NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month.
Sit down every day for the whole of November and write at least 1600 words – write at least 50,000 by the end of the month.
Write a novel. Thousands of people around the world will be doing the same. It’s a writing frenzy with only one goal: write the first draft of a novel in a month, then pass out for a week, and then decide what to do with it. 🙂
I always thought this was major crap. A crappy idea. Why, write a novel in a month. Writing a novel takes years!
At least it takes me years. *insert goofy grin* Doesn’t it everybody?
But okay, this will be a first draft, not a finished novel.
Besides, and here is the main reason I decided to take the plunge this year, October has been one of the crappiest months of my life, and I have to do something to raise my spirits. Hence NaNo.
Why such a bad month?
My husband Carlos suffered a slipped disk and has been in bed since Oct 2. A month! Although he is an exemplary patient, we both went through lots of stress – will he need surgery? how to manage the awful pain – and now are both exhausted. I wrote nothing, I revised nothing during October. That hurt. And coming right after a bad two months of having a second job that took up most of my afternoons, and starting a new, stressful full-time job, well…
I have gone quite nuts.
So, to remedy that to the best possible degree (un-nut me if you can and dare!), I am going to write a novel.
Yessir.
Just watch me. 🙂
Go for it, Kris! Make it work!
Not sure if I’ll participate this year, at least not in the conventional sense. I did have a novel idea lined up, outlined and everything (Blue Secrets, focusing on the Czerans and Secretkeepers), but I’m feeling that maybe I need to spend some time making writing fun again. I’ve been so focused on the idea of being ‘successful’ that I’m getting painfully critical.
So, back to basics, and rebuild from there I think.
Best of luck! 😀 Remember to have fun. 😉
Yay! Go for it!
Writing a novel takes me years as well, at least it always has before. 😀 However, as you said, it’s a first draft. And, as strange as it sounds, NaNo is my vacation this year. I’m just taking it somewhere no one else can go, at least, they can’t until I write it. 😀 It’s really relaxing to write just for the hell of it and immerse myself in something, to not worry about revisions and the six short stories I need to hustle and the other novel I need to edit and the non-fiction that brings home the bacon and just… write. It’s kinda zen, for me anyway, and I hope it proves relaxing and restorative for you, too!
I also hope Carlos is doing better, send lots of healing thoughts, and am happy to welcome you to the ranks of the wrimos with the traditional question: what are you writing? 😀
Thank you all guys, David, Merc and Mary!
Merc: Yes, I hope for fun and a first draft – even if it sucks!
Mary: Vacation, yes! That sounds good! Escape from the routine. I also need to escape from revisions for a while – they are necessary but suck all my energy.
David: Why don’t you join the NaNo forums on CC, even if you don’t officially participate? Other years I did as you did, worked alongside the others – but this year I need a major push to start writing.
Oh, and I intend to write the sequel to the Reversal which has been on my mind for years now. After that, I hope I can return to the Reversal and rewrite it, and we are talking some heavy revisions. 🙂
For those who don’t know, the Reversal is fantasy – the novel is written but I decided to let it lie for a while, until I decide how to fix it. Now I have an idea.
Ah, I remember the Reversal. Good stuff, though I remember being scathing once or twice 🙂
I might do. Haven’t been on CC for a while. I am actually going to be writing during NaNo, but I won’t be writing a ‘story’ as such; just something for a friend. If I finish that maybe I’ll do a bit of a blitz on Blue Secrets.
We shall see. But either way, do that writing thing! I’ll cheerlead. Though admittedly your name is kind of awkward to get a chant together for…
Merci Chrystalla de m’avoir fait découvrir cette bête étrange appelée Nanowrimo !
Quelle idée géniale !! je trouve ça super excitant…
Oui, vas-y, fonce, défonce-toi, je suis sûre que tu vas prendre ton pied (désolée, c’est encore de l’argot, ça veut dire s’éclater), que tu vas gagner et qu’à la fin tu vas être trop contente de l’avoir fait !
Si ca se trouve en plus, le résultat sera pas mal du tout et tu seras fière de toi …
Tu paries que tu le publies sans le retoucher ????
Gros bisous à Carlos et à toi,
allez, on va dire le mois de novembre sera FABULEUX pour tous les deux !
Et pour commencer le mois un bien joli petit voyage dans les entrailles de la terre depuis votre fauteuil :
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/fr/02_00.xml
Magali
Thanks David! 🙂 I am fond of the Reversal, and want to go back and rewrite it in parts, restructure it.
Merci Magalena! Tu m’as manque!!! Je t’ecrirai un email! Bisous!
Always happens, doesn’t it? I’m planning to go back to the Sixth Gauntlet once I’ve relaxed and re-established the fun bit of writing and finally finish the new draft. Hopefully this time I won’t demand flawlessness and it’ll all work out fine. 🙂
Yes, sequels often demand to be written. Go for it, David! 🙂