Wednesday, October 08, 2008

NaNoWriMo

I've officially signed up for the craziest thing I've ever done: trying to write a novel in a month. (To read more about the group/idea, go here.)

Brian is doing it, too, which I hope will help keep me accountable. I also hope that trying to write so many words in such a short amount of time will get me to get over feeling so scared about creating shitty first drafts. I mean, the only way to get through this kind of challenge is to be 100% aware that most of what you write is going to be crap. The goal is just to get stuff down on paper, so that you can sift through it and hopefully have something to work with and fix up come December.

Brian and I worked with the library in our new town to set up a writing space for NaNoWriMos. The library is amazing--they gave us access to a cottage where we can meet and write two nights a week. Other NaNo-ers have set up write-ins at various coffee shops and bookstores in the area.

To be honest, I'm really scared about doing this. What if I can't? But I'm also excited to have a new, hard-to-reach goal and to have a community building around it. Best Blogger Tips

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay!! Good for you! NaNo is a great event.

Think of it as a big writing exercise. Set your word count limit per day, and just write to the mark.

If you don't finish, don't punish yourself for it...just participating and working regularly is a huge accomplishment!

Most of all--have FUN!

TI said...

I am so impressed with you for trying! And how amazing that you and Brian are setting up a community around this. You're awesome. I hope you keep us updated on how it's progressingfor you. Do you already have an idea?

Writer Bug said...

Erin, Yes, my goal is to have fun with it and to stop taking writing so damn seriously! Otherwise I'm just going to be paralyzed forever.

TI, Thanks! I'll definitely use the blog to keep everyone updated. And I do have an idea. I'll post about it soon. I'm a tad scared to share (what if you all laugh at it?) but I will anyway.

Becca said...

Good for you, Bug! I've completed NaNo for the past two years, and I think it's a great way to drive yourself into getting words on paper. And having your husband participating as well is great inspiration.

I'm not sure whether I'll do it this year, but I'll be cheering for you!

DJPare said...

That's great!
I agree with Erin - don't punish yourself or grade the accomplishment based on word count. Just write!