What is it that keeps me writing 50,000 words of only slightly mitigated crap through November? Peer pressure, of course [0].
The Lawrence Wrimo group is amazing. The Lawrence Wrimo group is so amazing that people who have moved away to other parts of the country still participate— on Facebook, by email, through our blog, on IRC [1]. I fully expect that once the first Lawrence Wrimo goes to that Great Thank God It’s Over Party in the ceiling [2], they will still be logging in to talk smack bless us with their presence.
We have thrice weekly write-ins through the month of November. We have nearly nightly chat-ins [3] which are raucous parties in their own right. We hold monthly Writer’s Nights Out year-round, and if all goes well may start scheduling the occasional Writer’s Movie Night [4].
What was wholly unexpected when I started doing Nano lo these many mango seasons ago, is that we keep getting together because it turns out we like one another. And through that liking we support one another, suggest ideas, provide escape hatches for those who have written themselves into a corner, cheer on successes, mourn the loss of ideas that seemed good at the time but simply could not be brought to life, and hold one another accountable to our word/page counts.
For something stereotyped as an introverted, solitary pursuit, writing is surprisingly social.
[0] True story: I did not volunteer to be a Confabulator. I became one when Sara fixed me with her beady eye and said, “Pick a day to post. Saturday is open.” I was too intimidated to say no. [0.5]
[0.5] Seriously, Sara, I love you. I just needed the kick in the pants.
[1] That’s Internet Relay Chat, the great-granddaddy of texting, to you youngins.
[2] Or basement, depending on how well they’ve studied the scripture according to Strunk and White and followed the tenets of good grammar.
[3] I’m trying to get an early morning version going for those of us who do our best thinking before 3:00 PM.
[4] The Hobbit, definitely. Anna Karenina or Les Miserables, possibly. Cheesy musical seventies porn based on fairy tales, there will be plenty of booze. Anything from the Twilight series, oh dear god no. There is such a thing as standards.
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