NaNoWriMo

It’s that time of year when writers everywhere are hunched over their keyboard typing away, cranking out 1,667 words a day, to meet the deadline of writing the first draft of a novel by the end of November. 50,000 words in order to “win”. 

I decided months ago that I was gonna go for it this year. What do I have to lose? I even knew the project I wanted to work on. I got the idea while walking my dog one day when I was smacked in the face with this overwhelming image that I had to put on paper. I rushed inside and took notes on what I saw so that I wouldn’t forget it. At the time, I was knee-deep in revising the-novel-that-now-has-a-title. I couldn’t let go of the current project, but I didn’t want to let go of the idea stomping around in my head keeping me up at night. The writer’s curse I suppose. It’s a good thing … most days. 

So, I saved the notes and kept my project tucked away in a little drawer in my head. I promised it, and myself, that we would meet again real soon. 

MeNoWri

The two weeks leading up to NaNoWriMo should have been spent getting my head in focus and thinking more about that idea resting in the drawer. Instead, I was working on report cards and having parent-teacher conferences. Each night I was exhausted and my brain was numb. No thinking or planning for me. 

The first week of November was restless, I had an observation at work, and yesterday I got rear-ended by a teenager. I had my whole afternoon free and ready to be spent writing to make a serious attempt to catch up. Instead, I was frazzled, had a headache, and kept hearing the boom from when he hit me. 

Life Happens

Such is life … stuff happens. We can plan for the next few hours, but who knows what they’ll actually bring. Work creeps in, we have sleepless nights, and we have car accidents that seriously interrupt our writing. 

I’m going to keep moving forward though. I set a goal to take this challenge and I’m not giving up just yet. 

My idea is out of the drawer and I’m breathing some life into it. I sat this morning (with a sore neck and headache) and managed to get out over 2,000 words. Not much, but the day isn’t over. Truthfully, 1,667 words a day isn’t enough. Most say to shoot for at least 2,000 words a day to ensure that you’re on track because you never know when life hits. Don’t forget Thanksgiving; not sure how much writing will get done that day. We’ll see. 

Less than 48,000 words to go …