It’s almost November.
I’ve attended 3 Halloween parties this weekend. I am feeling done with Halloween, before it
even arrives. Ah, well. It’ll be done soon and then I can steal all
the Reese’s peanut butter cups and Snickers from my kids baskets…er, to
freeze. Yeah.
Last
year I participated in NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Actually, since I’m a Nonfictionista, I
participated in National Memoir Writing Month, or NaMeWriMo. The goal is, you write 1500 words a day,
every day, during November. At the end
of the month, you’ve written enough words to make a novel. Note: YOU HAVE NOT WRITTEN A NOVEL. A lot of writerly folks eschew NaNoWriMo,
saying that people just write and write and write and then think they’re done
and try to get their manuscript published.
Well, obviously, that’s dumb.
Days, weeks, and years of revision would obviously be the next step, not
rushing out queries or self-publishing that shit. That seems obvious to me.
I didn’t
even come close to finishing the 50,000 words or whatever. But I got 50 pages out of it, and that’s more
than I’d written for a while. I’ve
worked on some of my 2011 NaMeWriMo stuff, but not nearly enough. I’ve not written much for the past year,
which makes me sick. I’ve got this writing
degree and I can’t let this go. But it’s
been a tough year for me. I’ve been
working 10 to 12 hours a day, 5 and sometimes 6 days a week, and there’s been a
ton of personal stress that I can’t write about, but suffice it to say when
I do get the chance to write, I’m too down or tired. Lately, I haven’t been working as much because
my medical transcription job has been partially outsourced. Some clinics stayed with my boss’ company,
which I am not an employee of but an independent subcontractor, so we still
have some work, but only about half of what I normally would get. This is going to hurt by my next paycheck, so
that sucks. But it does leave me time
for writing.
Which brings me to NaMeWriMo. I need this; I need the release, I need the
focus. I need to write a shitload. So here I go, starting Thursday. Wish me luck…no, wish my butt on the couch
and my fingers on the keyboard. I’ll let
you know if I need a kick in the ass.
