Monday 15 October 2012

Oh No NaNoWriMo!


November is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo.


The idea is a simple one - basically you write a novel in a month.

1670 words a day, producing 50,000 words in just 30 days.

50,000 words of a draft novel, no editing allowed, you just keep your head down and write.

Sounds mad? Absolutely.

BUT I have signed up. I am the girl that jumps in with both feet remember and then considers the consequences at a later date!

I am not alone in this adventure, according to the title this is national but it’s more like international. I have teamed up with others all over the UK and beyond. We are in this together; some of us NaNo virgins and others who have taken part before and are willing to do it again – so it can’t be that bad then can it?

A year ago I had never even heard of NaNoWriMo.

A year ago I was coming to the end of my first year without Andrew and preparing to face the anniversary of his death and planning his 50th birthday that we would celebrate without him.

November is not a great month for me emotionally so why put myself through something that could have me tearing my hair out well before the end?

Party because it should be a good distraction, something to stop me becoming maudlin or dwelling on my loss.

Also I desperately want to write a novel. (I have a good idea, at least I think so, I will share that with you another day.) I have wanted to write a novel for a long time and I once heard it said that when you actually write one you are way ahead of all the people who just SAY they want to write.

There will never be a perfect time to write, life always gets in the way and I am a great procrastinator.

In some ways this is a test to see if I can actually write enough words to form a first draft.  So much of the past few months have been taken up writing flash fiction, very short stories, can I actually write something with more than 500 words? Can I develop a story to novel length?

I’ve always said I would love to turn “unravelling-edges” into a book but it is hard plunging back into those raw emotions of early grief. The material is all there so maybe one day it will be more than a blog.

For now I am looking forward beyond my grief and pushing myself with the NaNoWriMo challenge.

Only time will tell if I make it but with the support and encouragement of the new friends I have made I am already winning!

5 comments:

  1. I'm sure you'll give it a good go, and I can always give you a nudge if needed :) nicking the NaNo pic btw, looks great hehe

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good luck: I wish I had your self-discipline! I just can't seem to generate so many words, so quickly. Sticking to the 'slowly but surely' approach.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You'll make it Sarah! I never thought I could write one...then I tried. You'll be so happy when you've done it, and it'll be a fantastic achievement. My first novel, written over ten years ago, was okay, but I've been rewriting it over the years and it's resembling something much better. Then last year I wrote a stand alone book, and put it on Kindle, couldn't believe I'd actually done it and people liked it! Now for NaNo...I'm going for a novel using characters from my last one...not so stand alone after all!
    Go for it and enjoy it, you've got us all cheering you on!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good luck Sarah.
    I did NaNoWriMo for the first time last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mind you I spent more time being distracted by the various forums than actually writing.
    I'm having another go this year and if you're looking for any 'writing buddies' you'll find me at mjshorts
    Have a great time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Still haven't figured out how to add buddies, trying NOT to get drawn into all the forums or even the admin side of NaNo, will have to figure out how to add my writing at some point to tally up my word count. You can find me at "reravelling" - would be great to have you as a writing buddy!

      Delete