Wednesday, November 2, 2011

NaNo A Go-Go

Thanks for the support and encouragement! I have decided to do NaNo this year, and thanks to Becky, I have a fun idea: I'm writing about gypsies. Not just any gypsies, but a reluctantly psychic gypsy who finds an old diary and considers abandoning her mother.

Fun, right?

Despite the amount of grading I have to get caught up on this week, I started NaNo with a bang yesterday. I wrote today as well, and my total word count is over 4,300.

A few things that are making NaNo easier than it's been in the past:

1. I've discovered the beauty of coffee shop writing. I camped out at Starbucks yesterday while waiting for my dear husband to be done with work, and again today with a good friend. Since this is a book I'm not too serious about, the noise and chatter of a coffee shop blend together to create my soundtrack. Usually, I can't focus unless it's silent, but it's NaNo: who needs to focus? I'm just doing this for fun.

2. Along with writing away from home, I have changed up my computer. Instead of my beloved desktop, I'm working on my little netbook. Because it is so small, I resist the temptation to play around on the internet when I'm writing on it: it's too much trouble to connect and surf on a keyboard that hurts my wrists.

3. Friends! I've recruited a number of folks, and it's so good knowing that we're all in this together. I will definitely try to attend some of the official regional write-ins if my schedule allows, but for now it's enough to know that there are a number of other brilliant women (and one brilliant brother) plodding away at their own novels this month.

4. Not taking myself so seriously. This is a biggie: for so long, I have been writing and polishing with an eye toward publication, and I think I may have something that will work. I'm not approaching NaNo with the same mentality, however: this is my break month, my just for fun words on the page. If I write something that is worth working on, I may polish it up and see what happens, but if I don't, that's ok. It's good to be writing just for the pleasure of stringing words together and creating worlds and characters, and it takes my mind of the submission process I'm in with Book 1 of the YA fantasy trilogy. Writing should be fun, and NaNo is reminding me of that.

So what's your NaNo project? Stay motivated: 28 days to go!

4 comments:

  1. yay, Jen! Great start. That whole not taking yourself seriously is so hard and yet so vital. Glad you are just having fun.

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  2. I'm writing about Chrystal and Brian: she is the 16 yo who has fallen for the HS dropout bad boy, and he is the bad boy who has decided that he cannot live without Chrystal and she should not live without him.

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  3. it hurts me that you went to Starbucks! There are so many independent coffee houses in the area that could use some devoted NaNoers.

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  4. Thanks, Charity! And I'm getting excited for my guest appearance this week!

    Oh, Dee, that sounds excellent! You've got your pitch line right there, too!

    Sorry, A...I can't help where I have a gift card!

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