NaNoWriMo 2015

This is the year I'm doing it.

I promised myself for years I'd do it, but something always got in the way.  Mainly fear.

But this year, I'm going to take the plunge and participate in NaNoWriMo.

What is NaNoWriMo?  Well, starting November 1 (some people actually start at midnight, but I'm not THAT crazy.  Yet.) people all around the world commit to writing a 50,000 word novel by November 30.  Yes, that is 50,000 words in 30 days.  It averages out to around 1667 words per day, hence the name: National Novel Writing Month

Here, on this page of my blog, I will be posting updates on how many words I actually succeeded in writing, and any success stories or total flops/frustrations/etc I encountered.

I will also be posting how much money I have raised for NaNoWriMo. See, this isn't just a place for a bunch of frustrated (and not so frustrated) authors to hang out and chat about their current novel.  It's a place to learn.  Writers learn from each other, and the FABULOUS people from NaNoWriMo have also set up something just for kids.  NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program was designed to help kids of all ages become better writers.  They also created a wonderful curriculum for teachers to use in the classrooms, turning the whole experience into a teaching tool.  How awesome is that?  A fun competition that actually teaches kids to think more creatively, and how to write!  I can certainly get behind that!

Some naysayers might think that nothing ever comes of any of these novels that people start during NaNoWriMo.  Not true.  According to the website, hundreds of novels that were started during the even have been published, either through traditional publishing companies or were self-published.  Yep, they even have lists of these novels.

So, here's to hoping that I come away from this little project with a good rough draft, pretty much complete, and most of my sanity intact.  Here's to hoping my family doesn't decide that Mommy has completely lost her mind. Here's to something new and different and new steps being taken.  Here's to hoping I find a new fun thing to do, and meet new people.