Over the last 29 days, I’ve been watching my friends post their NaNoWriMo updates. Some have already finished. Some are on track to meet their goal by tomorrow. Some are behind and playing a fierce game of “Catch-up” in hopes of finishing their 50,000 words.
I salute them all. Each and every one of them. It’s no small task that they’ve taken on this month. That kind of dedication and stamina is admirable. Very admirable. It’s something I wish I could do – commit myself for 30 days to writing a novel. Hell, I have a story that I stopped writing in 2009 and what I did write took me many, many months to complete. So, yes, I salute them.
My challenge this month has not been on the same level as my NaNoWriMo friends. It’s not as difficult to post 30 blog posts in 30 days as it is to come up with 50,000 words for a novel. Yes, there is still a level of dedication and stamina. Most certainly there is. But it’s clearly not the same…at all.
I can write about 30 different topics if I choose. Or pick a theme for the month and write all of my posts around that theme. Shoot, I can just post a video I like, throw on a title for the post, and call it a day. I’ve done it. It still counts. I have to deal with a certain number of posts. No one is paying attention to my word count. (Though, for the record, I’m at 252 as of….NOW.) I don’t have to worry about plots or characters or through-lines. I just have to write whatever shit is on my mind at a given moment…and then hit “publish”.
So, where’s the challenge in that?
Well, the first part of that challenge is to remember to post something every day. There were a couple of days when I got my post in just under the wire…because I’d forgotten. (Perhaps that means I should blog more often in the “off” months.)
Then there is the challenge of coming up with something to write about. I guess, in some ways, the NaNo folks have an advantage…they already know the topic! There are some days that are just SO difficult for me to come up with something that interests me. I have no doubt that I’ve bored readers to distraction on many, many occasions. While I apologize if I’ve bored you, there’s another part of me saying, “Sorry. Not sorry.” Because, when it comes right down to it, I’m blogging for me. Not for anyone else.
And I can’t neglect the challenge of actually writing something that is readable. I always have such an urge to just go all stream-of-consciousness in many of these posts. I’ve actually tried it a couple of times. It was a disaster each time. I’m too much of a self-editor. I can’t seem to turn that off. That’s another reason why I have a great deal of admiration for those folks who do NaNoWriMo. Yes, I know that some will edit as they go. But so many of the folks that I know just type. They type and type and type and type…and deal with everything else later. I can’t do that. I want to. I’ve tried. I can’t.
Oh, and coming up with titles. That’s a bitch. I suck at it.
So, with just over 24 hours to go for both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo, I tip my hat to all of us.
I have just one more post to make tomorrow and I will meet the challenge.
Frivolous Views 
Over the last 29 days, I’ve been watching my friends post their NaNoWriMo updates. Some have already finished. Some are on track to meet their goal by tomorrow. Some are behind and playing a fierce game of “Catch-up” in hopes of finishing their 50,000 words.
I salute them all. Each and every one of them. It’s no small task that they’ve taken on this month. That kind of dedication and stamina is admirable. Very admirable. It’s something I wish I could do – commit myself for 30 days to writing a novel. Hell, I have a story that I stopped writing in 2009 and what I did write took me many, many months to complete. So, yes, I salute them.
My challenge this month has not been on the same level as my NaNoWriMo friends. It’s not as difficult to post 30 blog posts in 30 days as it is to come up with 50,000 words for a novel. Yes, there is still a level of dedication and stamina. Most certainly there is. But it’s clearly not the same…at all.
I can write about 30 different topics if I choose. Or pick a theme for the month and write all of my posts around that theme. Shoot, I can just post a video I like, throw on a title for the post, and call it a day. I’ve done it. It still counts. I have to deal with a certain number of posts. No one is paying attention to my word count. (Though, for the record, I’m at 252 as of….NOW.) I don’t have to worry about plots or characters or through-lines. I just have to write whatever shit is on my mind at a given moment…and then hit “publish”.
So, where’s the challenge in that?
Well, the first part of that challenge is to remember to post something every day. There were a couple of days when I got my post in just under the wire…because I’d forgotten. (Perhaps that means I should blog more often in the “off” months.)
Then there is the challenge of coming up with something to write about. I guess, in some ways, the NaNo folks have an advantage…they already know the topic! There are some days that are just SO difficult for me to come up with something that interests me. I have no doubt that I’ve bored readers to distraction on many, many occasions. While I apologize if I’ve bored you, there’s another part of me saying, “Sorry. Not sorry.” Because, when it comes right down to it, I’m blogging for me. Not for anyone else.
And I can’t neglect the challenge of actually writing something that is readable. I always have such an urge to just go all stream-of-consciousness in many of these posts. I’ve actually tried it a couple of times. It was a disaster each time. I’m too much of a self-editor. I can’t seem to turn that off. That’s another reason why I have a great deal of admiration for those folks who do NaNoWriMo. Yes, I know that some will edit as they go. But so many of the folks that I know just type. They type and type and type and type…and deal with everything else later. I can’t do that. I want to. I’ve tried. I can’t.
Oh, and coming up with titles. That’s a bitch. I suck at it.
So, with just over 24 hours to go for both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo, I tip my hat to all of us.
I have just one more post to make tomorrow and I will meet the challenge.
NaNoWriMo people – GO, GO, GO!
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