NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is a month dedicated to the inner-author in all of us. According to their website, “National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.”
I discovered NaNo last year when a friend mentioned it (Facebook, I think). I found the website and was instantly hooked. I couldn’t wait to get started even though I had no idea what I was doing and it was already 6 days into the month. Actually, that’s no problem. No, really. The director of NaNo wrote a book called, “No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days.” Of course I hadn’t read the book yet (still haven’t) but what the heck-I’ll jump in and try.
After many explanations to The Hubby about what I was doing, several long, hand-cramped nights (I handwrite. Makes me feel more productive.), a few very confused characters, the time line out of whack and the story unfinished…….I only wrote 22,170 words. Very disappointing.
This year, however, I am starting on November 1 and now that I have one year under my belt, I sorta know what to expect. Except for one gigantic problem. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE THIS YEAR!
Last year, I had a book that I started (barely) so since that was the only thing I had going, it was easy to decide what to do. Like I said, that one was left incomplete. Since I had writers block there, I started on a second book. And then stopped. Not due to writer’s block, really, but other things came up. So my question is, Do I go back and finish last year’s NaNo, or do I work on the new novel?
The first book is about a year in the life of a boy, his dog and his best friend as they cope with growing up in rural Nebraska. The boy’s mother is dead and the father is grieving through hoarding. OK–it’s not as dismal as it sounds. Honestly. I even threw a tornado in there for fun!
The second book is about a woman who gets a mysterious postcard in the mail a few days after an unsettling dream she had. The two incidents are related and she ends up taking a job working for Karma. Yes–the “what comes around, goes around” Karma.
I have six days to decide. Argh! I thought I had it figured out but I keep changing my mind.
I encourage everyone to check out the website for NaNoWriMo. You may become inspired to do something you’ve always wanted to do. Read the Forums. Sign up for your Region. Look into where people are getting together to write. There’s even a Young Writers Program for novelists 17 years old and younger. They don’t have to write 50,000 words and can set a word count they feel they can reach.
Good Luck to anyone going for it!
Oct25
