22 October 2009 – Pop of Pink, originally uploaded by academichic.Sources:
Black cropped jacket – thrifted, remixed
Striped top – J.Crew, remixed
Black skirt – ON, thrifted, remixed
Pink tights – my mom’s from the 80s
Boots – Banana Republic, remixed
Endnotes:
This week, while perusing the blogosphere, I found out about NaNoWriMo on Madame Owl’s site. For those of you who, like me, have never heard of this before, it’s National Novel Writing Month. Except that it’s quite international and participants from all over the world join the fun (or madness – depending on how you look at it). The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.
Well, as if writing a dissertation wasn’t enough, I decided rather impulsively (this is a pattern for me) to sign myself up! But I have good (to me) reasons for this:
As an academic, I am NEVER told: “Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing.” This from the official NaNoWriMo website. Also from the project’s ‘rules’: “Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality.”
I have been shamelessly seduced by the idea of writing something for the sake of quantity and mass output at a time in my life when every word is weighed and scrutinized and quality and succinct writing is key. (Here I’m referring to my dissertation proposal, over which I have been laboring since this summer, and which can be described as the antithesis to the NaNoWriMo project).
I have also decided to embark on this writing marathon, because I liked what writer and blogger Andrea wrote about this process: “One of Nanowrimo’s many benefits is that it prepares you for a steady, productive writing life, and reinforces the fact that doing some writing every day will eventually produce a novel.” I like to think that this steady daily writing will also reinforce the fact that someday I will produce a dissertation.
I am also curious to see how simultaneously working on a work of fiction and one of fact, research, and theory will influence either writing process and whether I can come out sane at the end of the month. Who knows? Maybe I’ll discover a hidden passion or I will be damn glad to return to “just” my dissertation when November is over. And whatever happens, no one has to see this “novel” but myself, there is no NaNoWriMo reading committee waiting at the end, no degree riding on this, and no hope of tenure or a decent job attached to the pressure. Sounds like a cinch.
I will not be blogging about this here or disclosing my story, but I wanted to let you know about this because it will surely affect my state of mind over the next month and might even be reflected in my outfits (what’s a go-to crazy writer uniform?) I am also hoping that I might entice some of you to be impulsive and to join me on this crazy journey…right…are you with me….? Let’s Go NaNoWriMo!
Proportions, originally uploaded by academichic.And a last note on today’s outfit – it was an exercise in proportions as well as in colors. One of my favorite color combinations is neutrals with a pop, especially a pop of pink! And whenever I wear this swingy cropped jacket, I look to pair it with a more fitted and structured bottom section. I also only recently came around to wearing cropped jackets since I am short-waisted and thought they would stump my torso even more. I have discovered, however, that cropped jackets work for us short-waisted ladies as well when worn with a longer – elongating! – top underneath. If the underneath layer hits about mid-hip, it created the illusion of a longer waist, allowing the cropped jacket to indeed appear cropped. Sounds simple, right? S.
Ok, now once more, let’s go NaNoWriMo! S.
Pink!, originally uploaded by academichic.
I’ve known about NaNoWriMo for several years, but I never have tried it. I think you just inspired me. It never occurred to me that just going through the process would be a great way to get into the writing habit. I write all day for work, but always wait for the “right time” for creative writing.
Love the pink, too!
What have you gotten yourself into?
Good luck, see you on the other side.
What a gorgeous outfit! I really like it, especially the coloured tights.
I admire you for tackling NaNoWriMo, lady. I could NEVER.
I have never heard of NaNoWriMo but I went to the website and got excited about the possibility and I just signed up!! Thanks for telling me about it!!
Yay, AJ!! Another impulsive newbie like me! :)
Priscilla, I hope you also decide that this is THE year for you to take the plunge!
S
I’m not doing NaNo this year because we’re moving, but it’s a lot of fun! I’ve done it several years when I didn’t “win” (i.e. get to 50k words) but last year I did and I was so proud! Good luck! I highly recommend sitting down with a laptop in a random place and churning out your daily quota… good times.
