So I realized the other day that I missed my one-year blog anniversary back in August. (Wow, I've had this thing for over a year?!) Anywho...
*throws confetti into the air* Happy Belated Blog-versary to me! *sweeps up confetti* Okay, I'm done now...back to my post!
November is right around the corner and do you know what that means? It's time for NaNoWriMo! Yay!
For those that don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's a month-long "contest" to push yourself to write a 50,000 word "novel". It starts November 1st at 12:00 AM and ends November 30 at 11:59 PM. You can write at your own pace and use whatever software or "writing means" you want, but you have to keep the official count on the NaNoWriMo site. Tons of people around the world participate, and there are different events you can go to locally to meet fellow participants and write.
Now I know that you can write anytime you want and can set your own writing goals anytime of the year, but I just find something soecial about NaNoWriMo. There's the support from other participants and the "drive" of reaching the 50K goal. Of course, those 50,000 words will probably not equal a full novel, lots of it will be junk, and you'll have a lot of editing to do if you wish to pursue the idea. But you will have something to work with and the knowledge that you wrote it! Sometimes the hardest part of writing is the blank page or screen staring back at us. Once you have the idea and start to fill out the idea, the words come a little bit easier and you're not as scared. Plus editing and revising can create new ideas you might never than thought of.
Last year was my first year to participate and I only made it to a little less than 35,000 words. But I was thrilled! I didn't even think I would write that much. But I did! And while my story idea was nowhere close to being done, it was a lot further than when November 2010 started. (Read a few of my NaNoWriMo posts from last year: here and here.) And while this year I'm more prepared for the NaNo "mindset" having already done it once before, I'm not prepared in what I'm going to write.
Last year I had an idea that I had been outlining, making character and scene notes for, and having a whole history/landscape/world created for it. This year...I have no clue what to work on. Should I take the short stories I'm creating for REN3 and turn them into a full story? Should I work on another alternate world fantasy story I have a vague idea for? Should I create a world and story for a character I created in one of my writing exercises? Or should I just make something up at the last minute? *winces* Anyone? *shrugs* I'm sure I'll figure something out in the next week or so...at least I hope so!
Is there anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo this year? (My username is May-Day_Aura by the way if you want to friend me.) Or maybe you have participated in years passed?
~Namárië
(Elvish Farewell)
I am doing NaNo, too, again. My user-name is "Treelight" there, but I think the friend-option is no yet active.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you ... anybody can write when and how much they want. Not everybody is brave enough to face NaNo :)
By the way ... I'd say, use the idea for which you have the most stuff. At least, I find it very helpful to know a beginning, a vague middle and a good end.
Thanks for the comment, Treelight! Once the friend option is available, I'll find you on the site. =)
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