Writing: NaNoWriMo

If you are a writer of any sort, then you probably know about NaNoWriMo. For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to yourself to write 50,000 words in just one single month. Essentially a whole novel. I say a challenge to yourself, but the folks at NaNoWriMo.org have made it especially fun to do this personal challenge all together with thousands of other participants in one particular month, the month of November. From November 1 through 11:59:59 PM November 30 thousands of writers will be writing like mad to made the deadline and submit their novel for official recognition of completing the challenge. In addition to this wonderful self-imposted deadline and task, NaNoWriMo also has the added benefit of being a charity drive. You can see more details about the challenge and the charity at http://www.nanowrimo.org.

This year will the be the fourth year I am attempting the challenge. In the previous years some problem or another has kept me below a single week’s worth of writing, but this year should be different. In addition to having a character with a full personality and a very long lifespan, I have writing buddies to fall back on for inspiration, commiseration, laughter and encouragement and I have a mind that keeps sketching my characters onto paper whenever I can’t be around my computer.

Despite this, one week in and I have already fallen behind. I can only fault myself, but unlike previous years, I have not given up. The story is floating in my head and it will be told… and since it morphing between my head and the page, I can’t wait to see where it leads.

Just the other night, I felt impatience. It was a particular impatience I get when I am in the middle of reading a book. I was confused as I had just finished reading a book the night before and had nothing else really on the table. Sure a few manga in Japanese, a storybook that I wanted to get too, but that’s been sitting for a while and it was most definitely something I had to read NOW like this urge was telling me, and a book I had left at work and had been slowly reading over the last three years. Obviously it had to be something else. Irritated, I sat down and thought it through and found myself laughing and annoyed. I wanted to know the next part of the story I was writing myself.

It amazes me that I am writing a book I want to read. I know academically I will be disappointed because this is only a first draft and not a final draft by any means, but this impatience also has the side effect of distracting me so much I can’t get a coherent sentence written.

Liar. I know that’s what you are thinking right now. After all I am writing a journal entry instead of using the time to write the next chapter in my novel. However, consider this. I am not coming up with a fiction spurred on my imagination here. Here I am writing a non-fiction recounting and merely adding words to make it coherent. If you could read my head at the time I am writing this, you would see the images I plan to put into the story nearly overriding my thinking, but they are images and trying to describe what I see has my brain completely distracted. Therefore, writing this explanation and attempting to sort my thoughts makes this easier to do.

Besides, its getting a little boring reading this farce of a blog when most of the updates are LifeStream updates.

Do you have any questions for me? I would love to have something lead me to an answer. Are you doing NaNoWriMo? If you are, would you mind sharing?

You can see my account on NaNoWriMo if you’d like. Username? Oh come on, do I really need to tell you? Alright, I’ll tell you. Username: NiaSkywalk. Now don’t you feel a little embarrassed that you had to ask? I guess I’ll add a widget somewhere on this blog too….

Tags: charity, nanowrimo, Writing