Tags
challenge, characters, diary, NaNoWriMo, novel, reading, theatre, word count, write, writer, writing
Week 44 was a mania of words, words and more words
This week went from frantic to mad in a mere seven days! NanoWriMo is a challenge like no other I have tried, and not one to be taken on lightly. The first few days were pretty straightforward, I sat there and wrote. But then it got tricky, to the point where my days existed just to write these 2,000 words, which filled me with dread and excitement in equal measure. By day five I was experiencing an alphabet of pain with no idea what the hell I was meant to write about. Am I not just writing total drivel for the sake of words? Who is this character anyway? But if the character did that at the start, why would it do that later on? What day is it? Is it all really a dream?!
At the point where my resolve was ready to fold, I discovered NaNoWordSprints, a genius tool on Twitter that not only motivates you to write, but makes you feel part of a community. You’re not alone going through this madness, and there are in fact many others out there doing the same thing. It managed to bring my word count back up to an amount that still puts me in contention for the big 50,000, which will be followed thereafter by a long word induced coma!
While writing it I’m wondering what I’m getting from it (even though I know I shouldn’t and curse myself every time for overthinking it!) There’s definitely the discipline. The times you don’t want to write are irrelevant, you just need to bloody do it. Pillage the free moments and see what comes. The quality of what I am writing is debatable of course, but that’s not the point of the challenge. I don’t think I will know the benefits or learning from it until I am out the other end, so for now it’s get onto NanoWordSprints and plough on!
Nano madness aside, I will be reading this Sunday at an evening of music and poetry in the Mill Theatre for Mill Miscellanea. I’m really excited to do it and have a slot as opposed to waiting nervously to be called up for an open mic, which is a nice change. One issue is the fact the slot is 20 minutes long, an amount of time I’ve never read for before, and one that requires thought as to the flow of the pieces to make sure there is some structure for the audience. It should be a challenge, yet another one for November. Something tells me I won’t be forgetting Nov 2013 in a hurry!