Sometimes I wonder if I take on more responsibility than I can handle. Or if I schedule too many meetings in a given day. Or if I've eaten too many cookies.
Scratch that last--there's no such thing as too many cookies.
But I think I've stepped in it this time. I just did a crazy-stupid, outlandish, no-good (maybe good), potentially disastrous, but probably at least very stretching thing:
I signed up for NaNoWriMo.
I expect half my audience might applaud and cheer and pat me on the back. The other half may be desperately confused. But never fear! I shall elucidate all for thee!
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month (cue sounds of dawning comprehension). NaNoWriMo occurs during the month of November, and it is a time during which writers everywhere challenge themselves to write the first draft of a 50,000-word manuscript in a month (cue sounds of shock and disgust!).
Now, listen. I'm cray, but I ain't cray-cray. 50,000 words is a staggering and terrifying goal and I am waaay too much of a chicken fo' dat. So instead of writing a new novel start-to-finish, I chose a smaller goal:
I intend to finish my 15-year work-in-progress by the end of this month. To put that into perspective, I already have 43,000 of these words written (which I JUST counted for the first time, and which shocks me outta my socks!), but I feel like the story still has 20,000 to go.
These 20,000 words, after all this time, makes me feel crazier than a road-lizard (ten points to your Hogwarts house for anyone who knows where I got that reference).
It's a little like how I felt about my first publication. Can I really do it? Can I really see an end goal after all this time? Could I really have a complete story? A first draft? A second draft? A polished draft? A query letter? An agent? A published book? That's #goals, folks: and I'm goin' big, 'cause I don't wanna go home.
So send me all the good vibes, prayers, water, sleep aids, snacks, cappuccinos, alcohol, and puppies you can lay hands on, 'cause Imma need 'em!
How do you stay fueled and motivated for a big project? Leave a comment below!
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