If you weren’t aware that November is National Novel Writing Month, you are now! I’ve signed up at www.nanowrimo.org, where each year they challenge thousands of writers to get off the couch (or blog), and finally finish the novel that’s been bouncing around the padded walls of their minds. The goal: 50,000 words in thirty days. They provide encouraging emails, a personal page where you can update your word count, and forums where you can commiserate and procrastinate with other writers. The site is almost always bogged down and inaccessible during reasonable hours, which makes me think that most writers, like myself, are really good at finding ways NOT to work on their novel. Five days into the challenge, I’m at 8900 words! Maybe not the best stuff I’ve ever written, but it’s all about getting a first draft. So if you’ve been looking for the motivation to start that break-out novel, there’s always next year’s Nanowrimo, which leaves you an entire year of avoidance!
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"As soon as we express something, we devalue it strangely. We believe ourselves to have dived down into the depths of the abyss, and when we once again reach the surface, the drops of water on our pale fingertips no longer resemble the ocean from which they came...Nevertheless, the treasure shimmers in the darkness unchanged." ---Franz Kafka
My daughter's been trying to get me to write a novel in November for the past couple of years. So far, I haven't found that kind of energy! But you've inspired me to get started. Maybe today...
ReplyDelete8900 words is a lot! Be proud.
Regards, Elizabeth