Today is the last day of October. That makes it Halloween and it also means that by tomorrow it'll be November. And for a geek like me, November tends to mean one key event in particular - NaNoWriMo.
I've only participated in NaNoWriMo twice before. My first attempt in 2009 was actually a successful one - I had made it past the 50,000 word mark even though the "novel" wasn't actually a finished one. I had tried again in 2010 but one thing led to another and I wasn't able to achieve the goal for that year. And last year, I didn't even try at all.
For the most part I had dismissed even considering "competing" in this year's NaNoWriMo, but last night at work I started to give it some serious thought. While I think my chances are pretty small given all the different things that I already juggle, it might be a fun experience to at least try to get back into the writing saddle and see how far I can go. But in order to make a serious bid, there are two items that I need to address sufficiently first.
The first item, which is the biggest one, is a story concept. I don't have any in my back pocket and in order to make a serious NaNoWriMo bid, I need to have some vague idea of what I'm going to write about. If something comes to me before midnight, then I'll be half the way there.
The other big item of course is allotting sufficient time for the whole writing engagement. My chances are even smaller given we have our trip to Singapore to factor into the overall schedule, but I suppose it's just a matter of sacrificing a few things and doing my best to get to the finish line. One activity that I'm skipping for now is hitting the LGBT club scene (e.g. places like O Bar), and so that's bound to potentially free up a lot of time for writing. So that should work in my favor.
So that's the key marker at this point. If I come up with a story today and I commit to the necessary sacrifices needed in order to participate in NaNoWriMo, then I just might actually get around to making a serious bid for the "prize" this year.
What do you think? Should I give NaNoWriMo a shot even though I'm pretty sure I have a very slim chance of meeting the 50,000 word deadline this year? Comment away!
I've only participated in NaNoWriMo twice before. My first attempt in 2009 was actually a successful one - I had made it past the 50,000 word mark even though the "novel" wasn't actually a finished one. I had tried again in 2010 but one thing led to another and I wasn't able to achieve the goal for that year. And last year, I didn't even try at all.For the most part I had dismissed even considering "competing" in this year's NaNoWriMo, but last night at work I started to give it some serious thought. While I think my chances are pretty small given all the different things that I already juggle, it might be a fun experience to at least try to get back into the writing saddle and see how far I can go. But in order to make a serious bid, there are two items that I need to address sufficiently first.
The first item, which is the biggest one, is a story concept. I don't have any in my back pocket and in order to make a serious NaNoWriMo bid, I need to have some vague idea of what I'm going to write about. If something comes to me before midnight, then I'll be half the way there.
So that's the key marker at this point. If I come up with a story today and I commit to the necessary sacrifices needed in order to participate in NaNoWriMo, then I just might actually get around to making a serious bid for the "prize" this year.
What do you think? Should I give NaNoWriMo a shot even though I'm pretty sure I have a very slim chance of meeting the 50,000 word deadline this year? Comment away!
Let's do it.
ReplyDeleteWe can set goals too.
If we fail to meet a goal, we get punished (like no Kindle daily deal for that week, etc)
:-)
Hey! Leave my Kindle out of this! Let's not be overly rash, hahaha
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