 Although, technically, I am 2100 words from winning NaNoWriMo2015, by the time this blog goes to press, I am confident I will have reached my goal. 50,000 words plus some.
If you participated in this year's National Novel Writing Month self-competition, then you are also breathing and jumping and dancing and patting yourself on the back today. Even if you didn't reach the goal of 50K, you must feel proud for even trying. When I started the adventure thirty days ago with my many-time participant and writing partner, Gwynne Jackson, I felt totally intimidated. However, as I fell into a daily groove of logging in one-thousand or more words, the intimidation melted into determination. Now, like many others, my story is not fully written, but I have more than half of it constructed. Over the next few weeks, I plan on keeping up my 850-1600 words daily. By the end of this calendar year I believe I will have a full novel ready for some new year's editing and revising. That's the fun part. So today, I thank Chris Baty for his brilliant idea to gather writers together around the globe and help us inspire each other. I'm in the groove, and I'm not stopping now. Look for the opening of my NaNo novel on my blog soon. I'd love to hear how the event inspires or frustrates you. Write on!
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 When I joined the NaNoWriMo crowd 23 days ago, I had little hope of achieving the 50,000-word count by the end of the month. As of today, I've written 36,099 words. No rounding; every word counts.
That's why I'm not going to spend too much time writing my blog today. I need to get back to my novel. First, three things I've learned about goal-setting. 1. Setting a daily word-count goal gives you a visual target. Your inner writing-ego won't let you leave the project if you don't achieve that number. 2. Setting a daily word-count goal pushes your creativity into a corner that you must escape from. This requires more creativity. If you think the chapter's finished, but it's under your word-goal, how about beefing up that description of your protag's jacket or the sound of the rain or make it rain. 3. Setting a daily word-count goal exercises your writing muscles. It's like taking up running. At first, your goal is to get around the block. After a few days, you up to two blocks. Before you know it, you're jogging across town and back. Set reasonable goals then push yourself a little more each day. (Warning: don't set a goal so high that writing becomes a chore. Keep it fun.) Want more inspiration? Try these articles from the experts at NaNoWriMo: Tackling the saggy middle. Putting the fun into your story. If you're writing, good luck. Have fun. You can do this! Write on!  Paris peace sign created by artist Jean Jullien, November 13, 2015. In light of Friday's tragedy in Paris, I decided to locate authors and characters who promote peace.
Our words speak as loudly as our actions. While you work to write the next great novel, consider the messages your characters share through their words and actions. Consider these wise and thoughtful words from some of our most creative writers. Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?” ― David Baldacci, The Camel Club “A quiet conscience makes one strong!” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl “If you love me as you say you do,' she whispered, 'make it so that I am at peace.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina “Peace is always beautiful.” ― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass “I do my best thinking at night when everyone else is sleeping. No interruptions. No noise. I like the feeling of being awake when no one else is.” ― Jennifer Niven, All the Bright Places “In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the very wise. But still he wandered through the streets of the town, always silent and alone.” ― Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter “I have never been carried around by a large boy, or laughed until my stomach hurt at the dinner table, or listened to the clamor of a hundred people all talking at once. Peace is restrained; this is free.” ― Veronica Roth, Divergent “How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula “It is better to be small, colorful, sexy, careless, and peaceful, like the flowers, than large, conservative, repressed, fearful, and aggressive, like the thunder lizards; a lesson, by the way, that the Earth has yet to learn.” ― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume “Thus Gotama [Buddha] walked toward the town to gather alms, and the two samanas recognized him solely by the perfection of his repose, by the calmness of his figure, in which there was no trace of seeking, desiring, imitating, or striving, only light and peace” ― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha “Let the peace of this day be here tomorrow when I wake up.” ― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow Find your words of peace and infuse them in the stories you tell. Let your characters rise above the horrible acts of human nature and be the trumpets of a new world, a peaceful world. Today, write only words of peace. Write on.  The turn of weather is a great time to take your writing through a poetic carwash. Fall is my absolute favorite season, and I love the poetry inspired by the leaves' changing colors, the biting cold that whips through my hair, and the dulling sun in the late afternoon sky.
Take a moment to visit these sites, read some verse, and give your writing a seasonal lift. Here are my go-to sites and a few seasonal writings that offer dimensional imagery and language to my writing. 1. The Poetry Foundation Grace Paley's Autumn. 2. Academy of American Poets Noah Falck's from "You are in Nearly Every Future" 3. The Poem Hunter John Keats' Ode to Autumn (I recommend you mute the computer-generated narration) 4. Poetry.about.com Elizabeth Barrett Browning's The Autumn If you are participating in NaNoWriMo and need an infusion of color and life or if you simply wish to take in the beauty of this season, discover again the color of poetry and let it drench your prose with folly. Share your whimsy here. Do you have a favorite verse or site you like? I'd love to know. Write on!  This is my first official year joining the throngs of crazies who attempt to write 50,000 words in November. Are you one of us? First, some history... Despite its Viking Helmet which suggests the phenomena began in Sweden or Denmark, NaNoWriMo started in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999. The lyrical title stands for National Novel Writing Month. The fist one took place in July begun by founder Chris Baty. Starting in 2000, the event moved to the chilly hibernating month of November. Now there's a whole team of people who run the website and support coffee-guzzling authors. Writers are challenged to pump out 50,000 words in thirty days. That's about 1,667 words per day. There's even a challenge for young writers. Yesterday, November 1, I managed 2100 words. That was a Sunday with that extra hour of sleep, no work, and no kids running around asking for anything. We'll see what I manage during the work week. Join in the maniacal fun, and be my buddy! Cheer me on, and let me cheer you on. I look forward to connecting with you at NaNoWriMo. If you need help getting started, drop me a note below. Write on! |
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