NaNoWriMo

Well, it's November and that means one thing, National Novel Writing Month, better know as NaNoWriMo, or NaNo. For some it is a hectic month of a frenzy of wordage in order to have a silly little badge to display on your blog and website. Many think it's impossible to write a book in a month, but there is also a site that touts a Book in a Week. In the end, if you really sit down and ponder the concept some, you see that the real agenda is to get you to write dirty, to leave your inner critic in the dust and just put pen to paper/fingers to keyboard and write.

It helps you get in the habit of meeting daily writing goals. I have definitely been lax about writing every day. I write in spurts. But I can see that writing is like a muscle, the more you use it and exercise it, the more apt it will carry you when you need it. I recently read that the main reason for failure is the inability to take consistent action. If it takes 21 days to form a habit, then NaNo is perfect for creating a worthwhile habit.

I sincerely hope that this is true. I am the first to admit, I am skeptical. I've done and won NaNo in the past. Those projects still sit in a folder, unedited and unrevised, deemed too craptacular for public consumption. In the end, this will be a difficult task for me to overcome. One, I am riddled with self-doubt. My inner critic absolutely shreds me for every word I write. I get great ideas and think "Oh this is 'the one" and then he'll start to nit pick it til I can hardly stand to do anything more than wish about writing. The second and probably the hardest to overcome is my ADHD. It is hard for me to stick with any one project for any real length of time.

So, here I stand on the first day of NaNo and I'm one chapter in and so far feel pretty confident. For me, I have added that I must send my work to another person for verification. This hopefully will guilt/shame me into sticking with it until the end.

I do know that I need to sit down and do some plotting and character charting. I am not sure if this story will have some romantic elements or stay as a mystery thriller. I am reminded of an interview with R.L. Stine. He said that if you can figure out how the story ends first the rest will fall into place. I'm not sure if that is really true, but I am going to give it a try.

Wishing all the best of luck with your own projects, whether you were crazy enough to sign up for NaNo or not.

~Marguerite (Mags)