Remember, remember - have fun in November
Friday, November 4, 2011 at 3:48PM 
Word count: 197 Reading Time: 1 min.
Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Have you started the challenge of producing an entire, 50,000 word novel in a single month?
I got an idea for the 2011 NaNoWriMo just last week. I was poking it with a stick when a tweet from Writer’s Digest delivered three essential questions: What is going to happen? What does the main character want? What are the turning points? Once I knew I could answer these, I took my lump of clay and waited for the starting gun.
Last year I discovered that finishing a first draft in thirty days was satisfying. However, reaching one milestone took me to another starting point. My NaNoWriMo 2010 draft took months to move to an almost-satisfactory state. I think it’s there now but I’m giving it a rest.
Am I daunted by the prospect that this novel might need the same reshaping as last year’s? A bit. Will I add thousands of new words while deleting thousands of existing ones? Definitely. Will I have fun? Absolutely. To be sure, I’ll keep Steven Pressfield’s thoughts on the fun of writing close at hand.
What’s on your potter’s wheel? Is it fun to watch it take shape?
Photo: Richard Rudisill
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National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) http://nanowrimo.org/en
Writer’s Digest – How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo http://bit.ly/rIrGX3
Steven Pressfield – Is Writing Fun? http://tinyurl.com/244jpag
Reader Comments (4)
I hereby book you for a coffee December 1st. Well, the 5th or onwards - give you recovery time and I'll be back from Toronto. Happy writing and GoMoNo ... you get the idea!
I will officially book you for a bottle of wine when you're done. We may have to toast from opposite ends of the continent, but that's okay. Red or white? Or do you prefer hard liquor instead?
Lynn, I've put the coffee date on my calendar - or will it be time for an eggnog by then?
Hello Allison, maybe one day we'll be on the side of the continent at the same time! And I'm an equal opportunity kind of person - I like wine, Scotch and even an occasional beer.