WRITING & HYPERTEXT: Feelings

Yeah, it’s got to feel right. If it feels good, do it, so they say. And as I suspected, even with all the personal enthusiasm for hypertext narrative, the creative flow open full blast, and the best of intentions to get something accomplished before year end, I don’t think NaNoWriMo is right for me.

For one thing, I’m not a groupie type person. If there’s real camaraderie and team support–and there could be here, though I don’t seem to find a group compatible with my own interests and I sure as hell don’t need to be a team cheerleader again–it could be fun. But there seems to be a huge number of fantasy genre, youth-oriented, starry-eyed or ego-driven participants among the serious writers but none interested at all in hypertext form.

Which brings me to the second point, that my main purpose of gaining some interest in hypertext and new media doesn’t seem to be a likely prospect. No one’s really responded to two inquiries in the forums. Judging by the forum discussions, I’m not fitting in real well with the attitude of writing nor the experience.

And, back to my original reluctance to join this over the past several years, I still don’t like that “push the words out, don’t worry if it’s crap, it’s word-count that matters, kill your inner editor, blah, blah” that may work for some writers, but it sure doesn’t appeal to me as a skillful approach to a craft.  Hell, I’m constantly editing and though I find it more likely to be written decently the first time than it used to be, it’s more from the editing phase of the experience (and from reading well-written literature) than from pushing words out.

So while I’m signed up at NaNoWriMo, and still have a week to make up my mind, I’m not thinking that I’m going to be participating. Besides, I still don’t have a story concept, November’s my busy time at the shop, and my neck and back are still screwed up from the summer’s 100 Days Project to feel real excited about taking part.