Friday, October 26, 2007

Writing

Since I have a little bit of time on my hands this week, I am actually going to blog more than once today.



I have something important to talk about...and no, I am not going to tell any stories about my 'tad bit' wild side youth. (I appreciate all the calls and emails about my use of the words 'tad bit' and for the record, I am holding to that.)



Nope, I'm gonna talk about....


NANOWRIMO.



That's right, NaNoWriMo...or in plain English, National Novel Writing Month.



In 2004, my college English professor girlfriend and I were talking over coffee, and she brought up this silly idea she was toying with, and would I join with her? The whole concept is that from November 1 - 30th, you write a 50,000 word novel. 50,000 words! It's not about quality, but quantity, so basically you just write and write and write. And at the end of the month? You have the beginnings of a book.



So, I thought about it...for like 2 seconds. Of course I'll do it!



=0)



I used to want to be a writer, but then I grew up. And discovered I had other talents...like being a mom.



But, in 2004, my last baby was in 1st grade, and I was a stay-at-home mom. I could write during the daytime and that whole 50,000 word thing? No problem. I could do that in a day.



HA!



In 2004, I joined NaNoWriMo. And yes, I did write.



32 words.



Yep, 32 words.



They looked a bit like this: milk, bread, tp, apple juice, broccoli, blah, blah, blah.



OK, so it's not as easy as I thought.



2005 rolls around. There are now a few more of us signing up, again. Over coffee, it sounds great. Again. This year was a bit more successful...I wrote 135 words.



2006? The household is running pretty smooth and I really throw myself in with my whole being. I outlined a novel, and by the end of the month, I had written 38, 872 words. It sucked, but I wrote them. I actually changed story ideas part way through, and not wanting to start over, I just sort of blended it.
Badly.



In all those words, I had only one line of dialog. Too funny...but I couldn't figure out how to work it in. No one read it but me, which is a good thing. I knew what I had written and I could barely get through the thing.



Ah well.



So now it is 2007. There are 9 of us writing this year. I have an idea for a story, but we'll see if it blossoms into something. I love the whole idea of it, so we'll see. The 1st few days I will still be without driving privileges, so that's a plus.
Brian and I made sugar cookie dough and have played lots of games of Clue and Sorry. M just walked in the door and we're going to eat supper before he and Matthew head out to a concert. Alex is at practice and will stay for open gym afterwards. The air is clear and the kitchen slider is open...wide. Fresh air is a beautiful thing!

1 comment:

  1. I actually signed up for nanowrimo...can't decide if I should try

    ReplyDelete

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