NaNoWriMo – heads-up!

Last year I capitulated. I committed to NaNoWriMo, and actually made it.

This happened after years of coming upon an announcement somewhere that NaNoWriMo was round the corner, read at the nth moment [in Hindi, we'd say 'aain maukay par" - quite similar, eh?]. I’d always feel it was impossible, I couldn’t possibly participate.

If you’re not sure what this strange series of non-words means, NaNoWriMo, is NationalNovelWritingMonth; no longer national to one nation, but a large international event when writers, would-be writers, and maybe-wannabe-writers, published and not, all get together virtually, or in cafes and write at least 50,000-words in November. No one looks over your shoulder, and no one criticizes you. But there are plenty of ways to get encouraged and lift flagging spirits and aching shoulders. Emails, writing workshops, local groups of writers getting together with their laptops to write over coffee, in the hushed silence of a local library or the inspiring company of books at a bookstore.

There is one important rule: you have to begin writing not a moment before the dawn of November 1st, and have to end just as midnight falls on November 30th. Cinderella didn’t run as fast as your fingers over those keyboard keys as the numbers on the clock march on relentlessly!

Last year, I had joined Sandra Jensen‘s Diving Deeper: A Writing Workshop, an amazing online workshop to which Sandra generously gives her time. She is both – a published writer, and a NaNoWriMo participant.  The participants there, commenting on each others’ writing in constructive ways, following the Freefall technique, help to get those words loosened and flowing out into the inviting charts on our NaNoWriMo profiles. All we’ve to fill in each day, is the number of words written.

I’m sticking with the nom de plume I chose last year. It popped out just as the cursor hovered over the Username field:  Genie in a Bottle.

It happened again today. I was sure I wouldn’t participate. Not this time. But Sandra posted an assignment – Flash Plot, and out came a plot that I realized is my November writing. Tentatively I’m calling it:

The Genie Reveals

Hmm, now to think of this as nothing more than a Page A Day assignment, so that I don’t freak out!

The one thing that always tugs at me, is that feeling in my mind, that if I really know what I’m talking about, I’ll be able to write it in a sentence. That’s what I like about Twitter. But here’s an exercise in writing more, getting it all out, not editing, just letting words flow. Everyday. For 30 days. In one particular month.

From what emerged last year, I know the delight of  discovery as I write what I didn’t know I knew.  There’s a novel that is to be edited. So I am looking forward to what the genie reveals this year!

If you’re interested in participating, click on the picture below for information,  on my profile if you’d like a Nano Buddy and if you’d like an encouraging support group, dive in!

 

Participate in NaNoWriMo