NaNoWriMo

I first heard about NaNoWriMo after it happened last year. I thought it was an interesting idea, but that I probably would never have the time to do it. <chuckle>

So, basically, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. Over the years it has become much more than a national event, with people writing in many languages, and towns across the world challenging each other to the highest word count. You’re given from the 1st to the 30th of November to write a novel consisting of 50,000 words. If you submit your work by the end of the contest/month deadline and meet the word count, you win!

I read a blog post yesterday reminding me about it and thought, “you’ve been throwing around the idea of writing a book, so why not use this as a way to get it started?” That thought was then followed by much fear and self-doubt. I told Jim about the “contest” followed by how I’d like to be in a more settled and balanced place before committing to something like that. He laughed replying, “If everyone waited to feel ‘ready’ and have all the perfect conditions, nothing would ever get accomplished.” He totally cut through excuses.

So I’ve registered. You can too, here. The idea is not to have a polished, finished product. I hope not to worry about editing, but rather meeting the word count, which works out to about 1,667 words a day. (Holy cow, what have I gotten myself into?!) I have never been very confident about my writing, as I was always more of a math and science person. I’ll strive to “win,” but even if I don’t, I’ll have written more than if I hadn’t committed to writing at all, and I’ll have had the experience of trying!

So I’m not allowed to start writing until the 1st, but I am allowed to start organizing and planning my plot, setting, characters, themes, etc. Having very little creative writing education, I’m researching and learning a lot! Please send vibes and thoughts of creativity and balance! And if you decide to participate or know someone who is, please let me know! Having a sense of community always helps!