Hey guys, This is going to be my first post of a few today so I’ll try to keep it short. Just a quick one to say that I have finally decided to take the plunge… and participate in this year’s NaNoWriMo. For those of you who don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, it’s National Novel Writing Month. Writers have precisely one month to crank out a 50, 000 word novel. Yes, one month is all it takes (note this is a bid to convince myself more than you). It has been done before, so it’s not totally unrealistic. With a daily minimum of 1667 words (yes I’ve done the maths), I figure I can smash it. My biggest problem is editing. I self-edit. All the fricking time. I’m never happier than armed with a red pen in one hand, steaming latte in the other. But the whole point of NaNoWriMo is to just write. Apparently the editing comes in December (triple whoop).
NaNoWriMo is great for writers of all abilities, so get writing you guys! I’m doing it this year for a few reasons, but mainly because I’ve always wanted to do it. “Not having time” was my usual excuse which I think in retrospect, is such a cop-out. It’s all about being strict with yourself and prioritising your time. Since I’ve been blogging more frequently, it’s easy to have Facebook or Twitter on the background. Social media is a godsend for writers but also something of a curse. It is a massive time-consumer. I can easily spend hours online, just doing research, updating profiles / statuses / posting tweets. I could go on, but you get the gist.
Back to NaNoWriMo; I’ll be in self-imposed exile as I aim for the elusive 50, 000 word count by 30th November. I’ll be something of a hermit in November so I apologise in advance of the infrequent postings next month. I’m trying to make up for it by posting more frequently in the next few weeks. I’ve also created my NaNoWriMo profile which includes an excerpt of the brand new novel. I don’t know how it will end (as I literally just banged out the synopsis and excerpt), but I have the journey (oh so loosely) mapped out in my head.
Are you going to be participating in NaNoWriMo? I do hope you will. Come along for ride, I’m sure it’ll be an interesting November!
RAx