The Interference (Day 3)

Today is the third day of nano and the first official write in of the season! (I never count the kick off...not sure why. Could have something to do with the utter lack of sleep)

I should be excited. Hell, I should be ecstatic! There should be some jumping off of the walls going on, huge grins, and barely contained energy that has the rest of the world looking at me like I've just been let out of the loony bin.

Somehow, though, the day has fallen flat.

Why? Well, the answer to that is simple. You see, I'm working. My day job (For those of you counting, yes I am planning doing 320,000 words while working a full time job, but rest assured, I have taken the last two weeks of November off. Both for the trip to San Francisco and to take some of the pressure off...last year, though, there was no vacation...just saying.)

I work at a registry. That means that I spend my day doing things like handing out licenses, renewing registrations and listening to people bitch to me about the speeding ticket they got for doing ONLY 115 on deerfoot. It's not exactly the most inspiring of atmospheres. In fact, it's the opposite of inspiring.

To make matters worse, I got to stare at the clock and see that everyone was already at the write in while I was ordering people birth certificates and trying to explain why you can't just switch over your Indian License to an Alberta one, because there are rules and laws and policies in place that prevent me from doing it.

All in all, I'm losing a little of the nano spirit as I sit at my desk listening to the issues everyone is having today. All I want to do is be at home (or better yet, the library) writing away. Working to hit my 11k that is my goal for the day.

Unfortunately, the day job is something that I need to do in order to survive. As I'm not yet published, my writing doesn't support me, and I need to pay the bills somehow.

So, in order to help ourselves feel just a little better, my friend and I have decided to throw our own little write in (it's just going to be the two of us). Neither of us could attend today's event due to work, so we'll head down to our usual Denny's and write up a storm all by ourselves.

Here's hoping I can hit my goal!!

Have you attended any of your regions events this year?

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Daily Word Count: 7,151

Total Word Count: 34,834

Starting Nano

Tonight was the third annual Calgary Wrimotaur NaNoWriMo Newcomers Night here in Calgary.  That means that all of those nanoers who are just starting out on the nano adventure, or those that have been doing nano for a while but have never been to a meet were invited out for an evening of meet and greets, tips and tricks and basic info for nano.

Which got me thinking about what I wanted to post on my blog tonight.  I talk about nano a lot.  I've shared my stories, but I"m thinking that maybe it's time that I broke it down for my readers.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a program that is run during the month of November.  The goal of nano is to write 50k words in a month (or 1667 words a day for 30 days).  Ultimately the idea is to have a finished novel at the end of the month, but let's face it, most of the time 50k doesn't create a full novel.

The basic idea of nano is to stop thinking about writing a novel and actually write one.  How many times do you say 'I would love to write a novel' then complete the thought with 'but I doubt I could ever finish it'?  That's not something you'll be saying after doing NaNoWriMo.  Because, by the end of the month you'll have 50k words that you've written (they may not be great, but they're words), and you'll have written a novel.

Now, you may be sitting there gaping at the screen thinking '50k words, is she freaking nuts?  She wants me to write that in a month?  ONE MONTH?!?'  But, let me assure you, you can do it!  I know because I've done it, and I've thought that very thing myself.  My first nano I was extremely nervous because I didn't know how I was going to write that many words while still working a full time job.  I know because pretty much every single person who has ever done nano has had that thought as they were anxiously awaiting the arrival of November.

You can do it!

If you need to, break down that huge number in to the 1667 words you need in a day.  That can seem a lot more doable than 50k in a month (even if they are, essentially the same number).  If you know that you're not going to be able to write one day, make sure you get extra words ahead of time.  And never, NEVER, stop at exactly 50k, because I can assure you that the nano counter will inevitably take away words at the end of the month because it decided that you're program doesn't count words correctly.

You can do it!

If you get stuck, there's a community out there that is eager to keep you going.  Every region has a chat, and if they're anything like ours, someone is always there willing to word war, or encourage you, or even give you a plot idea to get you going again.  Even better are the in person events, because you get to see all of those people around you struggling with the same goal as you, each of them sleep deprived and ready to murder their characters (which really only makes it more fun...)

You can do it!

Because you want to.  Because those words are bouncing around in your head just waiting to be put down on paper.  There are characters that are screaming for their voices to be heard, and you can't just let them keep screaming.

Remind yourself every single day that you can do it.  That this isn't an unattainable goal.  That no matter how far behind you get, you can always catch up, even if it does take some encouragement.

If you need that extra shove, you know where to find me (here, where I'll be posting a blog a day, or on twitter).  I'm more than willing to be the one to ramp up your excitement once more and put you back on the front lines of nano.

Are you planning on doing nano this year?

Two Months Already?

