Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

The blustery winter months are fast approaching, days are getting shorter and mulled wine, fireplaces and Snuggies (a safe distance from those fireplaces) are starting to sound pretty good, just about all the time. It’s the perfect time of year to hunker down with a trashy novel, tucked discreetly behind that Snuggie.

So how’s that novel — the one you’re writing — coming along?

Two weeks ago, The Protagonist featured two Seattle-based folk, both in the tech field, who were respectively trying their hands — or keyboards — at NaNoWriMo, an almost cult-like collective of sorts that annually urges its followers to write a novel throughout the month of November. Like something you might bring to a potluck, the novel doesn’t have to be great, it just has to get done.

Two weeks ago, our amateur writers were just starting out. The Protagonist decided to catch up with them to see how — and if — things were coming along.

“I’ve been telling lots of people about my novel so I’m going to feel really lame if I don’t finish,” said Mark Phair, in what struck The Protagonist as an optimistic tone.

“Things traditionally fall off for me around a week in, so to still be moving along is pretty exciting,” said Phair. “I think the secret this time is a combination of accountability…and amusing myself way too much.”

Unfortunately Phair’s real, live writing group has fallen apart, so, aside from his fellow NaNoWriMoers, he’s going it solo this time.

Phair draws the inspiration to keep going from his inspirations themselves. “Sometimes I read or re-read some of the things that I’m parodying in the book,” he said. “I have to look back to Da Vinci Code now and then and I’m in the process of reading Fifty Shades of Grey. I actually watched Twilight last weekend, in the interest of getting source material.”

The Protagonist did not push Phair to find out if his interest extended beyond mere “source material.”

“My cast of characters is growing at a somewhat silly pace, but I think that is one of the things that has kept me moving. Whenever I’m worn out on a particular plotline, I just introduce a new one. I’ve got some characters that only show up in a single chapter so far,” explained Phair.

“With conspiracy novels…it always pays to get more people involved,” he added.

Phair also amuses himself with extraneous internet research: “I’ve never been to Sudan, but that isn’t stopping me from sending my characters there,” he explained. “I can see what it looks like on Google Maps; that’s good enough, right?”

“In the spirit of poorly-researched best-sellers everywhere, onward!” he said, concluding our interview.

Molly Watson appeared slightly more flustered about the process. “Curse you Netflix instant play!” she tellingly “shouted” at The Protagonist, via email.

Watson, who spoke more philosophically about the experience, cited author Steven Pressfield as an inspiration.

“Resistance is that little, sometimes very loud, voice in the back of your head that convinces you not to work on the thing that you want to work on. It reminds you… ‘who are you trying to fool, why don’t you go become a sandwich artist at Jimmy John’s?’” explained Watson, of Pressfield’s definition of “resistance.”

Watson said some days she manages to overcome this resistance, but other times her attempts seem futile. Though Watson finds herself behind where she’d like to be, certain things help urge her along, including regular NaNoWriMo pep talks, which are disseminated to WriMoers every few days.

Other motivations for Watson include public radio personality Ira Glass, and advice that extends well beyond the realm of fiction-writing:

“This is just today, tomorrow will in all likelihood be different.”

WriMoers now have 14 days to finish their novels, or reach the 50,000-word mark. (NaNoWriMo official rules make it explicitly clear this cannot be the same word repeated 50,000 times.)

—Alissa Fleck 

Mark Phair

NaNoWriMo, which describes its rigorous program as “Thirty Days and Thirty Nights of Literary Abandon,” may sound like a carefree, hallucinogenic-fueled retreat for the literarily ambitious, but the group has more of a take-no-prisoners approach.  

Mark Phair is a software developer and new father in Seattle, who dreams of days spent splitting his time between his programming day job and his love of writing, filmmaking and podcasting.

Molly Watson, also Seattle-based, is a website designer who hopes to someday be published and make a career of telling stories.

While Phair has a longstanding love of writing — he wrote his first short story in the third grade — he has amassed extensive training for a full-time software job he enjoys, and acknowledges his dream, while ideal, is not currently feasible.

That’s why Phair participates in NaNoWriMo, or November’s National Novel Writing Month, the annual, month-long program for writers and non-writers from every walk of life, and all over the world, who want to try their hand at writing a rapid-fire novel. For some, the fast pace and quantity over quality attitude is just the motivation they need.

Watson, currently unemployed, decided this was the year for her to give NaNoWriMo a shot as well.

“I’m looking for full-time employment,” she said. “Adding a positive activity like writing every day helps break-up the daily grind of writing cover letters and scouring the wastes of Craigslist.”

Of the 36,843 participants who produced the requisite respective 50,000 words last year by the November 30 deadline, the organization’s website explains: “They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.” Beyond the minimum word count, NaNoWriMo does not have too many requirements of its writers, and aims to make the process as fun and communal as possible.

NaNoWriMo is far from easy though. Phair says he’s attempted it already four or five times, resulting in several unfinished novels. He also describes the difficulty in balancing his life during the writing process, learning to get over the guilt associated with not writing. Even in responding to my interview questions, Phair confessed: “I can’t help but feel like I should be writing right now.”

Watson echoed the difficulty for an amateur writer in striking a balance. “I did a few warm-up days,” she explained. “Each time I’d sit down to write and feel instantly blank. I kept remembering the 40 or 50 other things that I just HAD to do. I’d type out the first sentence, and flee to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr for distraction.”

She also worries it may be too late to live out her dream. “I’m far too old (29) to start being a writer now anyway, so what’s the

Molly Watson

point?” said Watson.

Despite the setbacks, Watson describes breakthroughs in the process as well: “You have an inkling that maybe what you’re writing isn’t the greatest thing ever, or is quite possibly the worst thing ever, but you don’t really care, because it’s just so much FUN.”

Organizers encourage writers — everywhere from Kenya to Tuscaloosa — to meet with other “wrimos” in their area and bond over the often-laborious writing process.

“That’s one of the truly unique things about NaNoWriMo,” said Watson. “There’s such a sense of community and belonging.”

Phair’s writing community consists of colleagues he’s convinced to write with him over their work hour at lunch. With them, he tosses around lines and ideas from his novel — his current story most closely resembles the Illuminatis trilogy, which he calls his favorite read.

It’s what Phair describes as “zany conspiracy with a (un?)healthy dose of parody and satire.”

Phair may not quit his day job and become a professional writer any time soon, but in the meantime, he finds ways to fuse his love of writing with his knack for technology.

“I’m such a geek that I often write programs to support my writing,” explained Phair. “This year, so far, I’ve written a program to help me keep track of (inside the frame of the story) how many days until the apocalypse. The biggest number it’s needed to spit out so far is 723,077.”

And, it’s worth mentioning, you don’t just have to be a Seattle tech-person to find your literary stride with NaNoWriMo.

—Alissa Fleck