NaNoWriMo

I signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month
….the objective being to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Starting November 1, ending November 30, that's the dealio.

I started thinking about story ideas in September. In October, I ceased all reading for pleasure in order to clear my mind. I also decided on a storyline and jotted down a few plot points (allowable, according to the website). And I started writing on November 2. (Why the delay? Because at the end of the day on November 1, I was too cranky and pissed off and thought about canning the whole thing.)

I signed up because I love validation. I love achievement. And the thought of simply being listed as "an official winner" is a huge motivator for me. I am also blessed with the ability to write, as the website calls it, "a lot of crap".

But contrary to what the contest encourages, I didn't shout the news from the rooftops in order to win support and encouragement from everyone I know. I hid my light under a bushel in case it fizzled and went out….

But now that I'm 30,067 words into my story, I'll go ahead and admit that I'm doing it. See? I'm official. (does this really surprise you? coming from the same woman who didn't announce either of her pregnancies until she was 6 months along... just pretending to be a chubster?)

And if that isn't enough narcissistic drivel for you….

I committed myself to writing 1725 words a day, and sometimes the hardest part is figuring out which facet of the story I'm going to work on later that night.

Because the daily task of sitting down to write doesn't even happen until the end of the day—which really means after getting up at 7am, going to work, getting home around 6pm, taking care of the girls, getting the girls to bed, and then achieving a quiet and restful house by about 10pm.

My personal rule is that writing for the day ends at midnight – otherwise, technically I'm already writing into the next day. So getting those words in during the last two hours of the day has been a challenge. Throw in a few interruptions between midnight and 6am from one or both of the girls and that makes for a wild 24 hours.

And sometimes when I finally drop into bed, I spend a little time resenting my main characters. They're so NEEDY! Why do I have to do EVERYTHING for them?! It's like they're sitting around, waiting for me to channel for them, to put the words in their mouths and tell them what to think and do and how to interact with each other. Sheesh. Needy, I tell you. Get a life!

And then I look forward to getting up and doing it again tomorrow.

Oh well, I'll keep you posted.