My Latest Challenge
What could be more challenging than writing a book?
That’s the challenge for November. It is National Novel Writing Month or, as writers know it: NaNoWriMo.
I had already made up my mind earlier in the year to join the group in order to see whether or not I could win the challenge. What’s the prize, you ask? Pride in your achievement and a great feeling of accomplishment. There’s that and the fact that you’ve been able to write at least half your book in 30 days.
That’s it. Winners gain pride and a badge. The organization does not hand out money or publishing contracts. This is a challenge based on the honor system. You don’t start writing until November first and you submit your word count every day you write. Do some people cheat by starting early? Maybe. But why? If money or fame were involved, I guess there might be those who would cheat but this is an individual challenge. You do it just to see whether or not you can reach your goal.
I honestly was wary at first that this challenge was even going to be possible. Ten hours of my day are spent away from home due to work. I have other obligations as well. I’ve been dealing with time management issues ever since I began writing No Mother of Mine in August of 2011, which took me four months to write in addition to another eight months to prepare it before publishing. I began to doubt myself before I even began, which is a terrible way to begin anything.
Overall though, I’m right on track. In fact, I’m above the average word count for four days. To be on track my total word count by today should be 6,668 but my total is 7,593.
I had read various blogs by other authors who have taken part in NaNoWriMo in past years and there was a mix of positive versus negative. Some authors have not been able to make it to 50,000 words. Many authors became NaNoWriMo and later published the books they started during the challenge. Others found it to be a great way to encourage themselves to put in a lot of work in a short amount of time. However, some seasoned authors don’t appreciate the idea of newbie or would-be authors believing in the concept that they can write a book in a month if they aren’t able to accomplish that goal any other time during the rest of the year.
You can write a shitty first draft, yes.
NaNoWriMo just gives you the motivation to get moving. To see what you can do. If you cannot motivate yourself to accomplish what appears to be an unattainable goal, then it is unlikely anyone else would be able to motivate you to reach those same goals. Either way, to be a success, it is much sweeter if you do it for yourself rather than for others. I like to keep in mind this quote:
I’m through with doubt. Instead I’m on a better route towards my goal. Wish me luck!
