So last year I did something I'd always wanted to do. I participated in NaNoWriMo. I wrote 50,000 over the course of November and I have the certificate to prove it. Why did I participate? Surely, as someone who calls herself a writer, I'm writing all the time. Well, yes and no. I do try to write in a disciplined way but there are times when different areas of my life compete for time. I wanted to immerse myself in the writing experience and I knew if I told everyone - and, just as importantly - if I told myself - I was participating in NaNoWriMo, my writing time would become a priority that people (including me!) imposed on only with great reluctance.
The incidents I wrote about aren't in sequence. There is a slightly higgledly piggledy aspect to the whole because part of the time I was writing in text box programme called Write or Die, which made my computer emit frightening noises if I didn't reach a specified word count in a given amount of time. I tried to keep editing and revision to a minimum, so the whole has a ratty shape and an important plot element came to me about halfway through the month of November. On the whole, however, I'm really happy. I loved the experience of writing and trying to keep on-going revision to a minimum - normally I revise laboriously I go. Above all else, it proved to me that I can write a lot over a short period of time if I just make that time.
When the month was over, I felt a little lost, although Christmas loomed. When Christmas was over, I found that I could settle back into revising the novel I had been working on prior to NaNoWriMo with more dedication. I had no excuse, after all. I even had a certificate to prove it!
I recently discovered there's a whole host of different timed writing challenges - and a wiki with all the information.
Who is going to join me NaPoWriMo? Sounds like fun!