NaNoWriMo and the Bliss of Delusional Optimism

So, it's official. I'm signed up for NaNoWriMo.

It's my first year, and I'm super pumped. When I thought of my story idea two years ago (you know, the one I am trying to finish), I kind of thought that would be it. I mean, I'd gone 25 years without getting a great idea before. I figured this was my one. I'd try to write it, and if it didn't work out, it didn't work out. I'd go back to my life of number crunching and biostatistics and leave the creating to the "professionals." But then a funny thing happened, I started to think of other ideas.

Really, it was a form of procrastination. Every time I head a stumbling block with my WIP, I'd write a little paragraph of something else. Most of them were junk, but a few weren't terrible. Then I had another great idea: a premise I really liked, a character who needed to live this story, and a mystery to top it all off.

I heard about NaNoWriMo, and decided to sign up. What a great way to put some pressure on to get something started! I've been looking forward to November for weeks now. Then, today, I had a revelation.

I was checking the NaNo site for tips, since I'm an uber noob. That's when I found this:

Bargain with those around you. Suggest to your housemates that if they take care of chores during November, you'll cover the following two months. Make sure you're not signed up for soccer game snack-duty, volunteering in the neighborhood—any helpful or productive task that isn't writing your novel—until November is past.

Reading this made me realize the following things:

▪ There's a huge conference at work that I'll be attending.

▪ I signed up to clean two nights a week at the cat rescue group (no easy task with >300 cats).

▪ I am moving out of the apartment I have lived in for years in the middle of November. And I don't have anywhere to go yet.

Hmm. It'll be tough, but I still think I can do it! I probably should be more realistic about my chances of "winning" this one. But I'm already planning time to write each week. I'm going to hide my TV remote, so I won't get distracted when I should be working. And I've got an idea that I'm excited to work on.

I'll keep you posted. And if you're doing NaNo, we should be writing buddies!