I’ve decided to do NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month!
I wasn’t going to. It seemed foolish. Here’s why:
I’m currently working on revising my earlier book, completely rewriting it, but still a revision. I want to finish it! So if I take a month off, it will take that much longer. Still, in the big scheme of things, at 15 minutes per day, a month off just isn’t that much.
I had decided that I have two goals: 1) Catching up my Sonderbooks site with the huge stack of books I have read that are waiting to be reviewed. I also want to implement some of the fantastic blog-related ideas I heard about at the Kidlitosphere Conference. 2) Getting MOVED IN! We moved in May, for goodness’ sake! I want my pictures up and my boxes emptied. I’m so close… and yet so far.
I’ve been plagued by almost daily headaches for the last two months. I have had to do less, not more.
I’m currently taking a wonderful online class on the Newbery Medal. It’s keeping me busy. When it finishes, I hope to learn that I’ve been selected for the Bill Morris Seminar in January, complete with assigned reading. Even if not, I have stacks of books I’m dying to read.
I’ve never written a novel with Word Count goals, always time goals, which suits me better, or so I’ve always thought.
Okay, those were my reasons why not. But the very thought of doing it made me smile. That alone seems like a good reason to consider it.
Here are some more reasons:
1. I have a book for which I’d thought through the plot and written a couple key scenes but hadn’t started the first draft of — ideal for this sort of thing.
2. One of my goals for the year was to write another novel. I got sidetracked by my revision, but this could make it happen.
3. If I don’t meet the goal of 50,000 words, so what? I would still be that much farther, and I can do it as part of a big community.
4. In a way, it’s a way of thumbing my nose at my headaches. Gives me something else to think about and focus on.
5. I was already writing 15 minutes a day. I can even keep that up and add in that word count. So what if it’s not very high?
6. I’ve never used word count as a goal before, but isn’t it worth a try for a month? Especially when I have a novel idea all ready to be started as a rough draft?
7. Just thinking of doing it makes me smile.
So — I’m going to do NaNoWriMo. However, I decided that right up front I will modify my own personal goals.
Because I really really do want to catch up on the reviews on my website, for my own personal purposes, I will count any words I post on a blog. My goal for the month of November will be to write 50,000 words on my new novel and my blogs.
For the novel, I will only count words on the new rough draft I started this morning. That will be the word count I post on the NaNoWriMo site.
I will still do 15 minutes per day, and more when I get the chance. For this month, I will only work on the new novel, rather than revising old ones. Here’s hoping this will bring a fresh perspective!
This morning I took a half-day off. My word count so far is:
Novel: 1635 words
Blogging: 606 words
Total: 2,241 words
Write on!