The thing that is NiaD is special and fun and more than a little ‘barking mad jolly hockey sticks.’ It’s whimsical and adorable, and I wouldn’t want it to change one iota.
You can’t do more in the time. Yet I cringe at what I’ve written, and wish for… something . Not sure what. More time? A fuller brief (not enough time for it to make a real difference)? Divine intervention? An editor? A bigger box of Miralax?
Running it again might make it better - certainly different - but how many times? Would we re-run the re-run?
I feel a short story coming on.
Yes the latter really also we all write not really knowing and that is what makes it so good. The books we have done are a work of art a coming together and pressure of one day and it is what it is,
Keeping genres unique is fun and all, but clearly extra in the grand scheme of things – a bravura performance on your part over and above the awesomeness that is NIAD. I think everyone will think that is entirely your call. And, to state the obvious, there is plenty more to explore in every genre – except Westerns (haha, just kidding – I loved that one).
Oh cool. Now I can check to see if my pf-genre calls for each NIAD were on the mark. (Can I get another dining-out bet with my wife out of this? Maybe, maybe.)
I’ve never written any sort of Western-type stuff and would welcome the opportunity; though I suspect I’d go off-piste. Just the opportunity to use spittoon in context is a pull.
As the OP (who also somehow never got a notification that there had been replies. )…
I intended this as a joke, but appreciate @Pigfender taking me seriously.
I made the joke because I am sorely jealous of all those people with more pencil cups than I have. I’ve participated every chance I could since I found out about NiaD, but I really wish I’d found out sooner, because I think it’s a) lots and lots of fun, b) a good writing exercise, and c) a good read - particularly to find out what others wrote on ‘my’ chapters. I enjoy NiaD so much that I promote it where possible, and it’s been part-inspiration for an anthology or two.
That said, a lot of the fun is the uncertainty and the time pressure - exacerbated for me this year by the fact that I’m busy all day tomorrow and will have to write my chapter in just a few hours. Much as I’d like to get those extra pencil cups, I don’t think it would be the same to go back and revisit an older prompt. I’d be disciplined enough not to go back and read others’ approaches first, but the exercise wouldn’t have the same feel of spontaneity and originality to it. I think I’d feel - through no one’s fault - like a second-class participant for not being part of the original group.
In short, I’d love to get those extra cups, but only with a real time machine and participating in real time.
On Rog’s questions:
Is your unease about whether you’d personally enjoy taking part as much, knowing it was a tale already told, or is part of the unease that re-running would diminish the earlier work?
It’s knowing that it was a tale already told. As anyone who’s ever irretrievably lost a first draft knows, it’s never as good the second time around.
What do people think about revisiting genres?
Absolutely fine with that. In fact, I’ve been sorry that some of my favorite genres happened before I started playing. Besides, you’re going to run out at some point. I see no harm at all in revisiting genres, provided the plots don’t overlap.
How much formulation d’ y’ need to write just one chapter?
)…