NaNoWriMo: Have I gone insane?

Hello friends.

We’re approaching the chilly month of November. I love November. My birthday falls in November, and then there’s Thanksgiving, the most delicious, most indulgent holiday.

There’s another thing that makes this November special: I’m going to participate in National Novel Writing Month, often abbreviated to NaNoWriMo.

That just means I signed up (for free) on the NaNoWriMo website to get encouragement and support from other participants. There are “Write-Ins” and other meetups around town during November, and I plan to hit the NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words in the 30 days of November.

I have no plan in place, no outline for a novel. I’ve been writing consistently using 750words.com, and I can feel how that warms me up and thaws something inside me. The more words I type (let’s be serious, I’m not writing long-hand here), the easier the words come. I’ve thought about participating in this challenge for the past few years, and I’ve never been brave enough (crazy enough?) to try it. This year, I’m saying F*CK IT, I’m going for it.

I told my husband, reluctantly (because I’m pretty freakin’ nervous), and he said, “Good. It’s probably going to be bad, and no one has to read it.”

What pressure lifted off of me! That’s what all the advice I’ve been reading says: first drafts aren’t perfect, they need lots of rewriting and attention later. No one has to read those first drafts. But when Mark said it, I was like, DUH. He’s right.

PHEW!

So now I’m gearing up for the longer word counts by trying to hit 1,667 words daily on 750words.com. If I can average 1,667, I will hit 50K by November 30. The plan, though, is to write as many words as possible early in the month, so when my birthday and Thanksgiving roll around I can take a day or two off from the grind of dancing fingers across the keyboard.

Anyone else out there participating? I’d like to connect with a writing buddy.