What am I, Crazy?

[bcholmes]

So, like, I signed up for the National Novel Writing Month thing. This could all go horribly, horribly wrong.

From November 1st to November 30th, I have to write 50,000 words. I figure I should target 2000 words a day. I'll be off work for most of the month of November, so I hope things work out.

Comments

Hmmm...Blog as nOvel..novel as blog?

[northbard.livejournal.com]

This may sound intensely weird, but have you considered entering each day's info on a site? Not so much as blog, but, say, each day, you put the revised draft/manuscript online, but as a new document. This way, there's a daily tracking of changes, development and so forth.

Intensely intrusive, but weirdly intriguing, IMO.

Good luck!

[okoshun.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Yet another Toronto person being crazy like me. I can't wait to hear how it goes.

[snickerpuss.livejournal.com]

Yikes! 2000 words per day is... much!! Lots!! Eep! It took me about 5 hours, yesterday, to spew forth a little over 3000 words (on a boring, icky project, so that might have something to do with it), which of course means absolutely nothing and can be useful in no way whatsoever except to infer that I'm completely egocentric and assume that everyone must write at exactly the same pace as I do! Heh. However, I'm glad you're going to have lots of time off work, because you may need it. What about editing, polishing, etc?! (Said the nay-sayer.) I think I better go check out your link. :)

[snickerpuss.livejournal.com]

Bah! I'm stupid!! Stupid! I decided to do it, too. Stupid! Stupid LiveJournal! Stupid Internet!! ARrrgH!!!

Mommy. Help me.

[snickerpuss.livejournal.com]

(It just sounded like too much fun...)

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

Hi,

I clicked through to your journal from the list of friends-oft-listed-but-not-on-his-list posted by jodawi. I believe you've met okoshun (who I'm married to) at the Toronto poly group meetings -- I recognize your name and recall her saying that you were nice and an interesting person. In any case, I just wanted to say that both myself and okoshun have signed up for NaNoWriMo as well. It would have been funny had you come to the Toronto NaNoWriMo kickoff party yesterday -- okoshun would undoubtedly have had that 'small world' feeling. :)

Going to the meeting was reassuring. Almost everybody there was a first-timer. Most of the people either had just signed up and had no idea what they were going to write yet, or only had the vaguest of ideas. Only one or two people (about fifteen people showed up) had an actual outline of any sort jotted down. Two people there had done it before and not finished (one twice), but were back again this year, which leads me to believe that even if you don't finish, it's a worthwhile experience and not utterly demoralizing.

The mantra that the people on the NaNoWriMo forums gave me to repeat to myself when I posted in their, "I Hate Myself And I Want To Die" message board about my pre-November stress flurries was, "Quantity, not quality." They advised me to keep reminding myself that this is not to be the Great American Novel, that it's only a first draft and/or an exercise to get into the swing of regular writing. Even if I didn't make the target, the attempt was more important than the success, but that if I kept in mind that all I had to do was bang out my number of words that month and I'd succeed as well. I'm highly self-critical, so that is going to be a difficult mantra to bear in mind, but I'm practicing it, and it does help to calm the, "This could all go terribly wrong," voices.

The people at the get-together were all very nice. They're planning more get-togethers over the course of the month to chat and write, as well as a "THANK (GOD) ITS OVER!!" party at the end of the month.

[the-fury.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the madness.

No plot, no problem.