Yesterday I went to our first nano meet since November.  Our group is awesome, as we don't like to wait an entire year to see each other, so we meet up once a month, except for December, when we're all pretty nano-ed out (and with Christmas, it makes it hard to find a time.)

Anyway, it was fantastic.  While we didn't have quite the turn out that we have during November, I got to see more than a few people who I have been missing.  And it hit me while I was there...it's been two months since I've seen everybody last.

Two months.  Really?  I don't know about you guys, but my Christmas is always busy.  December is stuffed full of shopping that no one really wants to do, travelling that leaves you tired only to see the family for maybe two days before you find yourself back to reality and trying to get back into the swing of things.  For me January was nearly as busy, with me trying to keep up on the ridiculous amounts of editing I have to do for my Dangerous Waters book, along with critique group stuff.  And then losing my grandfather last week and having to drop everything I was doing to go down and see the family again.

These last two months have been crammed full.  They were tiring, and in some cases not all that pleasant, and I should be glad to have them done.  And I am glad.  I was glad that I could see the people that I am quickly coming to see as my family.  I was glad to be back in the atmosphere of a group of writers just wanting to get that book done.  While there wasn't the competitive nature that there is during November, just being there and seeing those people helped to remind me that just because nano is over and everything is changing, doesn't have to mean that it's all bad.

Despite how busy I've been, though, when I was sitting in that restaurant yesterday, looking around at the room full of writers that have the ability (and have managed to do so in the past) to scare waitresses and make them worry about us, I couldn't help but think 'wait, it's been two months already'?

Two months since I wrote three novels (and I'm not even done editing the one I started before nano)?  Two months since I've seen everyone.  Two months where I've barely written anything!

It's sad, really, that all I've written since nano ended is a single chapter that I owed a friend for a collaboration I'm doing.  I try to remind myself that I've been editing, but that's not really true, either.  I've been procrastinating.  I've been blogging (Which I love and wont stop doing.  In fact, you can start looking forward to two posts a week instead of one, at least for next month).  I've been critiquing.  But I haven't been doing what I should be doing, at least not with the seriousness that I should have.

So as of right now, I'm going to set this goal for myself:  I am going to finish Dangerous Waters by the end of April. (Beta readers allowing, of course.)  I'm going to have a new book (thus far untitled) written before the end of July (To the first draft.)  And I am going to update my blog twice a week.

To be honest, I don't know if I can do all of it, but I'm certainly going to try.  Because if I don't take myself seriously and force myself to do the work, can I really expect other people to take me seriously?

Wish me luck!

The Last Few Days

Here we are, in the last week of nano (actually only two days left after today). Depending on where you are with your goal, you'll be doing one of three things.

If you are behind the next three days you're going to be obsessed with hitting that mark no matter what you have to do to get there. (Some of the people who are behind don't think they can do it, and perhaps that is true, but remember that the 50k is just a suggestion. If you lower it, that doesn't mean you lose. You still wrote those words, and that is something to be proud of.)

If you are on schedule, you're probably sitting pretty. You probably have the next two days completely planned out and know exactly what you're going to do on each day, and you're ready for anything that life throws at you, because you know that you can make. (I congratulate anyone in this category. You still have a ways to go, but I know that you're going to finish!)

If you are ahead, you're probably thinking that this was not nearly as hard as you thought, and you've already forgotten all of those days that the world interfered, and for just a second you were worried that you weren't going to finish. Then , when you hit that 50k, you jumped for joy, and might have even gloated to your friends. Take a break the next two days (or write a bit more to see how far you can get) Either way, I hope you hold your head high, because you have done an amazing feat!

As for me, I am on track. I know that I can finish with my current word count as long as I continue to write for the next two days. As long as I don't let myself slack off. But somehow I seem to be falling more into the first category. All I want to do is write. A week ago I was wondering if I should just stop at 200k, and now I'm sitting at work thinking about all the words I could get getting if I was at home. I just want to keep going and finish this novel, even though I am fairly certain it is going to exceed my goal.

This isn't exactly a strange feeling for me. Last nano I had a similar experience, except then it was because I finished on the 15^th and realized that I wanted to see how much more I could do, and so I just kept writing. This year it feels more like I've rallied in these last few weeks. I was getting so tired. All I wanted to do was sleep, and I had this voice in my ear telling me that two novels and 200k was enough. Did I really need to climb all the higher? And not I'm wishing there were more days in November so that I could write more.

At the same time, though, I cannot wait for Thursday, as I'm planning on sleeping all day.

Nano can leave you feeling conflicted. Throughout the month you go through a rollercoaster. One minute thinking that you are never going to get published, because who would publish this crap. The next unable to believe you wrote that, and look, you're a writer! It's an experience. One that most people don't understand because they aren't doing it. It's one that you'll never forget, even if you only do it once. It's one that helps you define yourself, not just in your writing, but also in who you are as a person.

