A week has come and gone since I began my humble participation in NaNoWriMo. I’ve confirmed what I already knew. Writing a novel is hard work. I love writing… but 30 days might as well be one weekend. It didn’t help matters when one of my writing buddies revealed her word count to be four times mine after a few days.
Quandra is a great writer and all – Actually she’s awesome. I’ve read her first bit and I’m sold – but I invited her to participate. She just comes in and takes over with her fancy 11,000+ start. And then there is Sylvia. Ms. Super-Writer-Director-Renaissance-Woman quietly doubled her word count in a matter of days making the above-11k mark where the real cool people hang out. James is MIA as he’s been on vacation for a week. A whole week. He’s the genius who told me about NaNoWriMo in the first place. He hasn’t shared his word count so he’s probably halfway done by now. (sigh) My friends have unknowingly taken it from friends-supporting-one-another to some kind of writing-smackdown-competition. Quandra, James, and Sylvia, I love you, think you’re great writers, and support you to the end. And now I will destroy you.
Friendly like. Of course I’m kidding. Kind of.
Veronica Hill says:
you know what my problem is kenn… i type at the speed of thought AND as much
as i kept telling myself i would start and finish my novel.. i kept putting it off because of everyday life, but then you came along with this pressure of a deadline in the NaNo thingy and that’s what i do best.. write under pressure with an impending deadline.. will i be able to officially cross the finish line on time? I hope so but if I don’t I will finish because YOU put it out there for me to finish this book. if you notice my blogs on myspace, i always start off saying i’m going to be short or i’m not going to rant… but then i always end up ranting.. that’s what novel writing is about.. ranting running off at the keys or mouth with a story… and that is something i am really good at… letting my keys fly. if you are writing about something personal then its almost not fair because not only are you ranting and rambling, you’re venting and recalling…. and that brings up old demons and old memories sometimes that you didn’t intend on running into… and that can be harsh and make you want to stop writing.. well the best storys are the ones that stay close to the bone no matter how ugly it gets… and thats where the blocks can come from.. i don’t know i think i may be rambling here but i say all this to say.. it’s not a competition… i want us to compliment and encourage each other… when i click the “word counter” in my word document it amazes me in two ways… i always think i wrote more than i did…. and now because of the 50K word thingy… it double makes me see how much further i have to go.. and it makes me wonder if my story will be finished before 50k… so then maybe i wouldn’t have crossed the finishline anyway.. oh well you get my drift… keep pressin’ those keys.. looking forward to reading and reaping YOUR rewards…
peace and prose
syl
kenn says:
Well said, Syl.
Honestly, I have a private goal set for myself at the end of November 30 and it is NOT 50,000 words. I am confident I will make my own goal and the accountability that NaNoWriMo provides puts the pressure on me to produce and not procrastinate.
Realistically, my professional and personal life (and the novel itself) may not allow for me to make the 50,000 mark. Additionally, I’m encouraging one person in particular who is following this. I know that at the end of November 30 that person will have overcome some major hurdles and so I jokingly provoke a competitive spirit to push that further.
Syl, thank you for your consistent encouragement to me long before this. You’re a superstar to me and I echo the sentiment.