Is It Time Yet?

It's All Nano's Eve...I mean...Halloween, and you know what that means!  Yep...I've been sitting around with my twitter open jealously staring at all the people who get to do sprints because my time zone hasn't rolled over in to November yet.

I've always liked Halloween.  As a kid it had a lot more to do with the candy I got to collect from the people in our neighbourhood (I distinctly remember having to dump it all out when we got home so my mom could go through it and throw out anything open, and possibly take some of her favourites too.)

Now, of course, Halloween has a whole new meaning for me.

My year has suddenly shifted.  I no longer think of December as the end of the year, instead, October 31st ends out my year, and the first of November starts it over again.

What I'm basically saying, is that it's New Years in a couple of hours, and I'm so excited!

This November is jam packed with things happening.  I've got nano (of course) which my goal is to write 320k words this year.  completely possible, by the way.  I wrote 300k last year.  I'm also goind down to San Francisco in the middle of the month for the ever amazing Night of Writing Dangerously!

For those of you who don't know, The Night of Writing Dangerously is a function hosted by OLL (Office of Letters and Light) to raise money for Nano.  To go you have to raise at least $250, then pay for your own flight there, your own hotel room, and your own flight home. (I've already raised what I need, but I wanted to help out Nano more.  If you'll direct your attention to the column on your right, you'll notice a section dedicated to donations.  I would LOVE it if anyone is willing to donate.  Even $5 helps.)  Basically 250 Wrimos get together and have one huge write in.  The night is completed with a complementary candy bar and all sorts of other goodies.  I can't freaking wait.

Finally (for now, you never know what other craziness I'm willing to pack in to the month) I've got the Epic Month of Blog Posts. (Also to your right you'll see a list of bloggers who have agreed to participate this year.)  The idea behind this is that you have to write a blog post a day (each blog post much contain at least 50 words).  there's no where to keep track, but it's fun.  We did it last year, and this year we thought we'd ask others to join in the insanity.

So now that I know all of this is coming, you'd think I'd be dreading it.  So much to do, so little time!  Really, there's only 24 hours in a day and I have to sleep at some point (at least, that's what other people keep trying to tell me.  I just smile and nod)..

Somehow, though, it's excitement that has me staring at the clock counting down the hours until we can start writing.  (I swear, the last half hour has gone slower than all day at work...)  What makes it worse is watching the nanosprints on twitter.  See, for some of the world it is November 1st, and they've already started.  It makes me want to pick up my pen (okay, okay, put my fingers on the keyboard) and get writing!

Sadly there's another four hours before we can have that first word war.  I will wait with bated breath (or rather, impatiently tapping my foot) until I can start writing the words I've been planning since July.

Expect my first Epic Month Of Blog Posts entry tomorrow!  I've got to go glare at people across the world now.

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?

A Short Visit

So, I've been busy trying to get this novel written.  My character has been doing all sorts of things she's not supposed to be doing, and completely messing with the end of this novel...we're going to have to sit down and have a talk, her and I.

Anyway, I'm sitting here waiting for the next round of wordmongering to start, and I realized that I needed to post something today.  Of course, having not realized this before hand, I have exactly nothing by way of a topic to talk about, so I thought I would just post a short (very extremely short) update for all of you.

I have written a total of 66k words so far in the month, and should be finishing Pandora sometime tomorrow (after which I will be working on a single chapter that I owe a collaboration partner, then onto the pantsing novel, that I'm actually quite nervous about.)

While this isn't anywhere near my finishing on day five during nano in November, I'm quite pleased with how quickly I've gotten this writing done, as last year was a bit of a mess (I barely finished in July, and didn't come close to finishing in August)

I also wanted to give you all a heads up that sometimes soon I should be posting a review/author interview for a series of books that I've recently read.

Anyway, that's about all I have for you today.  I promise I'll get something better up Wednesday or Thursday.  For now, I've got to go figure out the end of this novel, since my character obviously didn't like the one I came up with.

Is It Hot In Here? Cause My Motivation Evaporated...

So, remember how I said that my motivation is competition? Don't worry, I didn't lie to you. If there is competition, I'm willing to up my word count. I'm willing to spend hours at my desk, causing back aches and wrist weakness, just so that I keep that number one spot and don't let anyone pass me. And if someone starts to get close, you can bet that my next day off is going to be spent trying to get as many words as I can so that I'm not worried about them passing me while I'm at work.

Unfortunately, there's a rather nasty side effect. When people start dropping further and further behind me, and I no long have someone telling me that they're going to beat me no matter what it takes, all of that motivation suddenly evaporates. Like it wasn't even there. Suddenly I”m negotiating with myself. Telling myself that I increased my original goal, so if I don't hit my new goal it'll be fine. I don't really need to catch up. I can come in 10k behind. It will all be alright!

And yet, no matter how many of those conversations I have with myself (I swear I don't answer myself back...okay...maybe I do...) I can't quite convince myself that I wont fee disappointed at the end of the month when I'm not sitting at 300k. Because I know I will. I know that I'll think I could have done better. Especially since nothing really has come up. No emergencies that have dragged me kicking and screaming (or just a little too willing) from my keyboard. Not even an unexpected day at work. Instead, I'm just not quite as willing to stay up late to get the word count. Or to give up my shows so I have more time to write.

I need the motivation back. I need people to come on the chat and outright challenge me to a word duel (I'll even take a handicap, I swear.) I need to get that excitement and drive back so that I can finish this nano with a bang, rather than limp across the midnight finish line unable to hold my word count up as what I wanted to do.

Or maybe I just need to stop watching the shows that distract me from my characters, and bury myself in their world. Put myself in their shoes and let that drive me for a while. It works for other writers, why not me? I can change my motivation!

In the mean time, though, I think I'll continue to hang around the chat until someone comes along to word war with. Then I'll start writing.

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.