It’s that time again!

Once again, I am taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge.  And once again I got a ton of stuff going on which will make it even more of a challenge for me to “win”.  It’s not going to stop me from trying though.

However, I will not commit to daily or even weekly updates this year.  I honestly have too much going on.  But I will update when and how I can–which means a lot more Twitter NaNo updates that actual blog posts about it  .

Ok, off I go into NaNo land…. It’s 11/4/11 which means I’m already running behind.  I know, I know. Not a good way to start off things,  but I still have faith!  The weekend is upon us and I have plans on churning out some serious word count.

Final Word count for 2009 NaNoWriMo effort:

I didn’t quite meet my 50k word goal, but that was 100% my fault.  I flaked out on my daily writing schedule more times that I care to admit for a variety of reasons.  I could make excuses, but I won’t. 

I’m actually proud of my progress this year, I managed to do 662% better than I did in NaNo ’08.  Last year, I only managed 3,980 words (yeah, I really sucked). So maybe 2010 will be my NaNo year

Ok, back to the grind.  I have a manucript to finish & polish, and another to brainstorm and outline.

Oh, and ROCK ON to my 14 NaNo buddies that won this year!!!!

Decided to do a NaNo check in today, so here goes.  It’s Day 6 and I’ve not written today yet (but I plan to, no worries.) 

And I will admit, Day 1 & 2 were more than a bit rocky.  For one, I’m still actively writing and polishing up my contemporary romance (Worth Fighting For), so that keeps me busy.  But determined to get a good, more than good actually, start on my Urban Fantasy, I decided to challenge myself this month and give working on two manuscripts a chance.

It’s also been slow going because I decided to undertake this challenge without a plot overview/outline or character sketches.  Apparently, just jumping in feet first is soooo not my style. 

Now, I knew this going in, but I am always trying to make myself a better, more productive writer; and that means I have to challenge my established procedures from time to time to make sure I’m not bogging myself down with unnecessary processes.

So I decided to spend time during my lunch break this week to work on character profiles for my main characters.  So far, I have 3 out of 5 done, and the story opens up more and more each time I complete one.  Yesterday, I had my best day yet, clocking 700 words on my NaNo project. 

Yes, is far below the daily word goal of 1,667, but I’m very encouraged by it.  Now that I have I clearer view on my story, I know longer have to wonder around in wide circles, waxing poetic about nonsensical things.  (Because trust me, I have.  If you could only see some of what I’ve written thus far-lol) 

I’ve been rolling along nicely, and I hope the trend continues.

It’s that time again!! 

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I’ve signed up for challenge for the second year in a row.  During NaNoWriMo, you pledge to write a 50,000 page novel in the month of November. 

Is that even possible you say?  Isn’t that a daunting task you say?

The answer to both is “Well, yes.”

It’s more than possible to crank out 50,000 words with 30 days of concentrated effort.  And no, it’s not that daunting of a task.  The purpose of NaNo is simply to write, write, write.  Not edit.   So yes, a bunch of crap will be produced, but at the end of the month, you have 50,000 words of a solid effort that can be revised, tweaked, or extended into a masterpiece.  

I did NaNo last year, but I fell short of the 50,000 word count goal by about 30,000 (give or take a word or two).  In the past year, I’ve grown as a writer.  I’m still not where I want to be, but I am further along than where I was. 

So calling all writers, come join me in NaNoWriMo 2009.   Even if you don’t reach the 50k mark, you’ll have more than you had going in.  This year, I’m going to work on my Urban Fantasy trilogy.  And in true NaNo spirit, I’m just going to go for it and see what I get.  All I have is a theme (is you want to call it that), a very  loose idea of where I think I want to end up, a cast of lead characters, and a hope & a prayer.

 That’s it.

Will I end up with a sparkling manuscript, ready to be queried out?

No, but I hope to jog loose enough ideas so that I’ll have both a solid start on book 1, and a better idea of how this story will play out over the course of the series.

It’s Dec 1, 2008, and I am checking in with my final NaNoWriMo word count.  So for the month of Novemeber, I wrote a grand total of….. (you ready for this?)… 3,980 words!!!

No, it’s not the 50,000 needed to actually “win” NaNoWriMo, but it is almost 4,000 words that I wouldn’t have ordinarily had if I had not participated.  So I am actually proud of my modest accomplishment; with all the things I had going on in November, it’s a wonder I got more than 100 words written.

So, what did I learn by participating in NaNo this year?  I learned the importance of setting a daily writing schedule and being disciplined enough to stick to it.  Another thing, and probably the most important, I learned is to just write.  This is something I have to train myself on, and literally would not have done it if not for NaNo.

Published authors have been drilling this mantra into my head the entire year; be it at conferences, reader events, or in my local RWA chapter meetings.  When you’re trying to crank out 50,000+ words in a month, you have NO CHOICE but to tell your inner editor to take a hike.  Not only does this help you get your word count, but for me, it helped to spark my creativity.  I was able to pull some things together that really helped me with my overall story.  And if I could do this with just 3,980 words, imagine what I could do with 15,000, 30,000, or even 60,000+ words.

So NaNo was not a total lost for me this year.  It was a fun exercise that taught me quite a bit about being a writer and all the intangibles needed to be a successful one.

~La-Tessa
Someday I’ll fly…