Sit down. Start writing. I am itching to do that…to start something new. After a year of revising my psychological suspense novel, Net Switch, I’d love to jump into something fresh and different. I even have a title, but that’s it.
The fun month is approaching…National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)…a month where you sit your butt down and write your heart out. The goal is to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. It starts on November 1 and ends at midnight on November 30. There is worldwide participation. You can sign up on their site at National Novel Writing Month. In the past, I’ve heard some people make it a family event in which they each attempt to write a novel. It’s a great way to write what you like, and utilize your time. Even if you don’t complete the task, you might have the meat for a great short story.
My novel came from my 2008 participation. I joined to see if I could do it—I did—and because of it I received a badge stating I was a “Winner NaNoWriMo 2008” (still on my blog). After that, I put it aside, happy that I accomplished writing 50,100 words in a month. But as fate would have it, someone read it and encouraged me to publish it.
Three years later, over 75,000 words, my book will be in print just in time for the holiday season.
If you know of anyone with imagination and writing skills, or you want to challenge yourself to a creative competition, then I highly encourage you to signup now and put on your idea cap. It’s the perfect time to prepare for a month of writing—letting your imagination run wild. I’d love to know if anyone is interested in joining.
I’m pretty busy with things going on in my life, but I can’t seem to ignore this writing itch. Maybe I'll be able to juggle it.
Scratch and create,
Bea
I have never done Nano. My characters always beat me before or after the fact. Thrilled you're getting it out there! Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteYes, you are on a roll, woman. I'm going to want to do a guest blog post on you, if you ever find the time.
ReplyDeleteThanks, AB. You've always stuck by me and it's appreciated. :D
I am definitely thinking about doing this nano thing. Nice post, Bea...
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo, now we know the title of your soon-to-be released novel! Exciting!
ReplyDeleteI did NaNo last year and couldn't get over how productive I was when I sat down with a word count goal each day. And I actually finished my 50,000 words after three weeks, not four. The BEST thing to come out of NaNo was tapping into a different part of my brain. It was strange, but when I didn't stop to edit as I wrote, I felt as if it opened up a whole new bank of ideas. So yeah, I encourage writers to go for it this year. You never know what it will lead to. (fun trivia, just in case someone's reading this who's not familiar with NaNo: the popular novel, Water for Elephants, is said to have come from a NaNo contest!)
And by all means, Bea, don't ignore that itch. Scratch and create is right, babay!