November is now known as the month of Literary Madness.
Several years ago, when NaNoWriMo (NNWM) was just a fledgling “mom & pop” freelance organization meant to get writers writing—to inspire people to do the impossible and casually write a novel, dressing on the side—I followed the group’s progress. I joined the local Durham NNWM scene, but it was composed of just a straggling, hair-brained few of us.
As the years go by, I am pleased to inform you that more people have hopped into the rocket traveling one-stop to the NNWM Universe. More and more people are trying. NNWM is becoming commonplace. Maybe November will actually be known for more than Thanksgiving and not shaving.
So, I’m doing it. I’m doing National Novel Writing Month. Partially because I am taking a novel writing class, and in order to get that coveted A, I must reach the 50,000 word count goal. But also, it’s my lifelong dream to write children’s fantasy novel. And garsh darn it, Ima do it. Doing NNWM will give me the push I need to really get on track to achieving my dream.
50 K in 30 days? No problem. Or so I thought.
It’s been six days, and I’m 11,222 words in, severely under-caffeinated, and feeling the impending doom (or triumph, depending on how you want to look at it) of that November 30th deadline.
In the beginning, the challenge of writing 50,000 in one month looked feasible. Likely to happen, even. But that was before I realized what that commitment truly entailed: a whole, fresh, steaming bowl of sacrifice soup. And a lot of it.
Finishing a long, arduous (typical) Duke day of meetings, class, homework, extracurricular involvement with writing 1,600 words can be maddening, disheartening, and hair-tearing fun. I won’t be surprised if I look like the Mad Hatter after all of this is over, with random tufts of hair missing, my outfits not matching, and the rest of my appearance mussed.
But, despite all of those things, despite that out-of-control feeling, here are the reasons why NaNoWriMo is so, so worth it:
– You’ll discover new things about yourself. Like what conditions you write best in, what your limits are, how much sleep you can function without, how capable you are of going the distance, etc.
– You’ll learn what it means to have true endurance. But I promise the sacrifice will be worth it by the end of the month.
– You’ll get to reward yourself with a manicure, hair-salon appointment, or any other thing to remedy your nail-biting, hair-tearing nervous habits.
– You’ll feel like you can accomplish anything. Marathon? Check. Mountain climbing? You betcha.
– You’ll find out who your real supporters are. Your mom. Your dog. The grocer. All the people who know you are writing this behemoth and are cheering you on every step of the way.
– And the most important reason? You’ll have written a gosh-darned, raw egg of a novel. That’s right, a novel. Move over F. Scott Fitzgerald, there’s a new girl in town. Go you miss authoress.
So write, write, write, my dear collegiettes.
I’ll let you know how I am once I survive the dinosaur era and climb out of my cave. Or the medieval era. Or whichever dangerous, exciting terrains I’ll travel while writing my novel.