Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Countdown to NaNoWriMo - 17 Days

It is that time again, boys and girls - NaNoWriMo - the self-imposed punishment instituted to all writers wishing to write a novel in a month. I did it last year (working part-time in the cafeteria in school), I hope to do it this year (working full time in the school).

Actually, it's not a punishment at all. It's a challenge. And this year, it promises to be a real challenge. Last year, it was a challenge. But I did it. My novel had to be at least 50,000 words to 'count'. Mine was 58K and some change.

But don't look for it on book stores anytime soon. It's still in six manila envelopes in my laptop bag-unedited. Well, it's been edited twice...but nothing major. In fact, I let a fellow writer read the first chapter and she suggested that it was in the very elementary stages. I had planned on it being geared towards women, but after thinking about it, I think it might be better geared to the young adult crowd. It needs work to be sure.

But the point is - I wrote it in 30 days. I stuck to something. I set a goal and I reached it. That's a big deal for me.

This year, however, is going to be really interesting. Work. Church. Man Beast. Kiddos. House. Cats.

Excuses.

I'm going to do it...and I'll be sure to check in with y'all regularly to share how I'm doing. To reach my goal, I need to write 6,700 words a day. That sounds like a lot, huh? Well, it is. But how do I explain it? When you get into a groove and lost in a story...it's really quite easy to lose yourself and write 6,700 words. Unfortunately, time is a constraint and while some college students and hard-core writers drop everything for the month of November, I cannot. Nor will I. I'll just do it.

And believe it or not, I'm looking forward to it. NaNoWriMo is an excuse - an excuse to write every day, no matter what. This is what it's all about for me. Writing. No excuses. Doing what I do best decently because I love doing it.

How cool is that?

Until next time...
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6 comments:

  1. I love NaNoWriMo. I love writing. I did it last year. I just saved the thing. I am not going to publish it. But, it was fun.

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  2. Will you be doing it again this year? I think last year's was very therapeutic for you...sometimes, you just gotta get it all out there, ya know?

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  3. Did I not ask you about this last yr? lol--Good Luck, I will be your cheering section.

    PS. Please excuse my self induced drug-cold medicine state..I knew it was Willis. LOLOL

    BLESSINGS

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  4. Yes, you asked me last year. But last year was just too soon to tell...especially right after completing my first NaNo novel :)

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  5. Yep, I am doing it again and I can't wait. This year it is going to be something light heart and fun. And yep last year was VERY therapeutic for me.

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  6. I didn't know you did NaNoWriMo. I only do NaBloPoMo...and that's what really got me into blogging full-time.

    I've never tried to write a novel. Okay, that's not true. I did when I was maybe 10, and a chapter would be about 3 sentences long. It was bad. It took me forever to come up with one's page of writing!

    I think I would like to write a novel at some point, or at least a book of some sort. But it'll have to wait until school is out. Maybe in the spring? Who knows. I'm afraid what I write will not measure up even the slightest bit to my standards for what I read.

    But anyway, good for you for setting a goal and working to achieve it! Writing is such a great exercise. I love blogging so, so much, and one of the main reasons is getting to write...and for people to read what I write.

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