NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo

My English team-teacher got me on to NaNoWriMo. That’s “Na”tional “No”vel “Wri”ting “Mo”nth. Thirty days of writing to crank out 50,000 words by November 30th. No edits, no revisions, just crank out the crap and see at the end of November what kind of pile you have. It’s possible, if you average a mere 1660 words per day.

I signed on. It’s November 3. I’m at 800 words. But I’m learning. So far I’ve learned that writing a novel-length story is not as easy as writing a drunken manifesto. You have to think. That’s not fair.

So I walked to school today. It took me an hour, and that gave me time to I solve a few problems with my story. Which, in turn, created problems. But at least I could keep writing.

My English team-teacher opened up the challenge to her students. Kids are encouraged to go for 7 to 15,000 words by the end of the month. She’s tracking each participants progress, including mine.

So what? I don’t have time for this. I won’t possibly reach 50,000 words by the end of the month.

A couple things. The challenge and the freedom to just write without editing, writing for quantity over quality, frees things up. The time frame is doable, with some commitment, of which this rates as pretty low on the priority list. But at least it’s on the list! Getting the kids involved was a great idea, and having me and other adults in the school involved gives the act of writing just a little more cred. Not that I’m oozing with ‘cool’ or anything, but the kids see adults involved, and they think, well, writing for fun and the challenge like this is something that even some adults do. Writing isn’t so weird.

That’s all for now. Back to the story. I need help though. What would a Tibetan monk be doing with a satchel full of cash? Stay tuned, or, just put in an order for my NaNoWriMo book!