Midnight fast approaches

NaNoWriMo is well on its way for many, but I still wait!  I'm being patient and following the rules, though I will admit I'm tempted to cheat.  What's a few hours, right?  But it does matter.  If I cheat now and it's a matter of minutes to make it at the end, I won't feel as accomplished when all is said and done.

It's only 8:30 where I am, here in the mountains of Colorado, so I wait, stalk the facebook page for NaNo, and try desperately to get my photo on my NaNo page working!  It's supposed to be black and white.  I don't think it's working yet.  This is the one I want:

Alas, it is not yet showing up.  Hopefully in the morning it will be right.

For now, I'll share this little blip I put on the Facebook page in answer to a nervous first timer!


Just remember, this is a self challenge! Every word you wrote is an accomplishment! Every day you write more is another! Every day, your count will get higher and higher and you'll be proud of what you've accomplished at the end, no matter HOW it turns out.

Even if you don't "finish", you did more than you would have otherwise, right? That's something! :)



While I wait, as well, here's how I got started with this!

I have been putting my writing on the back burner for many years, with having small kids around the house, it's not exactly the easiest thing ever to get writing done.  It requires a level of focus I have difficulty achieving while kids run about and make the kid noises kids do.

Also, things like cocoa powder, strawberry Quick mix, and some unknown liquid poured over the top of both on the carpet tend to lead to melt downs and loss of sanity which take a while to grow back...  Kids are nothing if not a test for one's patience!

In any case, my kids were finally getting old enough to fend for themselves and behave unwatched for stretches of time in 2009, and I decided I would give this writing thing a try again.

It was my first year back at it, and the words spilled out, and a lovely story began to form.  I'm still working on the book I started then, and it's MUCH longer and much better now!  I think I've doubled its size since the end of NaNoWriMo 2009, but I would have to double check...  

So, 2009, I made it.  By the skin of my teeth, but I made it, fair and square!  YAY ME!!!!!

2010, I decided to keep working on the same novel, counting only my new writing.  That did not go over so well.  All the things I was stuck on were still there, and I just wasn't as excited about the project as I had started off the year before.  I did NOT win that year.

So, going into 2011, I could continue down the path I was on, though I've fixed many questions and have answers and direction...  or I can start something else I've had in mind for a while.  I decided to start fresh and pick back up on the other book after NaNo dies down.

Because, well, for me, NaNo is a great thing, but it's only one month.  And I want to be writing all the time!  I don't always make it happen, but that's something I'm working on.

NaNo is my refresher, my jumping off point.  My renewed dedication with excitement flowing from outside sources to spur me on.  And if I get stuck with my new story, I can edit or work on that old story for a while.  That's ok too!  :)

So, rambling aside, I have been at this a couple years now.  And I'm going to win this year too.  Because I know I'm capable of 1666 words a day.  I'm capable of more than that.  And those words will be good.

I'm excited, going into this, and I hope to keep the excitement going all month!  I can do this.  And I know you can too!