When I first stared this account I made a commitment to blog at least once a month, if not two to four times a month.
Yeah...
Life happened, as it always seems to do. I went to Paris with Hubby for our five year-anniversary. I decided to do a thesis for my master's degree because I figured graduate school alone wasn't painful enough. I bemoaned my lack of writing ability too many times to count, ripped up my kitchen floor, ripped up my bathroom floor, tried to build new shelves for my mudroom, continued to work full-time, continued to work part-time, and bemoaned some more.
However, I'm happy to report that I'm not only back to writing (and not just on my blog), but as of Sunday I entered a writing contest. One more step towards getting published.
NaNoWriMo15
It was during this re-commitment process to my dream career of being a romance author that a friend on Twitter pointed out that National Novel Writing Month, affectionately nicknamed NaNoWriMo, was just a few weeks away.
If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, it's when thousands of published and unpublished writers attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. The clock starts ticking at 12:01 a.m. on November 1 and seems to speed up at an alarming rate until 11:59 p.m. on November 30.
Some decry NaNoWriMo, arguing that writing a quality novel in that length of time is almost impossible. Others believe it's simply a way to get words on paper and that the writer can go back and edit at a later date.
I tried it last year. I got about 10,000 words in when that dreaded combination of writer's block and fear choked me.
Despite my less than amazing experience with it last year, after some internal debate I decided to give it another shot. My schedule (fingers crossed) will be a lot calmer in November. And one of my biggest problems with writing is getting words on paper. I'm a perfectionist and a horrid critic of my own work (although what author isn't). Too many times I'll write a sentence only to hate it and get fixated on making it perfect. So what could have been a productive half hour turns into 30 minutes of me stabbing the paper with my pencil.
I've also learned a lot in the past year. I've continued to have amazing support from the Heartland Romance Authors group (http://www.heartlandromanceauthors.com/) as well as Hubby, family, and close friends. I've learned to identify my areas of weakness as well as play to my strengths as an author. I've also been working on an outline that I'll have done prior to November, something I need desperately as a writer. While some can just write by the seat of their pants, I do best with a guideline.
If you're a writer who's considering tackling the beast known as NaNoWriMo, I've included two links below that provide good resources and good advice.
At the very least, try it once. If you succeed, remember to stop by my blog again. If you curse the existence of whoever encouraged you to take on such a ridiculous, hair-pulling, profanity-inducing endeavor, send me your address and I'll send chocolate.
Happy writing, everyone!
- How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo: To Outline or Not to Outline by Brian Klems: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-prepare-for-nanowrimo-to-outline-or-not-to-outline
- 25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo by Chuck Wendig: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/10/04/25-things-you-should-know-about-nanowrimo/ (WARNING! Some graphic content).
