NaNoWriMo

Challenge Accepted

I haven't posted since summer and things have certainly changed.

Covid-19 is altering our lives whether we would like to admit it or not. You'd think being on lockdown, or reduced movement at least, would play to the writer's advantage. More time to write they say. For some writers it certainly has. For people like myself, and oddly the majority from what I have witnessed from friends, it hasn't.

Being a healthcare worker during the pandemic can be stressful. As a person with an underlying condition - asthma, it stretches the levels of stress to the point of reality. It's not a perceived fear, it's real.  And although I think about the novel I'm writing every day, making adjustments to the outline, etc., sitting down to write each day has become a chore. With that being said, I do appreciate the support system I have around me, my wife, and authors I call friends. I'm not disciplined enough to write every single day on my own though.

National Novel Writing Month

A year ago, I actually signed up for NaNoWriMo, then foolishly deleted my account because I had the notion that I had to actually finish a novel in thirty days. Impossible I thought. But that's not how it works.

The month of November is dedicated to writing fifty thousand words in one month, sixteen hundred and sixty-seven words a day. It can be a new project, or if you're a rebel like me; the addition of fifty thousand words to your existing first draft. I used the term first draft too, not published novel. You need to edit the crap out of a first draft before you think about publishing it.

This year, after learning more about the challenge, I thought it would be the sort of boost I could implement. It's working so far.

Every day for the last fifteen days, I've written at least five hundred and sixty-six words. It's only eighty-five hundred words to add to the current draft but hey, the challenge has forced me to go upstairs, sit down in my office and write - every day.

I'm already looking into goal tracking apps to keep the stats going. They seem to motivate me.

Nanaimo, British Columbia

As a side note, I have to admit that the people in my household as well as myself, are having considerable difficulty remembering the name NaNoWriMo. Mainly because it sounds an awful lot like the city we live - Nanaimo.

In closing, I promise to update my blog at the conclusion of National Novel Writing Month to see how I faired. Technically, it's an uphill battle. You are pulling a story out of your imagination and scratching it down into words. Not an easy task.

Wish me luck!