Thursday, September 9, 2010

NaNoWriMo.3

(the above image is an art card I bought from
OhMandie to keep me motivated to write
during NaNoWriMo '08.
It still sits on my desk and I look at it every day!)


It's that time again.

What time? you may be asking yourself.

Why it's NaNo-time, of course! Well, NaNo-prep-time, at least. Because in a little less than 2 months (beginning Nov. 1st), National Novel Writing Month will commence!

A whole slew of you readers have seen my posts in which I've said, "Hey! I'm writing a book!" and a lot of you have whispered in my comments, "I'm jealous. I've always wanted to write a book..."

Well, guess what? I CHALLENGE YOU!

Yeah, that's right, I challenge you. To pull out a sheet of paper and mash some ideas between pink margins and blue lines, no matter how fantastic or how dumb you think they might sound.

I challenge you to sign up for National Novel Writing Month, even if you only think you'll hit 5 thousand typed words instead of the required 50 thousand it takes to print up a winner certificate.

I challenge you to stop thinking about what you'd like to achieve "someday" and start thinking about what you'd like to achieve "now" because really, you're not getting any younger, and the days are slipping by one by one and in ten years from now, when you look back, would you rather say "I spent the last ten years writing novels and LOVING IT" or would you rather say, "I spent the last ten years thinking about how I'll write novels some day."

Because time will pass no matter what.

This will be my 4th year doing NaNoWriMo. The first year, in 2005, I didn't remember to sign up, but I did type a whole 15k out of 50k. In 2008, I tried again. Actually hit my 50k, but didn't sign up to get my certificate (the accomplishment mattered more to me than the certificate). Last year... I hit 16k out of 50k. But after NaNo ended, I kept writing and now my book is almost done.

This year - um... maybe I'll hit 50k? That is my goal at least. After being all gung-ho-NaNo, it might be nice to actually get that certificate...

So, WHO IS WITH ME? Go on - shout it loud and shout it proud!

And also, be my NaNoBFF! - you can find me HERE!

No excuses, those of you who have always wanted to be writers but haven't allowed yourself the chance. Not a single person other than yourself even has to see your writing. And if you think you probably suck too much to consider being a writer, me too!! We can suck together!

And if you think you don't have time, tell me this: is there twenty minutes you can find each day where you can scribble words on paper or type them out? Because after 30 days, those twenty minutes a day will magically turn into TEN HOURS of writing time.

You can accomplish a lot in ten hours. And if you give yourself forty minutes a day, that's TWENTY HOURS. You can handle it. Really. I'm not saying it's easy, especially if you work or have kids or work AND have kids... but it is possible.

So I ask again, WHO IS WITH ME!?

And if being a writer "someday" is your secret (or not-so-secret) dream, I really hope YOU ARE!

xoxo,

8 comments:

Alyssa S. said...

You know no matter how much I piss and moan about finding the time that I'm in. I guess that means I have to decide what I want to write :)

April said...

I was seriously thinking about taking another bash at it, but I am being completely consumed by cupcakes! I've still got a little time to ponder it! Who knows, maybe I'll just go for it!

Unknown said...

YAY, Alyssa!!

April - write a book about cupcakes! :)

Unknown said...

It is raining in Seattle. (Big surprise) Your website is adorable and full of sunshine. Thanks!
50k hugh? mmm I might just take it on...

Unknown said...

Awesome, Pam! It's hard, but not too hard!!

Lindsay Buroker said...

I'm going to give it a try this year. I've written a couple novels before, but never tried to finish one in a month. ;)

Unknown said...

So awesome!! YES, give it a try! You have nothing to lose even if you don't make it, and everything to gain if you do!

Unknown said...

I'm signing up, but I already know that the 50K thing is probably out of my hands. I'm taking an 8 day vaca and then you have the thanksgiving weekend full of family activities...but we can push each other some. I think my goal will be 20K towards my new shiny idea. What will you be working on this time around?

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