It’s that time of year once more. NaNoWriMo, National Novel
Writing Month is a few weeks away.
One of the members of my writing group, Dianne Herlihy, is
planning on doing NaNo this year. She’s working on an exciting mystery series and
hopes to get at least 50,000 words written of Book two or maybe it’s Book three.
NaNoWriMo is an online self-challenge to write 50,000 words during
the month of November. Most participants form a group and use the mounting word
count of the others as an impetus to do better. When I took the NaNo challenge,
I tried to keep up with whoever was in the lead, but I also noticed that
participant’s counts flagged during busy times in their lives.
By that time, I’d had days when I couldn’t meet my projected
goal. Seeing others stall for a few days and then pick up again took away any
guilt I had. For me, I needed to see that other people had slow days. That
knowledge acted like a head slap, reminding me that I’m human and that unforeseen difficulties
do crop up. It kept me from shaming myself into quitting. The most satisfying
day of my life was when I reached the NaNo goal. During that month I completed the
basis of my paranormal mystery.
Was it easy? Hell, no. I wanted to give up many times, but,
as I said, I had others who would see that I quit. Sure, there were a few late
nights and some exhausting days, but it was worth it. Right now I’m in the
middle of one book and editing another, so I don’t have time to do it this year.
But I want to wish Dianne the best and let her know I’m here to cheer her on.
If you’re interested in this exciting challenge, go to their website http://nanowrimo.org/NaNoWriMo.
You'll see how they support their entrants with pep talks, support and introductions to fellow writers.
