - that includes reading. Although I doubt this touches on most of the people I know - because I surround myself with equally voracious readers - I still think it is important for us to pay attention to that which got us writing in the first place.

So in the spirit of that, I hereby declare the time between December 15th and January 15th National Novel Reading Month. Why the strange timeframe? Well, partially to fully utilize that time off you might (maybe, possibly) have around the holidays without quite interfering with the frantic preparing you may still have to do for said holidays and quietly skirting around end of term exams/papers. It also gives you two weeks after the end of NaNo to stop being sick of words, a period in which you can use that time you put aside for writing every day in November for getting ready for the holidays so you have no excuses come December 15th.

I hereby also declare some rules:

Rule #1: Read at least four novels in the four week period, which equals out to one a week while allowing time for some longer/shorter novels.

Rule #2: Try to read at least one novel from a new author or from a (sub)genre you don't typically read (or may have even heard of, i.e. New Weird and Cyberpunk [or even New Weird Punk]).

Rule #3: Discuss at least one of said novels with a friend or on your blog/FB page. Preferably say a little something about each of the novels you read, but at least go into a bit of depth on the ideas/characterization/what you absolutely hated/loved for one novel.

Rule #4: Going by NaNoWriMo definitions, a novel is at least 50,000 words. You can't usually check a word count, but a decent indicator is >100 pages. So if you'd rather read a bunch of short stories, just read more.

Rule #5: There is no rule #5.

To go the extra mile, buy the book if you can and then donate it to a library or book drive at the end of the four weeks. If you can't, that's absolutely fine; the more libraries are used, the more funding they are likely to get. Because of my own economic situation, I admit I will likely end up borrowing my books.

I'd also suggest coming up with your four books prior to NaNoReMo, maybe convincing some of your friends to read at least one of the same books, that way you can acquire your books and also have some ready discussion fodder.

And with all that said, I am going to go and delightfully celebrate draftiness for a few thousand words. Because even though it may be overly emphasized, it's still important.