Day #223: Preparing for my Pandemic NaNoWriMo

 I don't remember who first told me about National Novel Writing Month. I know I participated in 2009 and I managed to win it, I know it went better in 2012 and then I revisited it after I became a mom and have had mixed success with it since then. But it has been part of my world for awhile. It's why I started podcasting, actually.

I should go back and start explaining what the heck I'm talking about.

So National Novel Writing Month is badly named because it's actually a worldwide event for writers of all stripes, from young to old and newbie to pro. The idea is really simple: the challenge is to write, or perhaps a better word is draft, a novel of at least 50,000 words during the month of November. 

That's it. It's that simple. It's free to participate, you win by getting to 50,000 (and it's all self reported, you have to "validate" your world count through the word counter doodad but that would be easy to fake, however there's no point in faking it) and that's it. There's no promise of publication or fame or anything else, it just encourages people who want to write by giving them a deadline and a community of people.

According to their website, they go back to 1999 and became a nonprofit in 2006. They are now a worldwide organization with writers across the globe loosely organize into regions which, in normal years, might have some events where everybody who wants to brings their laptop and comes and writes together. And they have forums and that sort of thing. 

What it has taught me is there is value in planning (I can get to 50,000 without having a plan but it's not pretty and doesn't give me a draft I want...the first year I did it or maybe the second it's blurry now, but I wrote 30,000 words in the last 4 days and it was baaaad) and pacing. Nothing has ever come of anything I've drafted (I've won 3 times by my count, one of which was a draft I liked but I ended up not wanting to pursue that story for reasons not worth going into here) but I've learned a lot by doing it and I've been grateful for the organization. I've been to fun events...in 2017 there was a train write in where a bunch of us got on the train and wrote from Seattle to Portland and then got on the train and came back and wrote on the train, that was very fun. I also hosted a write in on the ferry once...I love ferries. I haven't won since before Max was born but last year I did create a draft of a novel in verse at 27,000 words that I was proud of and have revisited some since. 

This year, because everything is different in 2020, the event is all virtual with no in person events permitted, but the writing goes on. I wasn't going to participate...with the kids and the distance learning and everything going on right now I have no prayer of anything close to 50,000 words and while I would like to do more writing I don't have the head space to take on a big project like a novel. But this past week or so I've decided to give a modified version a try. There's a Christmas themed picture book I've been wanting to write (James said he'd be my illustrator) and a couple of short stories and I've been saying all through this pandemic that I want to write more, so I'm going to. I'm not aiming for 50,000 words, just the best word count I can get and since I'm going into this as what they call a "NaNo Rebel" (meaning someone who is not attempting a novel,) I figure every word I write is gonna count so whether it's on here or the poem a day I've been trying to write in 2020 with very mixed success or my picture book and short stories I'm going to count each and every word.

Because it is an all virtual event I'm trying to get better at being social on virtual platforms. My region has used Discord for their events for a long time (in addition to having in person events in regular times) and Discord is way beyond my comfort zone so I attended a Discord event yesterday to get to know them a little bit and try to be social over there. I know I do better when I go into this with a plan so I'm thinking about how to approach that. I usually don't write on the computer...I like drafting on the typewriter or on a legal pad, I find it a much more creative process. I'm not sure about this time around...I think typing might be all right for what I'm going to do but if I'm going to type it will more likely be on the desktop than laptop for ergonomic reasons, meaning that I can do less "on the side" when the kids are around. So I'm still thinking about how to make the logistical piece work. I think I will likely do a combination of on paper and on computer since I'm doing several different projects. It is nice to have something to look forward to, especially since Josh is out of town for the better part of a week in early November leaving me to solo parent...not a lot of writing during that window most likely but it will make me feel less selfish about needing time to do my own stuff the rest of the month. So we'll see. It will be an adventure. I've had NaNoWriMos where I've crashed and burned big time before...the most memorable one was in 2014 when six month old James hit a sleep regression that was brutal and I think I ended up writing 500 words. But I did another NaNoWriMo related project the following year (they have what they call "camps," which are scaled down versions, in April and July) and that is what got me started writing and podcasting flash fiction which was super fun. 

So yep. I'm still on my streak of reading 100+ pages a day since September 11, the goal is to continue that through the end of October and then scale back on the reading and dial up on the writing. That's the goal. We'll see how it goes. Best laid plans and all that. I need the distraction, though, especially in November, especially from the election.

Speaking of reading, I've been doing a fair bit of that. Prairie Lotus was great, and then I read Speaking Christian by lefty theologian Marcus J. Borg, that was very interesting, in these times it remains important to me to remember there are Christians across the political spectrum and one subgroup does not define the narrative. I read Briar Rose, which is a Sleeping Beauty adaptation set during the Holocaust...I've always been terrified of that book but it was lovely. And then I finished the Zora Neale Hurston reader that I bought in February and have been reading slowly a bit at a time since, it was very interesting and felt so good to be done. Now I'm listening to Their Eyes Were Watching God which I haven't read since college and tonight I finished Fire!! which is a graphic novel biography of her life...it was weird but I'm glad I read it. And I've been reading Hope is a Thing With Feathers, which is an Emily Dickinson anthology. Whew. I bought James The One and Only Bob because he loves that audiobook so much and I thought we might read it together and then I would finally get to read it, but he's been reading it to himself, which is kinda amazing because it's hard for him but he loves it. Maybe I'll get to it someday. And I'm now on Season 4 of Ally McBeal, which is wayyyy past when it jumped the shark but I think I'm gonna finish it anyway. Plus they are releasing the new series of the Great British Baking Show so Josh and I have been watching that...sigh...so lovely. That in and of itself is something to be grateful for. 

Speaking of which, today I'm grateful that Max has been going to sleep by himself for James's creativity, family walks, reading, comfy socks and leggings, Neopolitan ice cream sandwiches, my dad, things to look forward to, and one more day of health and life with my family.