That means it’s time for NaNoWriMo again! You maybe have heard of the yearly challenge of trying to write a novel in thirty days. These are those days.
NaNoWriMo and I have a speckled history, to say the least. I began trying to NaNo in 2013, and for YEARS I could not win. I tried nearly every year from 2013-2019 and lost every time.
Then in 2020, I tried again and won!
What was the difference? Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe there were so many fewer social commitments because of the pandemic. Maybe it was that I finally had an office. Maybe it was that I finally got more involved with my local NaNo group (shout out to Alaska WriMos!).
In any case, it lit a fire under me. I am a slow writer, and to think I could do 50000 words of writing in 30 days (and actually, I wrote the vast majority of those in the last two weeks) just blew my mind.
Was it my best work? No. Was it a finished novel? Also obviously no. But it was a really good start on the first draft of the next book in the series I was working on and I was thrilled.
So, here I am again.
I will be trying to journal here every day of November, letting you know how I am going, the word counts, and documenting how it happens.
Check back for updates, and to keep me honest!
PS: Are you doing NaNo too? I would love to hear how it is going for you. The camaraderie is the best part!