"You will be writing a lot of crap."

Okay! I have to do it. I've been reading way too many entries of other people's opinions on NaNoWriMo and I feel compelled to chime in. Of course, all of these so-called entries are written by professional writers. Spuh. You know, those people who were just like me at one time?

They go on and on about NaNo in some way or another, but they ALWAYS latch on to that one line in the "What is NaNoWriMo?" section that says, "You will be writing a lot of crap." They always freak out and go overboard about it. So, let me just say a few things on it myself. I might not be a "professional" writer. I might not get paid to write my little blog. I don't even have a published anything, but I apparently know something those amazing "golden" people don't.

*clears throat* ALL first drafts are crap. Actually, Ernest Hemingway said it better, but I do want to keep this semi-family friendly. ;-)

Now those "professional" writers would glare at me, and I'm sure puff up, but you know what? Get over it. Sheesh. I'm sure you're just all marvelous and wonderful in your little world, but who cares? NaNoWriMo is NOT for writers like YOU, so don't worry your little perfect heads about it. NaNoWriMo is for people like ME.

Let's sit back and see what kind of people I'm referring to.

1) Fear of being able to write anything as long as a novel, even as "pathetic" as a short 50K word novel. Yeah, I know, I know! It's a novella. Get over it.

- FACT: Doing something as silly as writing a story over a course of a month that equals 50,000 words is amazing. Many of us have NEVER written anything that long before, EVER.

- FACT: While many do use word padding techniques, there are just as many who do not. Think about that one for a moment. Some write full books up to 100K words. Others leave room within their stories to go back and expand areas when they have a detailed picture of what's going on and more time. And no, taking your time in the first place is what leads to procrastination and the book never getting written. Obviously, the "published" writers are perfect. But I'm talking about the not so perfect people, like me.

2) Someone who is so scared of a recent accomplishment that they aren't writing anymore. Or, they're scared they might accomplish something. Being able to tackle something with no other reason than they want to try can be liberating.

**Ever hear of a little thing called "writer's block"? Yeah, that thing that kept you from finishing your book for ages. Some of the 'cures' for it are free writing and giving yourself permission to write ... crap. In other words, throw in the dang talking squirrel if it keeps things moving. Last time I checked, that's what the editing process was for. To take out that dang squirrel, but leave in what happened because it most likely got you past the dang problem spot! See?! Crap. (Unless you're in Narnia. Then it's perfectly normal.)

3) Someone who has no set times for writing and has a hard time making themselves write every day.

-FACT: It takes 28 days to establish a habit. Good thing NaNo is 30 days long then, huh? If a writer gets in the habit of sitting down to write at the same time every day for 30 days, they've put into place a habit they can use for life.

One final fact for you lovely 'published' writers. Not everyone wants to write a novel to become published. I know, I know. That probably shocked you right down to your toe hairs, but it's the truth. Most likely, for every writer who wants to be published, there are 5 who write just because they like to.

My first year attempting NaNo, I learned that I could write something that long. I'd never once believed I could. This year, I'm learning to sit and write every single day whether I want to or not. That is just as important as learning that I could. By knowing that I'm allowed to "write crap," all of the pressure is off. I still edit a little as I go, but nothing like I used to. I have become a better writer because of NaNo. But you know what? I don't expect you to understand that.

I'm of the opinion that "professional" writers just don't "get it." They don't understand, and will never understand, what NaNo truly means or what "You will be writing a lot of crap" means. Also, the arbitrary "win" at the end? Gee, you know what? That win at the end is the most many of us will ever see. If you're awesome enough to already have an agent and you're published, you don't understand. But don't take it away from the rest of us and demean it.

All I can say about the manuscripts that flood the publishers at the end is, "People should know better. Just because they wrote it doesn't make it good." As a matter of fact, it's a very rare, and gifted, individual who can write and edit at the same time so precisely as to have a polished manuscript at the end. So rare that people would do better to assume they can't do it and they have to edit first. However, look on the bright side, those crappy manuscripts ensure that those publishers will have plenty of work to do. See? Job security.

Now. I'm going to go write some crap so that I can have my purple winner's bar at the end.

Being allowed to write "crap" means that you are allowed to make wrong word choices and throw your characters into unlikely situations because you want to see what happens. It means that you are free from having to edit until the end because it's not important during the drafting process. Writing "crap" means that your first chapter can be useless rambling while you find the voice you're going to use for the rest of your book. It's okay that it rambles, cut it off during the editing process and rewrite it. That, by the way, is a time-honored tip for ANY book you write and not just a NaNo book. The first chapter is always "crap." In the end, "crap" only means non-perfect writing, for those of you who obviously don't "get" it. It is only a word to allow perfectionists to let go and move forward. It's nothing more 'evil' than that. So let go and move on.