Skeletons, monsters, and vampires? Child's play! Ya know what has me scared to death this Halloween? The fact that NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow!
For those that don't know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It's a mad dash to the finish line of 50,000 words in 30 days. Winners are on the honor system and their only prize the simple satisfaction of having reached the end.
For the past three years I've tried to try. Every year I've meant to take a stab at this madness, every year I've failed. I do in fact have a "story" I'd like to start writing. Debate rages online as to whether it's cheating to start with an idea already in mind or if you must begin with a truly blank slate. In my case I don't really care. I just gotta get words on the page already.
So this year I planned ahead, I cleared my schedule and worked overtime to get things done so that I can condense the majority of my creative juices into sweet literary nectar. Of course I still volunteered to have Thanksgiving at our house. Lapse in judgement to say the least. These people are gonna have to be happy with stuffing from a box. Side note - I'm sure I'm not the only person who upon realizing that NaNoWriMo takes place in November, knew without a doubt, that the person who came up with this idea was not a mom.
Today I'm working like a mad woman to get any last minute things out of the way. November will be devoted to NaNoWriMo, an illustration project I have, and Thanksgiving. The only reason I'll manage to participate this year is because we moved from the east coast to Texas last year. I cannot begin to imagine attempting NaNoWriMo in the midst of Hurricane Sandy fallout.
But listen, let's just resolve that we are in this together. If you are trying to try (there is no try!) NaNoWriMo this year, then join us, the GeekMoms as we share with you our goals, tips, hopes, and fears for the next "thirty days and nights of literary abandon!"
I don't know how many of us will still be standing on the flip side. Heck I'm not even sure how many GeekMoms are attempting NaNoWriMo this year. When I polled our group the show of hands was, shall we say, tentative.
So join in, drop out, pop in again. Let's make this low stress. We'll be checking in with you at the beginning and end of every week this month. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
Here's where the GeekMoms stand now:
Brigid - My goal is to get an outline finished for my story at a minimum. My fantasy goal is to finish an epic three book series. Heh, we'll see about that. But even if I don't hit 50,000, if I get an outline out of this month I'll feel like a winner. My family has been warned that interruptions while writing will result in painful and creative retribution. There is also a list of chores. Add me as a NaNoWriMo buddy.
Mandy - The first year I did NaNoWriMo was 2005 and that was the only year I won. I actually didn't finish the novel I was writing that year but I did reach the 50,000 words. I've tried every year since but haven’t managed to reach that 50K mark. Even though I have a history of not winning, I still enjoy trying every year. My advice is to stay on track with trying to get at least 2500 words a day. If you fall behind, it’s very hard to get caught up. That’s what I’ll be trying to do again this year. My goal is to actually win this year and I think I have a good shot. Right now, I haven’t fully figured out what I’ll be writing but I think will be in the fantasy genre.
Sophie - This will be my second year attempting NaNoWriMo, although my previous attempt in 2011 was something of a bust as I only completed a shade over 7,000 words before realizing I wasn’t entirely sure where my novel was going. This year I have a new project in mind, a non-fiction piece I’m keeping close to my chest but which is going by the codename “Apples” (no, it’s not a cookbook). I’ve worked out chapters in advance and set out a basic plan of attack, so overall I’m feeling more prepared.
The biggest hurdle that I foresee for myself is research; that takes time but is vital with a non-fiction manuscript so it’s a necessary time killer. Of course having a toddler at home is also going to eat into my writing time, but with school in for most of the month hopefully I can find a balance between work, childcare, NaNo, and actually spending some time with my husband.
This year I also have a new weapon in my personal war on words: my iPad. My back doesn’t always allow for extended writing session in my office but the iPad and Bluetooth keyboard means I can switch out and continue writing downstairs on a big, squishy sofa. That also gives me a regular change of scenery which might be just what I need. I’m looking forward to getting a good number of words down this November but I’m not going to be beating myself up if I don’t make the big 5-0 by the time December gets here; there’s more to life than NaNo. I’ll be keeping my word count up-to-date on the NaNo site and if you’d like to add me as a writing buddy then please feel free to do so.
