I’ve been on the fence this year as to whether or not to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I did it last year; I didn’t finish my story, but I got to 50, 000 words. I had the greatest feeling of triumph as I danced around, listening to Aerosmith’s “Roadrunner,” singing “I finished NaNo, I finished NaNo…” on November 30th.
A couple of days later, it snowed. It occurred to me that if it had of snowed in November, the shoveling would have knocked me out for the night, and making my 1,667 words for the day would not have been possible. And wouldn’t you know it; someone told me that the Farmer’s Almanac had forecast snow for November.
When I shared these sentiments with my beautiful wife, she said “Why not? I mean how much could it snow in November?” By ph’kr, she’s right! It certainly could snow like a mofo, but more likely, we’ll get a couple inches, here and there.
When I decided to throw my hat in the ring, I got excited. Talk about following your gut; mine’s saying “buckle up, brother.” The thought of staying up for an extra few hours, with my music and my Starbucks – my buckle-down brew – it just seems like a great time!
But would it be cheating if I used the opportunity to finish my stalled work? Last NaNo, I wrote a prequel that has occupied the rest of my year. Now the original work has sat neglected for…well,long enough that a fresh approach will hold some surprises for me. I’m OK with it, since it’s a no-prize competition. The point of it being to inspire and build community.
Who else is doing NaNoWriMo this year? You can Buddy me as Will Burke93.
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I love your reasoning on why it didn't snow in November last year and I'm all for it. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm bookworm0753 on the NaNoWriMo site. It'll be my third year participating. Now if they'd just fix the buddy list situation, I could add you.
I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. I completely forgot about it until yesterday though so I'm not the most well prepared person going into it. You can find me as M.J. Fifield.
ReplyDeleteLast year, the little counter thing kept telling me I was so far behind, I'd finish my project in January. So I stayed up for two days straight at the end of the month so I could reach the 50K mark. I made it, but I certainly wasn't dancing afterward.
Good luck this year!!
Will: If it motivates you to write, who cares if you start anew or continue the fight? I'm not a fan of NaNo etc. To me, it's just an opportunity to produce perhaps a lot of... dare I say it... schlock. Yes, you scurried to squeeze out 50,000 words but 50,000 words of what? I'm sure there are tons of people who will be throwing various rotten vegies at me if they could, but I just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best in whatever you decide.
Good luck with your NanNo Will I'm sure you will do well.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
I'm not doing NaNo this year; instead I'm going to focus on my reading (NaNoReaMo?). But I want to work on a solid story idea over the next 12 months that means I can participate next year :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Did it last year but not this year. And I don't think that's cheating. To me, 50,000 words is still 50,000 words.
ReplyDeletethe goal is 50K, whether or not that's a finished novel, it's meeting the goal. I think if you want to start over with the stalled novel, it counts. I'll look for you once they get the buddy list going. I'm there under Alison Stevens. Best of luck to you!
ReplyDeleteDude, I say use NaNo how you need to use NaNo. It's there to serve you, not for you to be a slave to it. I say GO GO GO!! And I'll buddy you!
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I'm not doing it this year, just because it doesn't fit in with my plans, but one if these years I will.
ReplyDeleteNaNo NaNo NaNo. It's fun to say. That reminds me, it's probably NaKniSweMo: National Knit a Sweater in a Month time of year. Yes, there is one.
ReplyDelete