Yipee! So happy to hear you’re also doing Nanowrimo!
Like yours, my current writing projects are nonfiction, and I almost always write short pieces, which means that each and every word is important. It’s all about quality and not quantity.
So, also like you, I’m doing Nanowrimo because I feel like my creative brain needs a big old stretch. It’s why I’m also writing a fictional piece for the project. I hope to end November feeling re-energized and lighthearted about writing first drafts. If I have any decent moments among those 50,000 words, that’ll be a huge bonus!
I’m excited about it and so glad you’re doing it too!
And I meant to say that I LOVE the pink tights! It makes me love them even more when I read that they were your mom’s in the 80s. That’s just too awesome!
Great pop of pink. I did NaNoWriMo last year for the first time and loved it. I will be signing up again.
Cool! I wish you a lot of motivation and a lot of words! NaNoWriMo is definitely doable. So if you just want it enough it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Also going to attempt NaNoWriMo, but my perpetually undergraduate style (even though I’m three years out of school) will make it look like I’m just another junior cramming for finals at the Starbucks. :P
i had signed up last year for nanowrimo, but didn’t write a word. i’m hoping this year i’ll actually be successful in writing a “novel” – something i’ve wanted to do for awhile, but haven’t had the right motivation to do so.
I was actually told my very fancy dissertation advisor that the key to writing well (in academics) was to in fact, ““You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing.” Mostly because we academics are often crippled by our very very high standards and perfectionism, to the point where it is difficult to get stuff on the page. I wrote by dissertation (with some interruptions) by sitting down and writing about 1000 words everyday, going out to do errands/work out, then coming back and doing research, editing, etc. I finished the dang thing in about 18 months, while teaching and looking for jobs. It was far from perfect, but dissertations always are. Quantity matters in research too! Good luck (with the novel and diss).
I’ve been thinking really seriously about doing the Nanowrimo thing too. It totally freaks me out, but I think that’s what attracts me to it. I’m both terrified and excited. Good luck!
This sounds exciting! Best of luck to you!
I just found out about Nanowrimo this year, and I am so excited to be doing it! It’s really caught on in the blogging world, though.
Thanks for the great encouraging comments, everyone! And to those of you joining in, welcome to the club! I’m excited to have all of you as online writing buddies!
S
I love that you got all of those cool tights from your mom! What a great way to mix in some colors and keep outfits interesting. The pink is perfect with this outfit!
Good luck with the writing too. Sounds like it could be fun!
Hey, thanks for visiting my blog, I’m excited about NaNoWriMo too and happy I shared the link (I saw it first on Andrea’s page and need to go sign up for her subgroup now).
Comparing the project with writing your dissertation hit home for me… once I hunkered down and started writing my thesis it look about a month (not including the revisions later), so I was all, hey I can do 50,000 words in a month no problem. BUT then I pulled up a Word copy of my thesis and while it verged on 135 pages it was only like 28,000 words. Ack!
However I totally agree about how freeing the “quantity vs quality” rule is… will be fun to write “crap” and not have to reference and cite anything!
I love NaNoWriMo! I’ve never finished what I started, though. Maybe I should try again this year…
Love the tights, btw. =)
Oh, sorry, I meant to say this before, but Good Luck!!
Thanks for the tip of how to wear cropped jackets. I too, am short-waisted and while I have a few of these jackets in my closet, I rarely wore them. Now I can! Why didn’t I figure out the body-elongating secret? Thanks again!
I have about 75% decided to do NaNoWriMo. I had heard of it before, but never considering doing it before you suggested it. I like the idea of establishing the habits for a lifetime of writing. I am scared about the “novel” part though. I am not even much of a novel reader, and I really have no idea what my novel should be about. But that is the whole appeal: to write when I am not over-invested in the quality of the outcome. It should be interesting…
[...] This exuberance in her wardrobe is also very reflective of S. as a person. She is a consummate and committed scholar, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously. Instead, she has an infectious passion for every challenge that she takes on, whether it’s exploring vélocouture or writing a novel. [...]