Until yesterday, my answer for this year was no. There have been some pretty big stuff going on in my life (that I will tell you about soon) and I just felt that doing NaNo on top of it would be pushing things a bit too far. Besides, I have only the vaguest idea of a plot, and October was so hectic there simply wasn’t time to work on an outline.
Then, somewhere between yesterday and today I decided, what the heck. What do I have to lose? Except my sanity and my sense of pride?
Nothing.
But if I win I’ll be that much closer to having a finished novel (again). I’ll have a 50% discount voucher for Scrivener. I’ll have the admiration of my friends and family. Strangers will stop me in the streets and ask for my autograph. Fans will camp out in front of my house in the hopes of glimpsing me as I pass by the window. Celebrities will tell their friends that they know me, even though we’ve never met. I’ll ascend to Mount Olympus and feast in the halls of Valhalla. I’ll…
I’ll stop now.
. . .
So, with only an hour to go before NaNo starts in my time zone, I declare that I’m going to write 50 000 words this November, or die trying (or at least severely embarrass myself in the process). I have no plot, my world-building is half done, some of my characters don’t even have names yet, but I’m going for it.
Because you only live once.
Because sitting on fences is bad for your health.
Because writing is fun, and hard work, and awesome.
And because if you never write that novel, it will never get written, and the world needs more books.
if all else fails...use a hammer 
Good luck!!! I think you made a great choice in deciding to go ahead and submit 🙂
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Hmmm. I still need 1000 words for today, and it’s already past 7pm here. The wife and I also realised that we have something going on each weekend this month. I’m starting to think I didn’t think this plan through very well…
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Sometimes the best things happen without being planned. You seem to have followed your gut, which is never a bad thing! I know good stories do have a plan, especially long ones, but they also exist in our minds. Maybe you’ll have some of those days/nights where you just can’t stop writing and it will all pour out of you faster than you think. I’m sending you good vibes 😊
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Cheering you on from the sidelines. Write, write, write!
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That’s the most important think, after all 😀
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One of the well-known American poets (I’d say “great” but the truth is I can’t remember who it was so I won’t go over the top with this) wrote a poem a day. When a younger poet asked how he could manage that himself, he said, “Lower your standards.” So yeah, the act of writing comes first. Lower your standards. It’ll free you to let the really good stuff come through as well.
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That whole killing the inner editor thing. I admit I struggle with that one. Nothing like the mad dash of NaNo to help one do this, though.
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All the very best for NaNo! I’m (again) not doing it myself this year, I have too much else happening (including the release of my sci-fi novella, bwahahahahaha….) – but am definitely cheering on the sidelines! 🙂
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Ooh! Can’t wait to read that 😀
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Good luck! You never know, the lack of preparation might just help and it comes out awesome.
I don’t think I’ll participate but I’m considering to take part in DigiWriMo. I think that’s what is called.
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I haven’t heard of DigiWriMo. Care to elaborate?
The first year I did NaNo I also had no preparation, and I won, though I decided afterwards I’ll need to redo everything. This year at least I have some idea, as I’m restarting last year’s NaNo novel, so let’s see how it goes.
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I just learned about it as well. It takes place in November and you can write anything you like as long as you write every day, I think. Here’s the website: http://www.digitalwritingmonth.com
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Ah, okay. Well, good luck with that, then 🙂
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Thanks!
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