Yeah, I know what you’re thinking… my cat walked across my keyboard.Â
Actually, November is National Novel Writing Month… or NaNoWriMo… and it’s unwittingly become a catalyst of sorts where it concerns my writing. I infrequently frequent writing blogs, sites and forums… but I’d never heard of this little literary adventure (that had its start in 1999) until just recently. Apparently in the month of November we novel writers (or hacks) can sign up and join the NaNoWriMo event which sets an individual goal for all participants of 50,000 words between Nov. 1 and November 30. This can either be the length of the entire work you are writing or it can be a portion of a larger project, the goal is simply TO DO. You have to love the simplicity of it all.
I can appreciate the spirit in which this whole thing is intended, so I have elected to make a go of it myself. Will I do 50,000 words… maybe. I know a lot of writers just write and figure I’ll make revisions/corrections when it’s done… but I can’t bring myself to do that. My writing tends to be a bit more labor oriented, and that slows me down. Just reading the last chapter to familiarize myself with where I left off can lead to hours of on the spot revision and well…. that could mean a pretty slim new batch of words for a day. I didn’t sign up to be a part of the event so I’m basically lurking it. Nobody is going to be let down if I don’t do 50,000 words… least of all myself. I’m just excited to be seriously committing time and my imagination to this new project… I think it has the legs to go somewhere and I won’t be “rushing” through that!
Good luck to all that might be participating in NaNoWriMo and stumble across this blog… it surely isn’t EASY!
