NaNo Eve

Here it comes!

November is National Novel Writing Month, lovingly referred to as NaNoWriMo.  The goal: 50,000 words during the month of November.  That breaks down to 1,667 words per day.  Hundreds of thousands of writers participate every year in this frantic writing tradition for the sole reward of bragging rights.

But who really cares about bragging rights?  It's great to be a part of something big.  It's great to get words on the page.  It's great to have that accountability.  It's awesome to get over the excuses and ourselves and actually accomplish something.

Excuses for not writing are everywhere.  Work.  Family.  Leisure. Exercise.  Chores.  Responsibilities.  Crises.  As writers who have other obligations, it's often difficult to find that time, and it's easy to let the writing slip by.

I think the biggest reason writers don't write is fear.  Fear of failure.  Fear of getting bored.  Fear of losing out on other experiences.  Maybe even fear of success.  That just makes it that much easier to fall victim to the excuses.

Last year, I got my 50,000 words with three days to spare.  Of course, I had two prep periods and wasn't teaching any new classes.  (If you're unfamiliar, a prep period is time during the day when teachers do not have classes and can prepare lessons and such.)  This year, I have one prep period, and I am also teaching senior literature for the first time, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants.  I have more work and less time built into my schedule to complete it.  Much of my lesson planning is done on my own time...which also happens to be my writing time.

So what can give?  What's my strategy?  I'll cut way back on TV.  I'll make sure Al has a couple of awesome new video games to keep him happy.  (Which isn't hard, thanks to the November flux of highly anticipated titles for the holiday gifting season.  He's already obsessed with Arkham City, and Modern Warfare 3 is released November 8.)  I'll read less--and only on the elliptical.  I will NOT skip the gym.  I'll spend a lot of time playing catch up on the weekend.  (That's one of my biggest goals.  I need to be on track each Sunday.)

So here comes NaNo.  I'll be updating my word count on Facebook, and you can also register at www.nanowrimo.org and follow me there.  My username is Awoiwode.