So. Here we are again. Nose to nose. Daring the other to flinch.
It's me and teh Nanowrimo.*
I did my first Nanowrimo in their 4th year, in 2002. I think my brother heard of it and suggested we try it. He's not a writer specifically (he's a musician, but like most of us also dabbles in other arts) but he wrote a funny fantasy novel, and I wrote a modernization of Heyer's Frederica. It was loads of fun.
I then went back to school and bade Nano a tearful farewell, only writing in the summers when out of school. When I graduated in 2008 I did Nano in 2008, 2009 and 2010--only using it as a way of generating plot ideas and back story. And it was plotting for a story I'd wanted to write for years, so it was fun finally getting at it.
Last year, as you may remember, I had my first "loss." I actually wrote a 60 000 word book in May 2012 as part of a challenge hosted by froggy Judy Judy Judy, which was also super fun. But in November my marriage was failing so I was in a less cheery state of mind, and by the middle of Nano I gave myself permission to stop.
As you know, I haven't been able to write since. So doing Nano this year is both about (hopefully) refinding my mojo, and about closing the circle. "You're stuck in a metaphor! ...It's a metaphor!"
Of course... with Haley telling me to stop being such a little bitch, I'll probably be forced to finish
.
____
* Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's an organization where you sign up online saying you'll write a 50 000 word book in the month of November--about the size of a Harlequin or a teen novel. There's no prize, just the fun of cranking out 2000/words per night... more if you're like me and always fall behind early on. The idea is to help you stop criticizing your work and just get that first draft down. Some authors have published using it.
7 comments:
Yeh ... kittez coined the phrase, "Suck it up Buttercup!"
I'm kinda freaking out about NaNo a bit too ...I found out yesterday that I'll be having my radiation treatment the first week in, so I can pretty much toss that week out the window. I'm telling myself that I can indeed write 50,00 words in 3 weeks!
The odds are in my favour though. It's a 50/50 split. I either will or I won't, so I guess I'm back with the "Suck it up Buttercup!" option - Widdercat agrees.
:)
You are no longer stuck. You can free yourself from the metaphor!
And good luck with Nano. Each time I've tried, I've given up after the first week. So I don't even bother with it anymore. But I cheer on those who do!
@widders - Oh noes! Do you have to go to Vancouver for it? Is it time consuming? Fatiguing? Does this help?
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.ca/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html
Sending you much healing vibes.
@Skye - I don't think it unstucks until Nov 30th... !!
I'm thinking about it. I did it in 2006, 07, and 08, but I haven't done it since. (and I only made it to 50,000 words the third time, although I stuck it out the entire month the first two times). I want to do it but I have a ton of stuff going on right now and I just don't think it's realistic. But I might try it, giving myself permission from the start to only do as much as I want to. I actually have an idea, which is new. :-)
I actually get to do it at home! Otherwise I'd have to schlepp to Surrey, which is almost as far as vancouver...
Three days of keeping a meter away from EVERYTHING and having a bathroom all to myself, then a week of keeping away from pregnant people, small children and old kittehs.
The radiation decays very quickly, so I shouldn't glow in the dark for too long.
I'll probably feel crappy for a couple of weeks overall as any errant thyroid cancer cells run screaming into the sunset ... then I'm good to go!
@Barb - For school people, summer seems like a better time.
@wids - You'll be a superhero!
@Barb - For school people, summer seems like a better time.
@wids - You'll be a superhero!
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