It Has Begun!!

It’s that time of year again folks – the National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo. This is my first official announcement. I am a participant. There! I admitted it. Even though I have failed spectacularly the last two times, I am determined to win this year. Yep, I going to hit the 50,000-word mark. How? You ask.

The Official Announcement

That’s right. This post is going to help me win. It won’t win me any words towards my story, but it’s my official commitment. There is no going back. I also have some friends on standby to check in on my writing progress and keep me to my word.

I (actually) have a Plan

In the NaNo writing community, you are either a Planner or a Pantser. Either you plan everything out in advance before writing or you write as you go (you know – by the seat of your pants haha). In the past, I thought I could write as a Pantser. But if I had actually paid attention to my back story would have realized I was lying to myself.

If you ask anyone of my friends or family who listened to me ramble on and on about either of the FOUR separate universes in my head during and beyond high school they would tell you I am a Planner. I am Planner who rarely wrote anything down and hopped from one story to the next due to being an odd perfectionist. It would be productive to write and then review it again and again but no, I was and often still am the type of perfectionist who has trouble taking the first step in writing.

For the longest time, I had trouble separating the writer from the editor. It became my biggest obstacle, because I couldn’t write if it wasn’t perfect. Procrastination didn’t help either. So, in prep of NaNo, I have been practicing stream-of-conscience writing through short timed intervals. I have also embraced my inner Panner. During my practice writing, I write down all the details, scenes, and plots from over the years. And I have a lot to work with.

This November will be an intensive continuation of this writing practice. And will help me secure my very first win.

Let the writing begin! 50,000 words or bust!