So although I had to go to the eye doctor this afternoon, I got my NaNo writing done this evening. I wrote 1732 words so am slightly ahead of the daily goal. This is just a progress report.
I’m finding, as I’d hoped, that my story is winding out like a ball of yarn. Since I’ve lived the story and know all the characters, it’s not as challenging a task as creating all characters anew. It’s fun, though, to come up with names and places, and so far-so good.
Otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, November is the month of an online writing challenge in which you write, or attempt to write, 50,000 words. The goal, at the end of November, is to have written the first draft of a novel. After that, editing, revising, proofing, and simply deciding whether I want to do anything with it are my choice. The NaNo website is full of “cheerleaders,” helpful videos, and forums with all kinds of ideas to keep us going. 50,000 words in a month break down to an average of 1667 words per day, and since I just dashed out my first 171 this morning before going to the eye doctor, I have a writing afternoon ahead of me.
Yes, I am going to participate this month, but I will also try to come to 20 Lines and post at least once a day. Note the word try. For today:
A NaNo? What is that? I never heard
of such a thing. Well, listen, every word
counts onward toward your writing goal, so wear
your author hat. Come on. See how you fare!
I haven’t been very present here these days as autumn has proven to be quite a hectic this year. Don’t know that the next few weeks will be any better as I decided to partake in National Novel Writing Month, but I decided to stop by and leave the following poem.
I’m a writer, or so I say.
But I haven’t had very much published to date,
Outside of that which I blog to create
Coherent re-tellings of true life mistakes.
But lately I’ve heard,
From other denizens of Word-
Press say they’re all signed up for NaNoWrimo.
50,000 words in just 30 days.
Just thinking about it puts me in a malaise.
“Oh you just have to join” the WP denizens say.
“And you can add me as a buddy”, well shoot I should say okay.
Reluctant yet curious, I clicked on right over,
To sign myself up for this daunting endeavor.
And now there is just one week to go,
Before I must show
That I can write more than 1,600 words a day.
Right now when I log in,
My profile page looks empty as sin.
The word count meter is currently set to zero.
Which doesn’t make me look like a literary hero.
But somehow, I know I can do it.
If any of you are signed up for NaNoWrimo, do feel free to add me as a buddy. I’m using my WP username, NMNPHX, over on the NaNoWrimo site as well.
Hope to see you there
In answer to one of Bird’s posts I shared some information about NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. Then I thought: Others might be interested in this as well so here are some of the particulars.
NaNo, as it’s often called for short, is an online writing challenge. You challenge yourself to see if you can write 50,000 words during the month of November. It begins at 12:01 am on Nov. 1, and ends at 11:59 pm on Nov. 30. You “win” if you write 50,000 (or more) words. At the end of the month you submit your manuscript by email. NaNo makes everything very easy to do. Along the way NaNo provides you with a lot of rah-rah, hilarious, and energetic support. There are forums where you can look up all manner of information about writing. You might join a local group, meaning you look up your state, city, or general area, and you could meet up with others near you who are also devoting their November to NaNo. I did this, and met some neat people who live very near me. We would get together every Sunday at a Panera Bread, bring our computers, talk, and read the latest portion of our manuscript for comments. It was great fun. Of course we ate too, so that made it that much better!
The point of NaNo is to write quantity to watch your word count grow. There is, by the way, a daily word counter you can use so you always know where you are. A page is provided where you can enter as much or as little about yourself and your book as you want, as well as a graph showing your daily progress. You can also add writing buddies, and there’s an email component should you want to communicate with those writing buddies.
At first it went against my English teacher “grain” to write quantity without paying much attention to quality, but I soon realized that in order to keep up with daily goals (an average of 1667 words per day) I had to do just that. I am so accustomed to editing as I write, but I had to silence that inner editor.
At the end, when I had a completed first draft, that was the time when I began editing. I’ve done NaNo twice, and I have the first one almost completely edited. I need to start that work on the second. I did NaNo for the third time last year, but stopped after 27,000-some words, as the story I was writing turned into another version of one I’d written before!
Although I’m a poet, it’s a fun foray into the world of fiction writing, and I’ve had a ball being the master over my characters, what they did, where they lived, and my favorite part…naming them.
If this whets your appetite, check out NaNoWriMo online for a little taste of what might come five months from now. There is also a student version of NaNo which can be done in the classroom, as well as “Script Frenzy,” a screenwriting version, which is held in April. Just google “nanowrimo” and read around.
I have learned much about myself as a writer from doing NaNo, I’ve interested others in doing it, and I heartily recommend it. The cost? However much time, effort, coffee, chocolate (or whatever) you want to expend in writing, writing, writing toward seeing yourself to your winner’s badge.
Go for it! I’ll be there. So when the snows of November swirl and the skies turn gray, join millions of others around the world who are at their computers or filling yellow legal pads with words. You’ll be in good company.
