NaNoWriMo

It’s that time of the year where you tell yourself you will write your novel in a minimum of 50,000 words, that you will sit down every day and commit yourself to type that next chapter, that time when the world should stop around you and you should finally focus on what you’ve always secretly wanted to do…

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, takes place every year in November. Last year I started a novel and like usual, did not complete the word count requirement or finish. This year, I told myself I would do it, despite graduate papers to write, work, articles to read and the everyday life needs and responsibilities we all have.  So far, I have completed nearly 1/5 my novel. By November 15, eerily just 5 days from now, I want to be at least half way through. I have no idea how I will do this. I spent the better of this day off (since I will be working Veterans Day and the upcoming weekend shift) getting diagnosed with a sinus infection (which I knew I had two weeks ago, yet my doctor did not prescribe me antibiotics at the time and thus I have been suffering for two weeks, hooray).

The best advice I have been given so far is to write whatever thought pops into your head, even if it has nothing to do with your plot or where you think your novel should be going. I know I spend too much time rewriting a sentence or going back and editing. For the purpose of NaNoWriMo, this is a waste of time. Just keep going and write and complete the novel. After November, you can edit all you want, but the goal is to finish writing your novel’s first draft, not write it perfectly.

Will I succeed? Hopefully. If not? Then perhaps I will find the courage to finish my novel by the end of the year, and hopefully my friends won’t get worried that I am hunched over my laptop at hours on end chugging coffee and hot tea.

How is your novel coming along?