So whether you cross that finish line, or find yourself a few words short, I have to congratulate every person who did this. You took that step. You pushed yourself. And you showed the world that you are not a coward.

Getting Overwhelmed

It's the twelve hour write in today, which means that I have absolutely no time to think of and plan out a blog post. So I'm going to just wing it like a usually do. Here goes:

When November first started, if I fell a little behind, I remember thinking it would be fine because there was still so much month left. I didn't have to worry about a few thousand words, I could make them up that weekend, or on my next day off. It would be fine.

Now, though, it's so close to the end of the month, and thinking about how much writing I still have to do in order to get to the goal I set for myself, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. It doesn't seem to matter to my brain that I have already written two entire books in ten days each. It keeps trying to tell me that this is just not going to work. That there simply is not enough time left to get everything done.

So today I am telling my brain 'Shut up Brain!' and getting on with my day. Mostly because it's twelve hour, and do I really have time to have that argument with my brain? No. No I don't. But also because I have to write 15k today, and if my brain keeps telling me that I can't do it, I won't do it.

Here are the facts. I have had 5 15k days so far this month. So what's one or two more? I have 2 completed novels printed out and waiting for me to start editing them. (One will be used during critique group. The other is set aside for NaNoEdMo in March). I am almost half way through a third novel which is the sequel to the novel I started editing before nano and will continue to edit afterward, hopefully fast enough to get it into ABNA.

One more fun little fact for you: I AM going to hit my 300k goal. I AM going to allow myself to buy the nano messenger bag I've been eyeing since they put it up. I AM going to start looking for an agent next year because writing IS what I am going to do with my life.

I am not going to let my brain dictate to me anymore. I am good enough to be an author. I have written almost 6 novels now, and I will not let that go to waste. They will not all end up in the dusty folder in the back of my computer never to be seen from again. I refuse!

The End.

Live And In Person

Today I went to a write in for NaNoWriMo. That means that a bunch of people in our region got together to get some writing done.

The first time I went to one, I was so nervous. I remember changing my mind about going multiple times until I finally decided I was going to do it no matter what. Then when I got there I was super shy, hung out at my table (which they had to set up when I got there because there was no more room left) and then we did a word war. Which I, of course, thought was fantastic, until they started going around giving word counts and I realized that I had a word count that was about double what everyone else was giving and I had to frantically recount just to make sure I wasn't lying.

I hadn't gotten it wrong, of course, hence how I ended up with my current nickname. But at the time, I was a nervous wreck, certain I was going to do something wrong.

I learned something useful that day. A few things, really. First (and most important) you can't 'do something wrong' at a write in. Well, you can, but only if you do it on purpose. Second, write ins help out a lot.

Not only did that one write in add competition to the whole concept of writing, but it also helped me to realize just how many people were out there writing. How many people gave up their Novembers to the insanity that is Nano. And it also made me realize that, yes, there are other people like me out there. People who have characters talking to them, and for the first time, I really fit in.

Now I go to every single write in. The ones during November, the ones during the rest of the year, because I belong now. I've found a place for myself, and I couldn't be more ecstatic. Not all write ins are productive, of course. Some are more for the purpose of catching up with other people that you have met in your journeys. But I find that even when I'm at one of these write ins where more talking than actual writing happens, it's helpful. To hear everyone's word counts, or see someone running up to that bell to ring it. I love it all, and it motivates me to write more than anything else in the world (aside from competition, of course...) It doesn't really matter, because it's those write ins that keep me going throughout the month.

Today happened to be a very productive write in. This was thanks, in large part, to a longer time frame. (Because of previous issues we had to change the venue, and in order to get tables, we had to get there early. Then the new venue gave us a room, instead of tables and we didn't, but we had already decided to go, so it ended up being 5 hours long.) But it was also thanks to the mass amount of word wars that we did.

Normally we're at a restaurant, and people are ordering food, and there's a lot of table hopping. Today felt more like we were getting down to business. We did word war after word war, and I don't think there is a single person who went today (who joined in the wars) that went home thinking about how unproductive they had been.

And the greatest part was all the new faces. People who have never been to write ins before came out in full force, and I couldn't help but remember my first write in, and hope that theirs was just as good as mine.

If you don't go to write ins in your region, trust me, they're worth it. They're filled with crazy writers who all complain about their characters and give you quirky nicknames. They're awesome. And they will push you forward, even when you're struggling or behind. And maybe, just maybe, you'll push someone else too, and realize that nano isn't just about getting those words down. It's about the community around you. Put yourself out there. You wont regret it.