Challenge Accepted: NaNoWriMo

There! I did it. I signed up for NaNoWriMo.

Happy, Self?

The past few weeks have been super busy for me. Like, crazy busy! Work and life have drained me of time, energy and, worst of all, motivation. My precious cup of creative juice has been nearly sucked dry, and the few drops I’ve managed to keep have gone straight to my blog and book reviews. Zero–and I mean, ZERO--have gone towards the two manuscripts I have sitting on my computer…I swear I can hear my poor characters crying and yelling at me to return to them–to help them finish the sentence they were saying, or the glare they were giving, or the punch they were throwing…

Unfortunately, every time I’ve gone to open one of these restless documents, I’ve only made it a few sentences before my weary, stubborn brain says, “Uh-uh. No way. Not doing this.”

Grrrr…

To help me get back on track, I’ve decided to take on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This will be the first time I’ve ever tried the 50,000 words-in-a-month challenge, but I need to do it. Clearly, I need SOMETHING to kick me into gear–something to motivate me–something to oil up the ol’ rusty cogs in my “meh” brain.

NaNoWriMo runs from November 1st-30th. Unfortunately, I’ll be getting a delayed start because I have the second round of the Flash Fiction Challenge 2013 to contend with from November 1st-3rd. It’s okay though. After the first round of the Flash Fiction Challenge I ended up having a writing epiphany and getting a huge spurt of creative energy for an old manuscript. I threw out the old stuff and produced 10,000 words worth of new content in one weekend. 10,000 WORDS in ONE weekend! So, I’m hoping the untimely interruption will be a blessing, not a hinderance.

Now, because I’ll have to write approximately 1,700 words/day to successfully complete this daunting task, it’s likely my blog posts will slow down for bit. But fear not! I shall return to a normal publishing schedule in December. Promise!!

Okay, time to get pumped up (because now that I’ve posted this, I guess I gotta go through with it, huh?). Step 1: Figure out which manuscript to work on. I have two and both are screaming for my undivided attention. Hmm…Step 2: WRITE!!!

So, how about you? Are you doing NaNoWriMo? If so, do you have any valuable tips to share with the rest of us?

Good luck to all NaNoWriMo participants! Can’t wait to see how we all do!

P.S. A fellow blogger went ahead and wrote a post about her tips for NaNoWriMo. It’s awesome. Check it out here!

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• Countdown to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) | Accept the Writing Challenge and Turn Pro Now (veronicamariajarski.com)