And So I Go NaNoWriMo

Once again this year, I am participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! I've done this for the past 6 years, and I have "won" (winning=writing 50,000 words in 30 days) the middle 4 of those 6 years (last year I put my energies toward editing a previous draft instead of writing something new).

I'm sure every writer is temperamental in their own way, but if you see me this month, I thought I'd share a few tips: 

Please try not to ask:

• "What are you writing about?"  I probably won't know until I'm done! (Maybe not even then.)
• "What genre are you writing?"  I don't know why this is a hard question for me, but it is. Hopefully I'll figure out how to answer it someday.
• "Can I read your story?"  I'm glad and flattered that you want to read my writing! But I can't let you read something that is crappy, and it probably won't be edited and ready to read any time soon. It's also possible that this rough draft may never see the light of day--but that would still be an acceptable outcome for this writing exercise! If you want to read something I've written now, I would love for you to keep reading my blog and even provide me feedback on the writing if you feel so inclined. When I finally have something ready, I will be equal parts thrilled and terrified to let you read it.

And if you can avoid it, please don't say:

• "I haven't seen you in awhile. We should totally hang out!" I already feel guilty that we haven't hung out lately, no need to lay the guilt on thicker.
• "I know this other person doing NaNoWriMo, and they're already at 50,000 words during Week 2." You might think this would motivate me, but usually it just makes me feel like a loser because I'm likely behind on my word count.
• "You should write about thing X!" If you have a good idea, you should join NaNoWriMo and write it! It will be fun! Don't let me get the glory for your idea. ;)

It's okay to ask:

• "How's it going?" Be prepared for an honest, and possibly lengthy, answer.
• "Do you have an idea you like this year?" Be prepared for a dejected no.
• "How many years have you done NaNoWriMo?" (Though I guess I just told you that.)
• "How many words have you written so far?" Hopefully more than yesterday!
• "Is it too late to join this year?" It's never too late, it just gets harder! Join me now and we'll dig ourselves out of this 3-day word count deficit together!

And feel free to say:

• "That's so cool, it sounds like fun!" It is!
• "I'm really proud of you for doing this, so I made you a casserole for dinner so you can keep writing." I love you so much right now.
• "I'm going to see if Matt wants to go to the movies with me tonight." Sounds good! Just have him home by 11!