Why? Why? For the love of all that is decent in this world, WHY do we do this in NOVEMBER?
For those of you who aren't familiar, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write or rewrite 50,000 words in 30 days. That is roughly 1,667 words each day, seven days each week, for every week that November has to offer. NOVEMBER! You know, that month were many of us celebrate Thanksgiving with a huge meal that often requires multiple days of preparation to pull off - in a house that needs to be clean enough to host those that we've invited to help eat said display of bounty. Followed by the strange ritual of Black Friday shopping. (For the record, I do not participate in this. I worked in retail far too long to even be mildly tempted. My shopping is done aside from stocking stuffers. I get that nonsense out of the way in October so I'm not a cranky Grinch from November 1st until January.) So, let's revise our math and knock off 5 days from that 30 day count which leaves us with 2,000 words per day for every other day November claims as its own. Now, if you happen to be lucky like me, you can work those words onto the paper at whatever time you can carve out of your no-job-having day, but let's face it, I'm an anomaly in our career minded culture. Most people have a job that actually provides them with a pay check and a work schedule. They get to put in a full day in their chosen field, then come home and demand inspiration to gift them with the next 2,000 word chunk of the story. Oh, and you're supposed to eat, and bathe, and still represent the human race by interacting appropriately with others while you're doing all of this. It's a recipe for disaster. It's like a bunch of writers got together on 1/2 Halloween candy day (Nov. 1st), reached the pinnacle of the sugar rush - maybe chucked in some alcohol, too, and said, "Hey! I've got this awesome idea! How would you all like to be able to plead insanity when you ruin next month's office Christmas party or burn the house down with your light display? Sound good? All we need to do is prod each other into writing those novels we've been yammering on about for the past 20 years before December 1st rolls around!" Why not January? I mean we'd all have the benefit of lousy weather, an extra 24 hours, and the lunatic optimism that we will keep our New Year's Resolutions. Sure, some of us might kick it off a little hung over, but that's reasonably normal in the writing world. Plus, all the hubbub of the holidays would be finished and tucked into the "All the reasons I should let guilt eat me alive this year" file. January just makes more sense all the way around. But no...no, we picked November. Sounds like self-sabotage in the making to me. And yet... ...Lord help me, here I am, looking at my half finished 2nd novel in this series and saying: hmmm...so, if I sign up, I could get the rough draft finished and get a good chunk of the massive rewrite this monster needs finished. Not only on time, but EARLY. I mean, on a good writing day, 2,000 words isn't hard for me. I know where the story is going and approximately how it's getting there. How hard could it really be? It's just a matter of scribbling the words across the page then typing them up...maybe...maybe, this is the year to participate... ...or maybe I'll just give the house a really good deep cleaning since it has reached critical mass in the dust department. That'll take at least most of the month (have I ever mentioned that I have a log house and how much "fun" it is to clean?) and result in something tangible to show off, too. Hmmm... Decisions, decisions.
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June 2022
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