Tuesday 12 November 2013

National Novel Writing Month

In general, I am pretty good at making time for the things and people that are important to me. But this has been a weird wee year (perhaps read this if you don't know what I'm talking about) and sometimes it feels a bit exhausting trying to keep up (or even start!) things I had planned.

And so I find myself, half-way through November, realising that I totally forgot to start Nanowrimo this year.

Nanowri-oh. (Sorry. I had to).


I've blogged about it LOADS before, but here's a wee recap in case this is new to you. Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month - a writing campaign that challenges people across the world to write 50,000 words in one month (which works out roughly to be a short first draft). It looks like a terrifying amount of words, but they break it down into day-by-day wordcounts, provide graphs and widgets to track your progress, and have forums full of other writers, all sharing stories of success or laughing at the very terrible things they've written.

It isn't about writing a perfect first draft (or even a good first draft). It's just about writing - learning that you can make time for something, even if you honestly think you fill every hour of your day. It's hard work, a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, and leaves you dreaming of your characters, but it's SO satisfying. It's one of my favourite points in the year.

And I forgot.

So what do I do? I know I could (and should!) write all year round, but it's the competitive-we're-all-in-this-together part that I really love, and I find it hard to motivate myself if I don't have a target. If I wanted to join in and catch up, I'd have to write 20,000 words just to be on track with today. I have no plot, no characters, and not much time this week - but I know it'll be worth it if I do.

Hmm. Watch this space.

1 comment :

Thank you so much for commenting, it is lovely and really makes my day!

If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them quickly, or you can also tweet me @eversojuliet

Ta!