What's this 'Nanowrimo' thing?

If you're a non-writing friend of mine, or you do write and you've just never heard of this "NaNoWri Mo" thing, let me fill you in. It stands for "National Novel Writing Month", although it's become really quite international. For the month of November, whomever is insane enough to try it, writes a 50,000 word (or more) novel between November 1 and November 30. As crazy as it sounds, tons of people do it from all over the world. There's no prize if you win, just the satisfaction that you did it.

I tried it last year, but about a week in was struck down with morning sickness and pregnancy exhaustion, so I gave up. But, this year, I'm more or less healthy and have no excuses! Actually, I could come up with quite a few excuses, but I'm going to try it anyway. :)

So, why in the world would an already busy homeschool mom decide to write about 1700 words a day for 30 days? Hah! So glad you asked...

1. I enjoy the challenge. I like stepping out a doing something that has nothing to do with being a Mom or educating my children.

2. I want to work on turning off my "inner editor". In writing and in other areas of my life, I tend to be fairly critical of what I produce. When writing a novel in 30 days, quantity rather than quality is the goal. There's no time to listen to the editor in my ear telling me how horrible this is and how it will never work. He just has to shut up so I can get it done. All first drafts have big problems that need to be fixed. This one will certainly be no different. You can't edit a blank page. (Someone else said that - not me.)

3. I'm using the opportunity to explore a few writing things I've been wanting to but haven't. I want to write in dual perspectives, meaning that the story is told from the point of view of two different characters. I also want to write for adults rather than teens. Thirdly, I'm working on a plot that deals with racial issues in the Church - a topic I've wanted to tackle for a while. Am I SUPER nuts for trying so many new and serious things on a slam together Nanowrimo novel? Perhaps. But, in my mind, doing it this way gives me the freedom to fail, and therefore the freedom to take more risks that I otherwise might not .

4. I've had trouble in the past writing novels in short chunks because I lose track of the flow of the story. It's like trying to carry on an in-depth conversation with someone in 2 minutes a day. It's a little hard to keep track of what you were talking about. This should solve that problem. I'm also guessing I'll learn more how to write amid distractions (like children, football games and hockey games in the background).

I've found that when I know what I need to write, my kids are relatively quiet upstairs for 'rest time' and I've got a coffee buzz going, I can write 500 words in about 20 minutes. So, an hour and a half, roughly, per day to make 1700 words. No problem! I think the problem will be keeping that up throughout the month.

November will NOT be the month to quit caffeine and I may be doing my Christmas shopping early. Or late.

Anyone care to join me? ;)