NaNoWriMo

/ kellyfbarr

I read the word “NaNoWriMo” for the first time last year as I was becoming a part of the writing world online.  I read more about it and was amazed that so many people would subject themselves to such a challenge, although a part of me thought it might be fun to try.  No, I did not try it last year, nor will I try it this year.  I’m just not ready.  I have just really begun to write again after taking a year to really study the craft and make connections both online and in person.  Maybe I’ll try NaNoWriMo in another year or two.

For me, at this point in time, trying to write 1, 667 words a day (that’s 50,000 words in 30 days, which is the goal of NaNoWriMo) seems overwhelming and stressful.    I do hope to give it my best shot sometime.

By the way, if you don’t know about NaNoWriMo, you can find out more about it by simply googling it.  There is also a NaNoWriMo Twitter page and there are several pages and groups for NaNoWriMo on Facebook.

How about you?  Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?

6 thoughts on “NaNoWriMo”

  1. A few of my friends are doing NaNoWritMo, but not me. I thought about dong NaNoBloMo (for bloggers – a new blog post every day for 30 days) – but decided against it because of my classes and a ministry internship I’ll be starting soon. Maybe unofficially, or just step up my posts. Maybe a year from now – if my first book is in the publishing works and I need to start the second one. Coming to LCW this month?

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  2. Kelly, I did Nano 5 years ago and it WAS stressful, but also fun! It helped that I was doing it with a friend, so we had extra accountability. I’m doing my own, scaled down version this year by setting a low daily word count goal fory work-in-progress, maybe 500 words. Since I’m in the “discovery draft” of my novel, and shelving other writing projects for the months, that goal should be comfortably attainable. If I find it’s hindering my November Slowdown plans, I’ll adjust it. 🙂

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  3. Hi Kelly. I’ve had your same concerns. I used to worry about knowing enough, understanding the craft, practicing–but I had a realization. The only way I could really practice was just to plain old write.

    And being a busy dude, that’s tough. How do I convince myself that through school and work I should actually take the time to write?

    My answer: I came up with a plan to commit to NaNoWriMo this year.

    Here were my considerations: How do I remain invested? How do I remain diligent? How do I remain accountable?

    To satisfy these considerations, I started a blog where I would throw myself to the wolves, so to speak. Each day of November, I will not only write 2,000 words or so, but I will also document my writing process to my followers. And since I’ve already said I would, I have to now. According to my moral compass, I don’t have a choice.

    It is tough and, like you, I denied myself the right to write until I felt ready. But I’m afraid you might say to yourself the same thing you’re saying now: I might be able to do it in a year or two. If you want to learn how to fight a hungry pack of wolves (God help us if we ever had to do that), you can only learn so much from reading about it. The practice begins when you jump in the wolf den.

    I wish you the best on your writing journey.

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    • Thank you for your encouraging words, Alex, and thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to comment. I am writing. I’m currently working on a story, but I just didn’t feel I could also commit to NaNoWriMo, as I really want to focus on the story I have begun, but I am still in the Outlining stage. So, have no fear, I will not wait a year or two more to write, just to do NaNoWriMo. 😉

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