TheBanyanTree: NaNoWriMo

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I took a “sick” day on Tuesday this week.  I needed a break from work.  I
skipped working out.  I spent the morning reading in bed, which I haven’t
done in years.  I’m usually up and at ‘em immediately upon getting out of
bed.  But I didn’t feel well and reading a book under the covers is the
ultimate pleasure (outside of sex, of course).  I sure felt a lot better
when I finally closed the book and got up.

Then I got active.  I raked leaves.  I had lunch.  Then I checked my email.
Several people mentioned signing up for National Novel Writing Month.  This
is the month when people go crazy trying to write 50,000 words within 30
days.  I often thought about doing it.  I thought some more about it.  And
then I remembered a few years back, I bought the book No Plot, No Problem by
Chris Baty, one of the founders of NaNoWriMo.

I got it off the bookshelf and started skimming through it.  I was scared to
try NaNoWriMo, because so many people made this sound like the most
agonizing experience they ever went through.  It took months of preparation
and then they spent days hovering over their keyboards to the exclusion of
almost all else.  I enjoy my life and I didn’t want to put it on hold for a
month.  But maybe . . . maybe . . . I really wanted to try to see if I could
be disciplined about my writing . . . maybe.

I signed up on October 30 to participate in NaNoWriMo.  I thought if I can’t
do it, well, then I can’t do it.

On November 1, the official starting day of NaNoWriMo, I started thinking
about what I wanted to write.  I got up at 2:30 am and went to workout.  I
was at my desk at work by 6:00 am.  We’re on some tight deadlines, so I had
to get after it.  After working for 9.5 hours, I went home.  Ray and I
walked the dogs.  I made dinner, yes, I actually spent an hour cooking a
great sausage and vegetable dish.  Ray and I did the dishes.

My son called and asked if I could watch the boys, because he had a show (he
’s a music producer) and Susan had to work late.  Sure, I said, no problem.

I needed to start writing.  I checked my email.  Then I set up my personal
laptop on the kitchen counter so the boys could play video games online.  I
decided to use my work laptop to begin writing my novel.

The story bouncing around in my head began to move from my brain to my
fingers on the keyboard.  I had 400 words on “paper” when the boys came into
the house.  I explained to them what I was doing.  They thought that was
pretty cool and then turned their attention to the video games.

I took breaks while writing to serve them hot chocolate, cocoa puffs, and
some Halloween candy.  My boys sure are sweet, aren’t they?  We chatted
about Halloween and sports and other stuff while my fingers were flying.
Every once in a while, they asked me what my word count was, and I’d let
them know.

I managed to write 1,773 words that first night with major distractions.
And I lived my life, too.  I didn’t shove anything off to the side just to
have time to write.  Well, this is pretty easy, I thought.

Day 2 was almost a repeat of Day 1.  I got up early, went to workout, went
to work, came home and walked dogs, cooked dinner, checked email, and then
started writing.

I had no distractions last night.  I put some jazz on the CD player, cozied
up to my desktop in my office, shoved in my thumb drive, and started typing.
I ran out of gas after an hour and 15 minutes, but my word count was 1,852
words.  Wow, I thought, this isn’t too bad.

It’s like having homework or a project I need to finish.  It’s not a big
deal, I guess, because I’m not trying to type 20,000 words in one day.  I
also feel better when I accomplish the normal daily goals I always have,
rather than letting everything slide by.  I can’t stand messiness and I don’
t function well if my house or my life is messy.  If I can keep everything
around me organized, then I can be organized my writing, too.

After two days, I’ve learned that I can accomplish a lot in an hour.  I’ve
learned that the story in my head is flowing into words, although not in a
way I expected.  But that’s the joy of writing.  What is in my brain is
rarely is what ends up on paper.  I’ve learned I can write with lots of
stuff going on around me; I’m really good at tuning things out anyway to
focus on the task at hand.  I also learned that I can write at night and
when I’m tired.  And my writing muse is there, even when my head is blank, I
just start typing and then the words and ideas start coming.  I don’t worry
about perfection.  I can always go back and “fix” something.  For now, I’m
leaving my self-editing under lock and key.  Get the story on “paper” is the
primary goal.

OK, I’m a whiz kid after two days of writing.  Can I continue to be as
optimistic and excited about this endeavor for the whole month?  That
remains to be seen.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple
life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the
seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year.
~Ray Stannard Baker