I thrive on trying new things. (In my writing life, obviously–don’t go trying to get me to use a different brand of toothpaste.) The past few weeks, in an effort to cut back on headaches, I’ve been spending as little time as possible in front of my computer screen. And let me tell you, it has been a refreshing change. Aside from completing a hard-copy edit of the sequel to Demon’s Heart, I also pulled out this fabulous little notebook:
…and starting writing by hand for the first time in years. And it’s AMAZING! I love it! There’s something about adding in the uniqueness of your own handwriting to the story that makes it feel even more like your own masterpiece.
I also tried this for the first time ever yesterday:
Note cards, colorful pens, and M&Ms. Again, it was fabulous. Using note cards added a great dimension of flexibility to my planning that just isn’t there in a Word doc. And, you know, a little chocolate never hurt the writing process.
So here I am, congratulating myself on trying so many new things. And then I realize: it’s October. And you know what that means, right? It means writers everywhere are ramping up for that grueling marathon of words so innocuously called NaNoWriMo.
Never in my life have I participated in NaNo. 50K words in a month? Are you nuts?! That’s, like, death by keyboard!
But I’m teetering here, friends. I’m tempted to jump on board. I have two different projects that I could do, and there’s this crazy little voice inside my head that’s screaming for me to go for it.
So should I jump on the NaNo wagon?
BumblesBooks 
Last year I vowed to do Nano this year but something comes in between and first thing first.
Sure, why not?! Worst case scenario is… you don’t write a 50k novel hahha. I have been doing it every year for the past 3(?) years, and I never win it, but it’s still fun to put forth the effort in an attempt, you know? NaNo’s importance is only fueled by how much importance you place on it. If you know what I mean n
Good point. My competitive streak is shouting, “If you do it you have to win it!” But the point is really just to get some good writing done, right? Thanks for putting it in perspective. 🙂
Do it. Just do it. I’d do it again, as I have for the past ten years, but I did my NaNo this year in February. Yep, 50k+ words in 28 days (30 days is for chumps (not really!)), so this November is for revising that novel. The reason I do NaNo every year is to reinforce that “write every day” habit. I know as I’m writing that it’ll be mostly crap, but I also know I’ll go back and polish it up.
I’ll put in my numbers from Feb this November for the stats (I tracked them per day), so if you want, we can be NaNo buddies. Sometimes it helps to have someone to “race” with.
Okay, I’m in! It’ll be good to have someone to compete against… Even if you’ve really already won. 🙂
Glad you’re joining the rest of us crazy writers! Just remember, 2,000 words a day. That’s it. The catch: you have to do it every day. Huzzah!
SO MANY WORDS! But that’s okay. I can do that. I think I can I think I can I think I can…
Please tell me you ate more than that piddly pile of M&Ms!! Please!
If you didn’t, you have the best self-control of any M&M eater I know. 🙂
I haven’t done NaNo, and I probably won’t. It’s too much pressure. Though I like having deadlines and such, the kind of time I’d have to dedicate to that would be insanity. And Novembers are always crazy busy months for me with family and friend stuff going on, so I probably wouldn’t ‘win’ anyways.
I also followed in your footsteps and got some writing done on paper. I haven’t done that in a while and it felt weird. Good, but weird. I need to do it more. Staring at a blank piece of paper is a lot less intimidating than staring at a partially completed manuscript and having absolutely no idea what do say next.
Haha, those were all the M&Ms left in the house, or there would have been more. 🙂 It’s true, a blank piece of paper is somehow more inviting than a blinking cursor. I think I feel liberated to write whatever when I’m writing by hand, because I know it’ll end up being revised as I type it up anyway, so it’s totally okay if it’s terrible.
I’m struggling with my perfectionist tendencies, because everything that’s coming right now is awkward, forced, and sounds like junk.
I feel the same way. That’s actually a big reason I’ve been thinking about doing NaNo this year–I’m hoping it’ll push me past my inner editor and just get words on the page. I feel like I’m totally frozen in having to make things perfect right now when I really just need to get the words down.
Exactly. I just won’t be able to do it this year. Half of November I’ll be on the road or out of town.
Hopefully I’ll still get some good writing down the next few weeks.
Jump on the NaNo wagon! Why not? You don’t have to make your goal to write 50K in a month. Maybe you’ll just want to set it so that you just write every day. 😉 Why not?
Why not indeed! All right, all right. I’m in! 🙂
Yay!
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