National Novel Writing Month begins November 1st, runs through November 30th, and brings together authors from across the globe in a virtual hub where they compare progress toward their goal, a 50K word novel during those 30 days. I love the idea of NaNoWriMo for those who need the dynamic, but it’s not practical for me.
For one thing, 50K words in a month is 1667 words per day, and really. That’s my job anyway as a genre writer. That’s 6 – 7 pages. Maybe 8. Like I said. My job. The site offers pep talks. Again, love this, but I can hop over to the blogs of any number of authors any day of the year for the same. There are also word count widgets for your site or blog. I’ve got one of those over there on the left. Participants can also add badges to their own sites. I don’t need no stinkin’ badges. I’ve got all the badges I need right here. :) But even if I were to officially participate, there’s no way I would hang out in the forums. Talk about a distracting recipe for a chatting disaster.
Then there’s this fact: NOVEMBER. Uh, hello, Thanksgiving? In the U.S., that’s a four day holiday weekend, with days of prep beforehand. Yes, we learn as pros to write on holidays. We also learn how important family time is. Contractual deadlines too often get in the way of these types of celebrations. There’s no way I’m going to voluntarily interrupt that time. I don’t have anything to prove by doing so. I’m already a pro. My badges page proves that. ;)
So that’s, say, a loss of three days. Three family birthdays are also in November: my son, my stepson, and the boyfriend in law (#1 daughter’s long time guy). This means at least one big get together and a lot of cooking. Here I lose another day. I’ve got one Saturday earmarked for Bob Mayer’s Warrior Writer workshop. Another day lost. November only has 30, and now I’m down to a conservative estimate of 25 I can devote to those 50K words. Doing that math has me writing 2K per day. Since I’d rather write the 1667, and I’m pretty sure I won’t get much done Halloween weekend with all the husband’s goings-on, I’m starting today, using this week’s five weekdays, then the 25 days in November I think I can manage.
Here are a few helpful tools I may or may not use: Freedom, Write or Die, 750words, XNote Stopwatch, Focus Writer. Of course I can only use these when I’m actually writing at the computer. Since I don’t do that much, I’ll take my Alphasmart to the backyard, and leave my iPod and my Blackberry inside where I won’t hear the email notifications, and if I miss a call, I’ll return it later. Words first!
Freedom is an internet blocking program. Firefox has a similar plugin called LeechBlock which I like because it’s always a freebie. You know how you’re stuck in a scene and you convince yourself a quick look at email or Twitter will break the block? Uh-uh. If you’ve got Freedom or LeechBlock running, you can’t get to the internet without rebooting your machine. Makes it much easier just to stick with the writing.
Speaking of setting time, I love using the XNote Stopwatch. I set a great song to blast at the end of the writing session (usually short, 20 or 30 minutes, because I need to get up and move by then anyway) and jump up to dance. In my office. Where no one can see. Write or Die is a cruel program best used by masochists. ;) If you like to be tortured rushing against a clock, go for it. Me? I would never set it to NOT save if the clock wins. I don’t need that kind of stress, but if you live on that kind of edge . . .
750words is a site set up for morning pages, but can be used to keep track of daily writing. It’s nice to have a check in spot that runs year round. Seeing those words add up and the daily tally prove dedication is pretty awesome even after years in the biz.
Another thing I love is FocusWriter, a distraction free word processor. I have a great full screen image of a village in Italy, and I write in a sage colored square on top.
One of the main reasons, however, that NaNoWriMo isn’t practical is this bit:
# Write a 50,000-word (or longer!) novel, between November 1 and November 30.
# Write a novel. We define a novel as a lengthy work of fiction. If you consider the book you’re writing a novel, we consider it a novel too!
Yeah . . . no. I’ve written a bunch of badges novels. I don’t need to prove I can finish one. And I’m not under contract. So I don’t have a book I need to get written to a date. What I do have are several ideas I’m developing for submission, etc., so my words are going to be divvied up between whatever suits me on any given day.
And I will make a post every day to let you know how many words I’ve done. Feel free to stop by and post your word count if you’d like and we’ll make it a party! I like the idea of being accountable. I will also try to update my Whizmatronic Widgulating Calibrational Scribometer on the sidebar, but can’t guarantee I’ll do that daily.
What I won’t be doing as much daily is writing long tasty blog posts – unless I get the words done early and have nothing else calling my name. I will try and recycle some old ones so you’ll have something to read, and I’ve got a couple of giveaways planned. Also, I’m thinking of a really cool giveaway if I meet my 50K word goal by November 30th – and an equally cool giveaway if I don’t! Ha! But more on those later.
Right now . . . gotta go! #AmWriting!
