School...gets in the way of education

[Sora]

So, I see a lot of people complaining about how NaNoWriMo is impossible for them, due to school. And here's what I have to say: mind you, this is directed to myself as well, because I fall victim to the same scourge.

 

Why are we doing homework/schoolwork/studying instead of NaNoWriMo? Okay, okay, you've got to pass high school and get into a college and all that. But. If you don't write now, when are you going to write? When are you going to have less of a workload? When you go to high school? When you go to college? When you get - gasp - a real job in the real world? If you really care about writing...you'll be writing every day. So hypocritical of me to say that, but so true.

 

School is really good at making people lose track of their priorities. The title of this post? Comes from a Mark Twain quote: I try not to my schooling get in the way of my education. Now, there are definitely some classes that you're learning things in, that you have to pay attention to and do the work for. And you shouldn't disrespect your teachers by writing under the desk or something...but you need to start putting your writing on the top of your priority list, instead of just something to squeeze in between worksheets.

 

Do you ride the bus in the morning? Write. Do you have some spare time at lunch? Write. Writing is not just your homework or your schoolwork...it's part of your lifework. Make time for it. Or you're going to wake up one day and find out that you can't call yourself a writer anymore...because what kind of writer doesn't write?

 

Oh, did you read this far? You should have been WRITING. Jeez.

[Chelsie Olivia]

You have a lot of valid points, and I agree with you.

Unfortunately, a lot of us are so deeply into our routines of not-writing that we just...don't.

I set myself two hours a day of writing time.

Where I absolutely cannot do anything but write. Even if I end up not liking what I wrote, at least I did something. AP classes be damned.

[Grace Elizabeth Chevalier]

That was really inspirational. The thing is, you're right and I'm really glad that you are, because I defenatly fall in the category of people who don't write as much as they should. However, the only reason I fall into that category is because I am also very passionate about reading. Anyways . . . . Hopelesswritr, I like your comment about "AP classes be damned." I agree. And not because I hate the content (I love world history; i'll save hating the content for US History) but because of the crazy workload.

 

 

However, I feel like if I could just drop science and math now instead of in 1.5 years, I would have ample time for doing it all; even compensating for my French teacher's awful teaching abilities.

 

Sorry to write a novel. It's what I love to do ;)

[Nicky]

I always blow off homework for NaNo and somehow get away with it. The trick is to be the perfect student all year so when you flake for month your teachers still love you and don't bother you. Most people call being nice to the teacher nerdy. I call it polite and an investment and maybe just a little devious

[Grace Elizabeth Chevalier]

Like.

[Nicky]

This is where everyone I know says "She NEEDS to get her priorities straight!"

[Grace Elizabeth Chevalier]

Haha! Personally, I think you've got 'em straight. Why waste time doing what you'd rather not be doing when there's something better do do?

[Nicky]

That thinking gets me into trouble but I TOTALLY agree.

[Kurtis Millette]

You can't possibly write a good novel in a month anyway. Maybe a very rough draft, but a month is not enough for me. Maybe 3.

[Nicky]

That's the point. It's meant to be bad. It's meant to be a first draft. That's part of why its so much fun, because you can enjoy writing badly instead of feeling bad that your writing isn't good. It sounds weird, but it's actually a lot of fun

[Kurtis Millette]

Meh... I guess I'll try it next year with some of the ideas I have. List of 30 book ideas here and 10 of them are in the BS stage at the moment.

[Nicky]

It's always worth a go :)

[Amy Zukas]

haha please... me do homework instead of NaNo? never! haha but no, really, I use this excuse everytime. The first year I did NaNo i started late, completely forgot about homework, and I almost made it!!! but I didn't and haven't been able to since because I'm a senior and yes High School's important... So although I agree with this post, I only agree to some extent, because people should pass high school.

On that note, Camp NaNoWriMo is in July and August so those who have school should try and do those! because not only does it NOT interfere with your future and Academia but it also occurs when you have VIRTUALLY NOTHING going on!! So you should check it out.