Tuesday 3 November 2015

Oh. It's November.

Actually it's the 3rd November, so... I think we can safely say that I missed the start of NaNoWriMo. If you've never heard of it, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month (although it's pretty international at this point), where you aim to write 50,000 words - a novel, essentially - in one month.

I've done it twice and managed it once. Neither story went anywhere, but it was pretty thrilling to actually make the 50k.

I had thought I'd do it this year, but somehow forgot that it was actually November now. Frankly, I think I'm in denial about the speed with which this year is whizzing by. But, November it is and 3 days in I am sans words. Hmm. Should probably do something about that...

It's unlikely that I'll meet that 50k this month, as I'm starting late and will be seeing Rich for the first time in two weeks this weekend, but hey - worth a shot right?

Chuck Wendig wrote this great post on surviving NanNo and it makes so much sense to me (also, you should totally follow Chuck on twitter, he's a very inspiring chap).

I've decided to set my own NaNoWriMo goals this year:

I am going to go boldly after Novel Number Two.
This means dedicating myself to the pursuit of those 10,000 words, as I had established that a solid foundation of works makes it easier for me to write. I'll work on an outline, get to know my characters and do all the groundwork that seemed to make my first novel flow out of me so beautifully.

I am going to submit Novel Number One to three agents.
I really do need to write a post on my thoughts on Big Magic as this goal has a lot to do with that book. In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert talks about 'eating the shit sandwich' - every profession or hobby, no matter how dreamy, has a shit sandwich you need to eat. Knitting and crochet has all those pesky ends to weave in; baking leaves you with a mountain of washing up; writing, if and when you send it out, often results in rejection.

If my block is stemming from the dear of rejection, then the only way I can get over it is to get rejected so often that it stops being a big deal. And the only way to be rejected is to send things out. And I might even get a more positive result - but I'm trying to reframe how I think about rejection, so this is a win-win for me.

What are your goals for National Novel Writing Month - I'd love to hear about them! Comment below or tweet me so we can create our own little online writer's circle!

1 comment:

  1. No novel in my future but I am aiming to do some writing (non fiction) this month. Scary to put that in writing. Good luck on your goals.

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