blogger profile

Sarahthequeen05

I am a spunky 25-year-old living in a suburb of Tampa. I was relocated here with my husband of 2 years from western North Carolina when the Air Force decided that we were needed in sunny Florida! I had almost all the best times of my life at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC, the oldest women's c...

READ MORE

Made-Up Words

Sarah Davis-Harwood

NaNoWriMo. 

Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?  Let's try it again with some extra letters...

National Novel Writing Month. 

Still nothing but crickets chirping.  Dang.

Ok, so here goes: for the entire month of November, not a single day before or after, you sign up to write a 50,000 word novel of the crappiest caliber.  You don't give into wanting to re-read it or edit it during this time.  It is almost a month-long holiday geared towards Anne Lamott's "shitty rough drafts".

I participated once, 3 years ago and haven't been able to get myself in the mood to do it again, but, boy is it fun and I’m going to do it this year and I’m going to WIN! 

Explaining it to other, non-noveling people can be a challenge.

Clueless Bystander: "What are you doing?"

Me: "Writing a novel.  Shh."

Still Clueless and Rapidly Becoming Annoying Person: "Why?  Will it be published?  Are you going to be rich?"

Me: "Because it's National Novel Writing Month, you dolt, and I'm participating.  I have 17 days and 25,371 words left, so you really should be quiet before I start beating you about the head and neck with this notebook."

Very Annoying Person: "Oh, so it's nothing but a hobby, then.  You're not getting anything back out of it, and you're neglecting to spend precious quality time with us, your family and friends, to do it."

Me: "It's much greater than a hobby; it is a test of willpower and determination and it is a huge obstacle over which I WILL TRIUMPH!” (pumping my fist into the air as I say this.)

Annoying Person Boderlining on Stalker-dom: (whining) “But we never see you any more, you’re always just holed up by yourself with your stupid laptop and your headphones so you can’t hear us or see us.”

Me: (sighing deeply and with immense pleasure) “Yep.”

Go visit them at www.nanowrimo.org and read all about it.  It’s totally free to sign up, though they have a store with awesome stuff and if you can donate to them (they support all kinds of amazing literacy charities), they sometimes send you goodies, too.  For all you teachers, you can participate with your classrooms, by setting your own goals (obiously, a 4th grader probably won’t knock out 50,000 words in 30 days), and you get cool stuff to give out in classroom kits, (like a poster for the classroom, pencils and buttons that say “I write novels” and other cute things.

Like I said, I’m doing it this year and it would be really awesome if we got a virtual writing group going to support each other and make fun of each other and whatnot.  Yeah, it’s a big committment (about 1663 words per day); but I got so close last time that I know it’s doable.  (If you’re wondering, the only reason that I didn’t finish last time was a nasty case of bronchitis.)

So come on!  It will be fun!  You’ll be writing for the sheer joy of it (and a time deadline), without worrying about dialogue that makes sense or plot holes or story arcs.  You’re just aiming for a minimum of 50,000 words.  Drop your fears and inhibitions and let’s go!