Many of us experience great strife during November. Whether we choose to not shave (nuh-uh, I'd rather not feel like I'm becoming furry, thank you) or to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, it can be a lot to handle. When I first decided to do NanoWriMo, I kind of half-heartedly intended to do so. As in, when I had free time, sure I'd write a bit, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I wouldn't chain myself to 50,000 words and call myself a failure if I fell behind.
Turns out, my brain doesn't work that way. Once I give myself a goal, especially when those around me have the same goal, I have to finish it. Unless it's math homework. Then I have no problem half-assing assignments. But my dorm is rather tense this month, with chilling spurts of silence, with periodic demands of "how many words do you have?" Granted, I am a highly, HIGHLY competitive person, so I may be imagining more drama than there actually is.
My NanoWriMo story isn't the greatest piece of literature in the world, nor is it even my best writing. But it's mine, and it's keeping me writing a hundred times more than I otherwise would. I have lost sleep over NanoWriMo, and I may not be getting as far ahead in my other assignments, but once I hit my stride, I find that feeling the pressure of November 30th looming over my head can actually be fun.
I mean, my fellow Nano writers are a fantastic support system, as are a myraid of youtubers who have experienced many a NanoWriMo, and offer great gems of advice. We're all on the same boat here, experiencing the same hand (and brain) cramps, but we can all re-assure each other that no one's expecting a New York Times Bestseller the first time around. The point of NanoWriMo is to just, well, write.
Oh, and I have 10,000 words. Being on the path to something ridiculous has never felt so good.
Namaste.
No comments:
Post a Comment