I am more than likely going to kick myself come mid November, but what the hell! Inspired by a few others I know I have decided to take on the NaNoWriMo challenge for the month of November. For those who don't know about NaNo, the National November Writing Month is an international contest where writers young and old are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel (work, story, saga, tale or whatever) in a big blitz during the period of midnight November 1st to November 30th. A 3o day writing blitzkrieg of caffeine infused creativity.
The idea is to challenge yourself. Each day, you post on the site the word count you have achieved. Forcing the writer to plod on, writing something and moving their story forward, there are very few rules. You must begin and end an original piece of work during the November period. You may not write in teams (although support and advice from friends, colleagues, family and message boards is very much encouraged). To join the ranks of winners, you must simply hit the 50,000 mark. This, for those who care to know, works out to approximately 1,674 words per day. To put this in perspective for me, my average blog is approximately 350-500 words. (insert panicked looking emoticon here!!!)
My reasons for doing this are many. But the big ones are:
- I am the ultimate Mistress of Procrastination. Having a deadline and an audience seems to improve my productivity.
- I have only two personal commitments in November and so as a month goes, its reasonably light. If work can stay reasonably organized, there should not be any external impediment to my goal.
- Being housebound while training Matilda, it is a perfect time to capitalize on the sleep deprived nights and new puppy required hibernation.
- My idea book is brimming and it's a perfect opportunity to dip in and flush out a story from some of the notes I've been nursing and nurturing over the years.
- I tend to get bogged down in the editing process. A month of letting it rip, knowing the editing will come later sounds like a good way to shake things up.
And most importantly,
- I have tremendous doubts about whether I can do this... which means I must try it!!
For any of you who wish to follow my progress, you can find a link to my NaNo page here .
Wish me luck (or send me thermoses of coffee).
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