by Judith Robl
National Novel Writing Month has always been a dilemma for me. I would love to be able to participate in NaNoWriMo. But it’s in November!
Who choose November?
To make the goal, I would need to write 1667 words a day each of the 30 days in the month. For me that month is rife with interruptions.
We live in a rural area with acreage that is fit for hunting upland game birds, so naturally all the city people we know want to come and hunt. There’s one weekend shot to pot in a handbasket.
So I have 28 days left to write which increases my needed word count to 1786.
Thanksgiving preparation takes a minimum of 36 to 48 hours preparation, effectively leaving me 26 days to write.
Now my needed word count has gone up to 1924.
Then the actual weekend of Thanksgiving – Thursday through Sunday – is filled with guests and traveling. I’m down another four days to 22.
Needed word count has gone up to 2273 words every writing day I have left.
At the same time, we’re preparing for Christmas which entails shopping, planning, and logistics for family coming in from various and sundry places. This loses me another couple of day, so I have essentially 20 days in which to write 50,000 words of a novel.
Obviously this is not an activity in which I can participate effectively at 2500 words per day.
But wait! Several years ago, I decided to participate – at least to try to participate. Midway in the month I lost two weeks. Never mind.
I had already outlined a series of novels that I wanted to write, but I didn’t want to work on any of those for NaNoWritMo.
Therefore, I created a throw-away character and totally independent plot for this novel. But my heroine, Lynne, wouldn’t mind her own business.
Before I knew it, she had been to the library to research the history of the house she had just bought. That led her into genealogy. With those discoveries, she decided to be the pivot on which my novel series turned.
Moral of the story is that NaNoWriMo can trigger things, even if you don’t complete it.
And will someone please change the month to something other than November?
Judith Robl founded Reflected Light Ministries after some life changing events made her re-assess her place in God’s plan.
Focusing on faith, forgiveness, and developing a closer relationship with God, her presentations challenge and inspire as well as entertain.
We love helping your growing in your writing career.
1 Comment
I, too, feel your pain. 🙂 Out of my family of four, two birthdays fall in November, we host Thanksgiving dinner most years, and I start pulling out my Christmas decorations November 1st, which amounts to at least a week of decorating. Then there’s the random school stuff, since my kids are in 7th and 4th grades, appointments that were made months ago, and all the other life responsibilities that get in the way. I’d love for NaNo to happen in March or April, myself, but I suppose someone else out there would have the same problems I do with birthdays and maybe they’re just as excited about Easter decorating as I am about Christmas. 😉 I keep telling myself once my girls are in college, then I can participate. 🙂 But I like your suggestion that great ideas can come from prepping for–and participating in–NaNo, even if all 50,000 words never get written in November.