Tag Archives: creativity

NaNoWriMo 2013…my ill prepared(but exciting!) journey into the unknown

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If you haven’t heard of NaNoWriMo I’m sure you are wondering wtf I’m talking about.  It’s simple to explain!

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Found this gem on Pinterest!

It stands for National Novel Writing Month.  It starts November 1st and the goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  There is a lovely website  where you can track your progress and communicate with other fellow nanowrimoer’s.   There is tons of support and pep talks.  I got a message from thriller writer James Patterson this morning that made me all sorts of excited and amped to start this adventure up!  If you are thinking about doing it you better jump on the train today.

Here’s why I’m doing it:

I’ve recently been working on an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for years.  I’m about 7000 words in and I keep stalling.  You’d think after a couple of years of fermenting inside my brain that the words would just flow like water.  Not the case.  I really like this idea and I can see a lot of the scenes in my mind but it’s just not connecting.  I am blaming this partially on the fact that another book idea keeps jumping into my head.  It started a few months ago.  I can’t remember what sparked the idea but I remember the day that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  It started to push out the other idea that had taken up residency for much longer.  I started indulging this new idea and it was starting to snowball.

Then I started feeling guilty for my other idea that had already made the long journey from my brain into actual physical words.  I started googling for articles that would help me make my decision.  I started thinking about drafting both at once.  Which is kind of like reading two books at the same time.  I always pick one over the other.

Then, I saw something on pinterest about nanowrimo and I was like YES.  I had my answer.  I am going to completely purge this new idea that won’t leave me alone.  The trouble is that I’ve barely outlined this burgeoning idea outside of my head.  At all.  But it simply WILL NOT leave me alone.  That is why I’m ill prepared but my gut is telling me otherwise.  My gut is telling me that it has to come out.

Now here I am on day one and I’m writing this blog post.  My hope is that there are other newbie nanowrimo participants that are also wondering what the hell they are getting themselves into and we can be crazy together.  I also hope that maybe someone who is unsure or frightened of taking on such a huge project will see this and decide to take the plunge.

Here’s what I did today to prepare:

I came home from work and did a thorough cleaning of the apartment.  For whatever reason I have trouble concentrating when there is random shit piled on top of my dresser (Pikachu costume from last weekend) and a full load of dirty dishes in the sink.

Pulled out my index cards to jot down a rough outline to keep me going and to have some reference.  As much as I would like to blindly march into the unknown and just plot as I go, I am not Stephen King.  (Did you know that the man does not plot a single thing?  Literally nothing.)

What I’m going to keep telling myself:

Do not under any circumstances second guess myself or look back.  Our worries and fears are zombies stumbling behind us waiting for us to look back, trip and fall then eat us alive.

To everyone out there taking on this HUGE feat: just remember to take it one day at a time!

Good Luck!  May the creative forces be with you. 🙂