“It’s sure to change your life.” “You’ll get amazing results.” “Your friends will be impressed (or jealous. Or whatever).” We’ve all heard the amazing claims of marketers, trying to convince us that if we just part with a little of our money, they can help us to solve a nagging problem. Too often, their claims …
When I started, I thought it was impossible, that I had no chance of success. That I was crazy for even trying. To my great delight, I was wrong. For the second year in a row, I “won” NaNoWriMo. Why did I think it was impossible? Mostly because of what I had on my calendar …
I’ve been hard at work on Stinging Power, this year’s NaNo novel. So hard at work that I completely forgot about blogging. My mind was lost in the desert of Otrechia, it seems. Oops! That’s what you get for trying to focus and concentrate. Other stuff just gets forgotten. So far, NaNo this year has …
It’s the end of October, and we all know what that means…it’s NaNoWriMo time! If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, don’t feel bad. I didn’t know what it was either, until a couple of years ago. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that in the thirty days of November, participants …
Whatever the critics of NaNoWriMo have to say, I know this: at least NaNo gives me a tangible goal that I can’t change. There’s no weaseling out of it, pushing it back because I got busy distracted lazy. It sure got hard to keep up the pace after I hit the 50,000-word mark. But on …
I did it! Late last week I passed the 50,000-word mark. A few days ago, I validated my novel on the NaNo website and was rewarded with a group of people cheering. So nice to get some encouragement for pressing on in what can be a solitary and lonely profession. However, I still had a …
I did it! I pushed through, striving to make the goal of fifty thousand words by the deadline. Even better is I got there with eleven days to spare. Wednesday was the day I finished. I could feel the goal approaching, I could taste the victory. Instead of fighting the urge to give into the …
3 Lessons about Deadlines, Courtesy of NaNoWriMo Read More »
It’s late fall, the trees are almost bare. Week 2 of NaNoWriMo is just about finished. And what am I feeling? The joy of words just spilling from brain to page, scenes almost writing themselves. The agony of putting one word after another, certain that the result would be lame, boring, and as painful for …
Who else is trying NaNo? This year, I’m determined to “win” NaNo. Some sad family events made it impossible last year. To get ready for inevitable interruptions to my writing schedule, I decided advance preparation was my best friend. So I spent some time plotting my novel. I got some help with my outline (some …
Ready or Not—It’s NaNo Time! October is drawing to an end and we all know what that means. No, I’m not thinking of Halloween. It’s NaNo time! Last year my NaNoWriMo experience was hardly successful. Lots of that was due to circumstances I couldn’t do anything about, such as the death of a family member …