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NaFaDoYBIMSCoM

2023-11-07 · letter vlog · John · 4:28 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore, timely hook

During NaNoWriMo, John re-introduces his alternative, NaFaDoYBIMSCoM, describes his inefficient write-and-delete process in which writing is already rewriting, reveals he is revising something he is not ready to call a book, and argues that artificial deadlines help because most meaning is constructed.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — NaNoWriMo and John's inability to keep a 2,000-word daily pace

  • ★★ John explains that every November thousands of people worldwide take part in NaNoWriMo, writing a 50,000-word novel in a month by writing daily without worrying about getting it right. — 00:00:00
  • ★ John says he has written 2,000 words in a day but has never managed that 25 days in a row. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — The tuberculosis writing project and a failed November novel; his write-and-delete process; a sneeze

  • ★★ John says that when he started writing about tuberculosis a few years ago he expected a small, straightforward project with no risk of a movie adaptation; it has not been small, because tuberculosis is not a simple concept. (playful) — 00:00:29 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John says what he is writing is not only about tuberculosis but about how tuberculosis is a form and expression of injustice. — 00:00:29 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ Three years later John has still not finished the tuberculosis writing. — 00:00:58 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ A couple of years ago John wrote 2,000 words of a new story on November 1 and thought 30 straight days of that would give him a 60,000-word novel, but by the fifth day he saw many problems in what he had written on the first two days. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ John describes how he writes: writing and deleting over and over builds layers that eventually become something he is happy with, so writing and revising are inextricable for him. — 00:00:58

00:01:45 — Writing as rewriting; NaFaDoYBIMSCoM's origin and the drafts of Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars

  • ★★★ John says even the initial act of writing is a kind of rewriting for him, because he turns ideas that exist in nebulous forms in his head into language. — 00:01:45
  • ★★ John says his way of writing is wildly inefficient and he thinks he just has to live with it. — 00:01:45

  • ★★★ John recalls creating, at the dawn of Vlogbrothers in 2007, an alternative to NaNoWriMo: NaFaDoYBIMSCoM, National Finish a Draft of Your Book I Mean Seriously Come On Month. — 00:02:14 · NAFADOYBIMSCOM, Vlogbrothers

    “National Finish a Draft of Your Book I Mean Seriously Come On Month”

  • ★★ John completed a draft of The Fault in Our Stars in mid-December 2010 after attempting NaFaDoYBIMSCoM. — 00:02:14 · The Fault in Our Stars, NAFADOYBIMSCOM

  • ★★ John completed a draft of Paper Towns in November 2007 during his first NaFaDoYBIMSCoM. — 00:02:14 · Paper Towns, NAFADOYBIMSCOM

00:02:44 — Why he stopped talking about his writing; trying to finish something in November 2023

  • ★★ John used to be open about his writing process, but after The Fault in Our Stars he felt he couldn't be, even on Vlogbrothers: people pressured him and guessed release seasons, with implications for a publicly traded corporation. — 00:02:44 · The Fault in Our Stars, Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ John says he now feels he can talk about it: he is trying to finish something he is not quite ready to call a book, doing NaFaDoYBIMSCoM in November 2023. — 00:02:44 · NAFADOYBIMSCOM

00:03:13 — Revision month, depression and anxiety, artificial deadlines and constructed meaning; sign-off

  • ★★ John admits he has already finished a draft, so this is really a finish-a-revision month. (playful) — 00:03:13 · NAFADOYBIMSCOM
  • ★★ John says the writing is going terribly so far because he is a smidge depressed and anxious at the moment. — 00:03:13
  • ★ John hopes that revealing his plan will jumpstart its execution. (hedged) — 00:03:13
  • ★★★ John says that over 20 years of writing stories, setting artificial deadlines and pretending they are real has been extremely helpful to him. — 00:03:13
  • ★★★ John argues that almost every form of meaning is constructed: we convince ourselves and each other that things matter because that is how we get things done together. — 00:03:13 · social construction
  • ★★ John says he needs to convince himself that his revision is due at the end of November 2023. — 00:03:42

00:04:10 — Outtake: a voice teases the 'smidge depressed' line while still recording

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description points TB fighters to a New York Times piece that references the brothers' work and progress against tuberculosis, and how far there is to go. — video description · The New York Times, tuberculosis
  • ★ In a later channel comment, John says he thought about cutting the video to four minutes but concluded it would have made it worse. — creator comment · Four-minute rule

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: NAFADOYBIMSCOM · National Novel Writing Month

Also: anxiety disorder · depression · film adaptation · Paper Towns · sneeze · social construction · The Fault in Our Stars · tuberculosis

Only in the description or credits: Four-minute rule · The New York Times

Also centred on National Novel Writing Month: NaNoWriMo!!!

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