Last day of NaNoWriMo

It's the last day of NaNoWriMo, and I am nowhere near done. Yes, I will make my 50,000 deadline today, but I think the book is going to be more of an 80,000 word novel, like Heads Will Roll. Since we are on the last day, I wanted to give you my assessment (as a first time participant) of NaNoWriMo, for any of you who may consider it next year,


Pro's:

• You are forced to write 1,666 words a day. - forced to work hard at writing a novel
• There's a neat word tracker that shows you how good... or bad you're doing.
• There's a huge community you can connect with to help motivate you (I didn't utilize this function)
• You feel really good when you step back and look at how much you have accomplished in a short time.

Con's:

• You are forced to write 1,666 words a day. - you write a lot of crap just to get to your word count
• You spend more time checking your word-count than writing at times.
• There was no written-in break for cook-like-a-crazy-person day, unless you worked one in yourself.
• I drank a lot of late night coffee. 
• My friends and family haven't seen me all month (they think I'm a figment of their imagination as of late.)

As I wipe the sweat off my forehead, I know there will be a lot of things that I will get from this experience. I will probably continue with a daily word goal (though not 1,666, because I have a real job, and a second start-up business on top of writing). I will also create my own word-count graph, it makes me happy to see the growing bars of progress.

Will I do this again next year?-Maybe? It depends on where I am in a year.

NaNoWriMo - Day 4

Star-Date 004: (day 4 for NaNoWriMo) I began my morning to Andy shaking me awake at 6:00am telling me we slept in. we quickly dressed and gathered supplies for the day to come – SCCA race day in Baytown. Andy signed up for the SCCA monthly race. Where drivers race the clock. A track, which is just several orange cones strategically placed,  is set up in a parking lot. You lose time if you knock over a cone. Disqualified if you go outside the track (drive on the wrong side of a “pointer” cone).

I set out with my fully charged laptop to write while racers skidded and spun on the rain-slick track. It was a little bit of a noisy writing location, but it worked. No Internet to distract me. My writing spot was actually very close to the track so every now and then, when I heard excessive tire squealing, I would clutch my computer to me and find the out-of-control car. As I type this, (I am writing this while the race is still going. Again, no Internet Had to wait to publish) one of the drivers spun out at the finish and, as the announcer stated it, had a Ricky Bobby finish… he reversed past the timer camera to get off the track.

I would like to go out on a limb and say this might be a top contender for strangest writing locations. See my video below. 

 

Below is one of Andy's runs.

NaNoWriMo - Take 1

Because I am fairly new to the writing world, I am trying all I can learn more and more. I read writing blogs, follow writers and agents. Upon reading one of the new blogs I follow via Reeder, I learned of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which begins in November. I've never heard of this, but I think it's a great idea -- Right up there with No Shave November. I however, do not participate in No Shave November... hairy legs and armpits are probably not what the men in my life want to see/touch. Besides, its supposed to be "Men changing the face of cancer," not women. So back to the challenge at hand.

www.NaNoWriMo.org

NaNoWriMo Challenge:


Write 50,000 words
Start: November 1, 2012 (that's this Thursday)
Deadline: November 30, 2012 (at midnight)




I feel a little anxious just thinking about it. So I have a plan, write. Now I need to settle on the idea of the writing. Should I write:

1. Part 2 of Heads Will Roll
2. Dystopian Pregnancy novel idea
3. Fairy f-ing up her wings and getting trapped on earth with the humans

I should consider starting part 2 of Heads Will Roll, but I hear conflicting theories on that. Some people say 'don't start the sequel unless you have written other novels to present agents', while others say 'complete the series, agents are more willing to purchase both'. 

According to Pam van Hylckama Vlieg at the HWG conference a few weeks ago, dystopian is dead, for now. That was the next idea I had, a dystopian novel about pregnancy. I'm thinking, maybe leave that idea on the back-burner. But I really love the idea and want to put it to paper.

Last idea, the fantasy about a fairy f-ing up her wings and landing among the scary humans. This idea intrigues me (as it should), but I only started developing it last week. Do I have enough to sit down and write it?

What do you think?... Bueller... Bueller?