NaNoWriMo – The Honeymoon Period

Well it’s been 41 hours since the start of NaNoWrimo this year and so far so good. I’ve managed to stay super motivated and have churned out a lovely 6590 words so far. I credit my super successful start to Freedom, which has severely curtailed my procrastination impulses.. thank goodness for that! And, while writing 6590 words I’ve also managed to make a vegan soup, bake a walnut loaf, update my “other” blog with said recipes, watch 2 movies and get more than 16 hours sleep! All in all, things are coming along very nicely! Perhaps it’s the view that’s contributing to my super creative vibe at the moment..

(I know, I know, I keep putting up photos of the same thing, but I just love looking at this view so much that I figure you will too!)

Lets hope I can keep the momentum going with the word count and that my story continues to inspire me, instead of making me want to bang my head repeatedly on my desk, which is what happened when I got to about 8000 words in last years story.

In other news, I had my first ever trick-or-treater on halloween which was very exciting. I was so shocked when someone knocked on my door that I almost fell off my chair! It’s only the second time someone has knocked on our door in 3 months so you can understand my confusion! I answered the door to find this little guy:

I was so happy to have a trick-or-treater that I asked him if I could take a photo. Unfortunately I didn’t have anything to give him which I felt pretty bad about, I would have offered him an orange but I figure that is probably worse than getting nothing at all! He took it pretty well though, and I promised him that I would have lollies for him next year.

In rodent related news, I finally worked up the courage to come out of the bedroom for a whole half a day until my Mum sent me a nasty email about how mice can chew through walls and are probably climbing up the legs of my bed and crawling on me while I sleep and then I had a mini nervous breakdown and went back in to the bedroom (though, even the bedroom didn’t feel very safe thanks to her!). I’ve managed to coax myself out today, and so far so good, although I’m really hoping that my super electromagnetic mouse scarer-awayer arrives tomorrow.. I just don’t know if I can take much more of this!

Anyway, it’s 5:30 which means, it’s time to re-activate Freedom for the next 2 hours and see if I can churn out another 2000 words before the end of the day. Wish me luck!

 

NaNoProMo.. National Novel Procrastination Month

Well the rain may have brought the mice, but it was also responsible for some more glorious new flowers blooming in our yard so perhaps it can be forgiven. I did manage to get outside this afternoon but I’m back to hiding out in my bedroom at the moment.. there hasn’t been another mouse sighting yet (although this probably has more to do with the fact that I am hiding out in the bedroom than the mouse being gone) but I’m not taking any chances.

In non rodent related news, there is only 28 hours left until the NaNoWriMo kick off. For those of you who aren’t in the ‘Wrimo loop, basically the challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, starting November 1st. Here is the lowdown from the website:

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2008, we had over 119,000 participants. More than 21,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month’s time.

Who: You! We can’t do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let’s write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era’s most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

So, through the month of November one of two things will happen, either I will be so focused on my ‘Wrimo novel that you won’t hear a peep from me, or I will be so hell bent on procrastinating that I’ll be blogging, tweeting, commenting and facebooking like never before. Either option is fine, last year during a fit of NaNoWriMo procrastination I started my vegetarian food blog and I’ve managed to keep that alive now for the whole year, so good things do come from endless procrastination, even if it doesn’t happen to be the thing you are actually supposed to be working on.

Last year I didn’t make it through to the 50,000 finish line but this year I’m hoping to be a ‘Wrimo winner.. especially since successful completion means I can cross something new off my 101/1001 list, which I haven’t done in a really long time and really need to start working on again.

Anyway, wish me some novel writing luck!

 

NaNoWrimo

I have just signed up for NaNoWrimo 2009. Last year was my first attempt, and I managed to get to just over 13000 words before declaring defeat, this year I’m hoping to “win”. There’s a good chance I’ll be able to do it. Last year I was working full time and this year I am enjoying a sabbatical so that should work in my favour!

Anyone with me? T? J?

Interestingly November is also the month I start my BA through Macquarie Uni, and is also when we’ll be heading North for our Pearl Jam road trip (Not to mention the excitement that is the New Moon release – oh dear me how embarrassing!) so it looks like it’s going to be a pretty great month!