It's NaNo Time!

Welcome!  This is my fifth National Novel Writing Month effort. I have been participating since 2012 and have been a winner, completing my 50,000 words, all four years. This year in addition to writing on my work in progress, I am going to blog daily about the process, my progress, and any helpful hints I can share for the good of us all. My humble desire is to collect the best from these blog posts and compile them into an e-book to share with future NaNo writers. I have benefitted so much from this experience; I would like to have something to give back. In the spirit of NaNo’s just write, don’t revise, these posts will not be perfect writing. But also in the spirit of NaNo they will be done and I will have something to revise and polish later.

That is actually the first thing I want to share. The “just write the words” mantra. That was truly a gift to me. Before NaNoWriMo I was writing and revising as I went, sometimes obsessing over one page for hours. Folks, that makes for very slow progress! I wasn’t that way when I journaled. I wrote those words just for myself and was not worried about being judged on accurate grammar, perfect spelling, or beautiful sentences and vocabulary. Yet, when I mine my journals for memoir work, they are exactly the resource that I need.

This time, as I write fiction, I am using this first draft in exactly the same way. I am getting the words down so I can mine them later. As is often said, you can’t revise what you haven’t written! I am crafting a Christmas book and in doing so scratching a writing itch that I have had for several years. It has a character from one of the novels in a series I am writing. And I might as well share the big dream here because I believe in the power of speaking my desire to the universe and then matching that with hard work and purposeful intention, I want this book to one day be a Hallmark Holiday movie.

The photo at the top is a quote on a Kelly Rae Robert's art piece. I see it first thing every morning and am inspired. I love her work and highly recommend it.

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Radiate Possibility (dream bigger)

I am dreaming bigger this year. I am dreaming of completing a first draft of a Christmas book that will one day be scripted for a movie. I am dreaming of writing thirty blog posts that I can turn into an e-book of gratitude and hope.

I hope you will follow my blog and post comments. I welcome your feedback and invite you to dream bigger along with me!

It’s NaNo Time! (Yes, I am singing that to the MC Hammer tune. I am also dancing. Feel free to bust your own moves! More on NaNo dancing and music in future posts.)