NaNo DONE!!!

After 28 days of concentrated (and often mindless) plot and character development, backdrop creation, describing images and trying to tie everything together by the November 30th deadline, I finally came to the end of my creation called the 50,000 word novel. Whew!

There were days that were exciting when the story seemed to write itself, while others were painful while plodding through what I call 'filler' dialog that moves the plot from one exciting point to the next one. I oftentimes fell asleep at night trying to mentally work out which character was going to do what to whom and why. I found a difficult thing was to keep track of everything going on in the story and had to resort to an outline book that I could carry in my purse to jot down ideas, character names and record story items that I would forget 50 pages later. No matter, because I was able to force myself to keep working toward this insurmountable goal.

During the last few paragraphs, I constantly clicked 'word count' and stressed over tying the story, characters and images into what I had envisioned I could. I sprinted out the last bit of it ending two days early and earning the ability to rejoin my family back in the non-fictional world. It will probably take at least a week (in combination with an Ibuprofen-based product) to work out all the kinks in my neck and hands from all the intent typing I spent on my laptop. But I emerged victorious, and had a very unedited throw-together 50,000 word novel to show for a crazy month of literary exploration. Final word count: 50,930; total number of pages: 180.

At this point I'm not making any commitments for writing NaNo next year, but who knows. It was a fun challenge and I feel good about finishing. Now time to start the Christmas shopping :)

NaNoWriMo??!!

I have undertaken an endeavor that I've been putting off for years. The notion has always been an intriguing one, but I've always had a million and one excuses as to why I couldn't make the attempt. What is NaNoWriMo, do you ask? It's not a freaky dance, nor an exotic cooking style, nor a board game. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and takes place every November. The NaNo creators (you can find them at www.nanowrimo.org) challenge anyone to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. Although 50,000 words doesn't make a relatively large novel, it does make a great challenge to create a fictional novel from start to finish in a 30 day period.

NaNo is all about output. I've started many stories in the past I've had great hopes of turning into an actual novel one day, but Alas, they remain even now in the short story category because my steam runs out too quickly. One thing the NaNo people reiterate multiple times is when you do this, you WILL write a bunch of crap (hey, at least they're honest). But what this can do for you as a writer is force you to write and write and write, which helps negate the novel burn-out factor many of us experience with writing such a large story.

What helps people succeed in this challenge which doesn't occur for most of us non-employed novelists is one thing: a deadline. It's like most any other challenge (physical or mental) - when you consider doing something not easy, it's intriguing, but the excuse monster appears to say 'you can't accomplish that', 'you don't have time to do that', 'you don't have the ability to accomplish that'. Common people - enough with the negative excuses already!!!

We all waste so much time making excuses as to why we can't succeed in many things: weight loss (been there), remaining in a job we hate (been there), not completing schooling we have 'always' wanted to do (been there), not traveling to places we've always wanted to go (been there), and so much more. I digress...back to NaNoWRiMo, it's a challenge to write 50,000 words and you "win" if you complete it by the November 30th deadline. My sister-in-law has done it 3 times, numerous people complete it every year, and I believe the NaNoWriMo currently has over 115,000 people registered on their website to give it a try. I agree that November, with the holiday season looming, makes for an awful month for such an endeavor. But what the heck, we only live once, right?!

Gotta get back to writing. Word count is currently 22,629 and growing...

We All Need Our Bunco Night

I have no problem with my husband meeting his friend after work once in awhile. The two get to vent about their jobs, discuss the history of classic rock bands and solve the most complex scientific problems, all over a beer at the local bar. My husband gets to do the male bonding thing and reconnect with his friend, all while getting some much needed stress relief during his own time.

I think that's so important for everyone to get their own time. Sounds harsh, but parents sometimes need their time away from kids, spouses need time away from each other, and EVERYONE needs time away from work. Its time to recharge your batteries and let yourself be you. You need to take a little time and drop the labels of spouse, student, parent, co-worker, etc and find that person you rarely let out.

I've been involved in a monthly Bunco group for a few months now and it's great. I didn't realize how nice it was to just get around other women in a social environment. Bunco is a fun little dice game which involves 20 players and, since everyone has a buy-in amount, you get a chance to win some money at the end of the night. The evening starts with a pot-luck and socializing. Many of these women don't see each other more than the once a month Bunco night, so it's a great time to catch up. But when the bell rings, the game's on! There are constant screams of 'Bunco' or 'Traveling' (you just have to be there). During the middle of the game we stop for a dessert break and more socializing, then end with the second half of the game playing and the final prize distribution to the winners of the night. It's a time to get loud and have fun, even if it's not in your personality normally.

Now, I'm not saying everyone should go off with their friend(s) and engage in an activity in order to get some 'me' time. So do what's fun for you - join a club, a bowling league, a mom's group, go out with a friend for a beer (or other alcoholic or coffee based drink of your choice), or even go for a bike ride or walk by yourself. It's different for everyone, but it's JUST AS IMPORTANT for everyone as well. We all need time away from our normal lives at times to recharge and find ourselves. Without it, we get into the same rut everyone falls into at times. So don't feel guilty about it - escape on your own once in awhile. We all need our Bunco night, right?