A Novel Idea

Not many people can say they've finished a novel--especially in 30 days.

There were tests to study for, research papers to write, classes to attend--oh yes, and sleep to be slept. And yet, five Pomona freshmen joined hundreds of others around the world in November with one goal in mind: to write 50,000 words in just 30 days.

A novel idea--in more ways than one.

From November 1 to 30, Evan Blair, David Feinstein, Leigh Fisher, P.C. Fleming, and Stephen White, all of the Class of 2005, took part in National Novel Writing Month--or NaNoWriMo--a novel writing program for anyone who has "thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved."

Would-be novelists were challenged to write 50,000 words--the equivalent of about 200 pages of a typical paperback, or 1,666 words per day--during a period of a single month, with an emphasis on enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft.

"The idea is to free you up from the stress of writing, and from your inner critic," says Feinstein, whose older brother planted the idea in his head after hearing about the program in 1999.

At that time, NaNoWriMo was in rough draft form with six winners out of a mere 20 participants. (A winner is anyone who reaches the word count of 50,000 by the deadline.) After minor edits, the program has grown exponentially. There were 29 winners out of 140 entrants in 2000, and by the end of the 2001 contest, there were 716 winners out of an uncounted number of entrants who joined in from as far away as Australia and South Africa.

NaNoWriMo is the brainchild of Oakland freelance writer Chris Baty, who once admitted to The San Francisco Bay Guardian that the project came to life spontaneously, "like sea monkeys when you add water." According to the Guardian article, Baty had finished an issue of his magazine, Frolic, and was looking for another project with a similar amount of energy. From this sprang the idea of NaNoWriMo, conceived as the ideal process for "getting all of the pain of writing a novel over in a short amount of time."

News of the idea spread by word of mouth. "The idea either appeals to you immediately, or not at all," says Feinstein, who found the experiment so intriguing that he shared it with some friends, who also agreed to sign on.

In the beginning, the group came together daily, laptops at the ready (though in Feinstein's case it was a 1950s-vintage Olympia typewriter), in a communal approach to writing. "It made it easier because we were forced to sit down and write," says Fleming who had never before attempted a project of such length. His novel, Our Life, at 50,972 words, details events in the life of a character--based loosely on his own father--who receives a letter about a novel.

For a while the group continued their daily ritual, but eventually they began to develop their own independent schedules. "I wrote half of my novel past 3 a.m. when it was quiet, with no distractions," Feinstein says. All agree, however, that it was important to meet as a group. Baty once noted that community is one of the determining factors to success in NaNoWriMo, adding "People who ended up quitting were usually writing by themselves."

"It was really important for us being together, goading each other on," says Feinstein who penned On the Death of a Hero, totaling 50,094 words. Taking its name from a movement of Beethoven's 12th Piano Sonata, the novel tells the story of Parker, who at 12 years old becomes obsessed with a famous pianist and eventually starts to follow him, waiting for him to die--or perhaps a chance to kill him. "I can't, of course, tell you the ending," he adds.

"Everyone who knew what we were doing was really supportive, and the creative energy that came from other members of the group was great," says Blair, who scored with exactly 50,000 words with his work, Anticipation, or Pinko Commies Versus Wal-Mart.

With so much emphasis on quantity, NaNoWriMo's Web site is brutally honest about expected levels of quality. "Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap," the site warns. "And that's a good thing. Because by forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes."

"It was a challenge," says Fleming. "Sometimes I would be writing, and things would go well; other times--well, there was just no time to go back."

It was common for the group to stop and read excerpts of their day's work aloud with no intentions of soliciting feedback, but rather, "as a way to just find some creative energy," Fleming explains.

"I don't know if I'd do it again," admits White, who penned the 50,030 word tome, The Review, focusing on a film projectionist whose duty in the afterlife is to show films to people explaining why they are not admitted to heaven. "It was very satisfying, but in the midst of it all, I thought, 'Never again!'"

Blair, on the other hand, was so inspired by the experience that he is thinking of creating a new project of his own, to be known as Local Short Story Writing Month – or LoShoStoWriMo.

For all five students who took part, the pride is in having completed the task.

"Not many people can say they've ever written a novel," says Fleming.

But today, these five first-year Sagehens can say exactly that.

--Jeffrey J. LaValley