So, I finally decided to do it.
The first day of November officially kicks off National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. I had heard about this in grad school and always thought it was too crazy to even attempt. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of regret at not trying it out and possibly experiencing the thrill of accomplishing 50,000 words in just one month.
50,000.
I just needed to type that out one more time and see it stand there alone. It doesn’t seem possible.
When I was writing my thesis in grad school I struggled at times to just get small chapters out. I was hesitant to try this project, but a personal goal of mine this year was to take my writing more seriously. I knew after grad school that it was going to become easy to get lazy about writing. Part of the reason I started this blog was to do some sort of writing. NaNoWriMo is the perfect opportunity for me to get back in the groove of things.
I only realized it was starting two days ago and made the decision not to attempt any outline or plan. I had no idea what I was going to start with and fiction is something I like to read but have realized I’m not particularly skilled at writing. It was daunting, but thankfully, one of the helpful tips is to tell people you are doing NaNoWriMo. In a way, the more people that know, the expectation that I finish can’t be kept secret in case I likely give up in Week 2. I can’t give up because now everyone on Facebook knows I’m actually going to write that book I decided to spend thousands of dollars in grad school for
Just kidding.
I do not take this month-long project and the hopefully 200-250 page result to be anywhere near book ready. It’s more like the long awaited kick in the ass I need to just write. Just write.
The beauty of the project is the inherent messiness of it. There is a push to NOT edit at all. I was warned that it would be difficult to silence my inner editor and I found myself doing that for the first few paragraphs, but once I started to ignore looking back, the writing came out much faster. It’s all about forward writing.
Again, I have no plan whatsoever and the first two pages were going okay despite a struggle about the voice. Because it’s my first time and I don’t want to give up too easily, I’ve fallen somewhere around fictionalized memoir. It really is heavy in the fictionalized part because the character breaks up a friendship by telling her friend, “I think your baby is ugly.”
So yeah, let’s just say, I would never do that.
But I can sure make my character say it.
In the end, my two goals for the month are to write daily so I can hit the eventual goal of 50,000 words and two, to just keep writing even if this stuff is utter crap (which, of course it will be). Even if I start to hate the material and I change a lot, I can’t find that as reason enough to stop.
I’ve also registered with the main site and hopefully I can go to write-ins or meet other writers in the Santa Barbara and Goleta area who are attempting this same crazy feat.
First Day Word Count: 2,082.
Registration and FAQs about National Novel Writing Month can be found here.
joyce familara 