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I use to write. Crazy things, dramatic things, and things with no purpose but to stretch my vocabulary and exercise my ability to set a scene. Last night I decided to really put my creativity to the test. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
I’m no novelist, let’s get that out of the way. A creative short story is as far as I’ve been and that was many years ago. I’d heard mentions of NaNoWriMo before and thought about it, but never made it past the self imposed “I am not an author” barricade. This year I found myself putting more thought into it than usual. I need something fun, a hobby to spend my time on again (other than Netflix). But, for some reason I still felt…ill-equipped. So, I consulted with my husband and his response was, “Why wouldn’t you do it?” The man, I admit, has a rock solid point.
So here I am, an official participant in NaNoWriMo 2013. I put up my badge, signed up for the ‘You Can Do It!’ emails and started filling out my profile. When I got to the spot where you put in a title and genre I went green. I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to write about. It’s only 6 days from the start and I don’t even know what kind of story I’m going to deliver. My husband and several friends have already suggested horror since it’s my personal favorite. But, does enjoying a genre mean you could write it?
Can you feel my (unfounded) fear? I’m cursed with the urge to not just do something, but do it well. Failure and I don’t get along. What if I’m not as much of a writer as I’ve imagined all these years? Does the talent dry up over time? What if my story is horrible? So, I searched out wisdom from veteran writers in the forum. So far I’ve got this to get me started:
- Character with a goal.
- Opposition to that goal.
- Resolution or abandonment of that goal
And title? Forget it. I’ll be lucky if I can settle on one before I hit 50,000 words. I forgot to mention that part – that’s the benchmark for actually completing NaNoWriMo. That’s 1,667 words per day for 30 days.
I can do this.
I can do this.
I can do this.
