Road Trip to NaNo: Risking It All for Writing

NaNoWriMo is an international event, and we’re taking a Road Trip to NaNo to hear about the stories being written every year in our hundreds of participating regions. Today, Quidec Pacheco, our Municipal Liaison in the Mexico :: North region urges you to stay true to the reasons you write: 

This is Mexico: land of the bittersweet. In the north of the country, every day is a question: Should I stay here? Where is my life going? Will this business work? Since we live in the driest part of our land, it’s common to have doubts and double-takes about every endeavor—and writing is no exception.

I live in Monterrey—the industrial capital of Mexico—where the general population believes, for the most part, that income should always be spent on useful things first, not art.

Artists are scarce, and have a hard time pursuing their craft, so the very few ones I have had the chance to meet are resolved to risk everything for their letters. 

But pushing through this adversity only makes writing here more true to the spirit of its writers. Writing has proven itself to be useful—not only to the readers, but to the artists, too. Finding a way to speak about the questions that haunt us clears the clouds and shines some reason upon us. 

“We are survivors of the north. Explorers of the unknown. Doers against the odds. But then, isn’t that what all writers are?”

That’s the process I’ve seen during our write-ins and get-togethers: questioning our characters, plot, theme, and the quality of our own writing. In every workshop and write-in I have directed, my goal is always to produce something: to bear fruit, vomit, or anything else that will help a writer through the process of letting their fear go. The pressure a brand-new writer brings with them is overwhelming—their need to make a masterpiece with the first stroke breaks my heart every time—but someone has to tell them that it is okay to be bad (especially with a first draft). Too much doubt leaves you stranded in a literary desert.

Ray Bradbury said, “You can’t write 52 bad stories in a row”. In writing, quantity is a path to quality. Expect people to tell you you’re not good enough; today you may not be, but hard work will lead to self-knowledge of your own capabilities. You will never know if you can write noir, or steampunk, or limericks if you don’t try.

Living in this city has taught me to be cautious, to plan ahead, and to always have a backup. Writing with others in my city has taught me to risk it all, work hard, and grow a thicker skin. At the end, I think they are the two sides of the people here, sides that are revealed when we face our fears, and exchange doubt for bravery. We are survivors of the north. Explorers of the unknown. Doers against the odds. But then, isn’t that what all writers are?

NaNoWriMo in Mexico :: North

Quidec Pacheco is a Co-ML for the North of Mexico with Paola Parra. He writes short stories and comics, mostly sci-fi and adventure. He works as a copy editor at Fixión Narradores, a comic book publishing house in Mexico; gives the occasional writing workshop; and travels to municipalities of his state, doing courses on personal development. Likes food. Dislikes cats. Doesn’t know how to feel about My Little Pony.

Top photo taken by Flickr user Jon Gosier