NaNoWriMo

On the Playlist: Hey Ya - Obadiah Parker

What I predict my life will look like this November.

Well, I did it. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. It's not my first time. Back in 2008, I said I was going to do it without joining the site, checking out the forums, or, uh, knowing how to write. I may have written 1k, but even that's iffy. Last year, I told myself that I was going to do it, and that I was going to do it right. I made an account, posted on the forums, planned to go to my city's events, all that fun stuff. The moment November began, I was writing, and for the duration of November 1, I kept up a good pace. But come November 2, 3, 4, and so on, I fell behind. Way behind. And I decided that I hated my novel and tried to change it, but I hated what I changed it to, so I changed and back, and you can guess the rest. Needless to say, I did not win last year. I'm not sure I event hit 5k.

To me, my two failures meant that NaNoWriMo just wasn't for me. It wasn't because I was hasty, lazy, or indecisive. So, I wasn't going to do it this year. I had a novel to revise, research papers to write, leadership meetings for the Christian Fellowship to attend, a small group for the Christian Fellowship to run, and friends who may occasionally want to see me. That was (and still is) more than enough for me.

But there were three things I learned about myself as writer as I worked on my first novel:

1. I'm hasty.

2. I'm lazy.

3. I'm indecisive.

Ultimately, my goal with NaNoWriMo is not to win, though that would be awesome and certainly is one of my goals. However, as long as I'm faster at writing first drafts come December 1, I'm happy. That's what I hope to get from NaNo.

Fellow NaNo'ers, why are you doing it? Is it just to have 50 000 more words than you had in October, or do you have another goal in mind?

And if you're a fellow NaNo'er, I'm bri_ness over there. Come say hi and be my buddy!