Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Once again I'm taking on the quasi-masochistic task of National Write a Novel Month. This is my third year to participate, and I fully don't expect to hit the 50,000 word mark.
My goals are a little different - namely, to get a good start on a novel. I've learned that these days Life is just too odd to rely on the ability to set enough time together to bang out that many words in a month.
This is my third year to participate. The first year I got maybe 4,000 words done when Bad Things Happened In My Life. Family and health were more important and I gave up. Last year I hit 15K before a client called with a large job. I piddled around with the story a bit, but never even made it as far as 16K. That's one of the dangers of freelancing. This year I'm pushing 4K, but other work is pressing. I have bills to pay.
So rather than set an unrealistic goal I'm going to content myself with getting as much of this story as possible out of my head and out of the notebook and into a draft form. NaNo is just the spur to do it.
Does that make me a wimp? I think not. November is always a slow month for me, except when I try NaNo. Then all hell breaks loose. I get sick. I get work. Or both. I suspect that setting a more realistic goal is better for me than pushing myself and getting more stressed out. I'll see how it works out this year.
Tags: Writing, NaNoWriMo